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Wakashan Languages
Information about the Wakashan languages
Where are the Wakashan languages spoken?
These languages are spoken in North America, mainly in provinces along the west coast of British Columbia in Canada. Only the Makah language is spoken in the United States, in Washington State.
Who speaks these languages?
The Wakashan language speakers are members of “First Nations” in North America who inhabited the region long before Europeans arrived and before the creation of the United States and Canada.
Total number of speakers (estimated):
700 according to UNESCO
800 according to the site ethnologue.com
Classification
The Wakashan language family currently has 5 to 6 languages.
Kwakiutlan Branch (alternate name: North Wakashan)
Haisla (alternate name: Xa _ islak’ala): 110 speakers according to UNESCO and 25 according to SIL
Kwak’wala (alternate name: Kwaktiul): 315 speakers according to UNESCO and 235 according to SIL
Oowekyala-Heiltsuk (alternate name: Bella bella): 105 speakers according to UNESCO and 300 according to SIL
Nootkan Branch (alternate name: South Wakashan)
Makah: 12 speakers according to UNESCO and extinct according to SIL
Nitinaht (alternate names: Ditidaht, Southern Nootkan): Approximately 30 speakers according to Mithun (1999) and 25 according to the Canadian government (2001)
Nootka (alternate names: Aht; Nhu-chah-nulth; T’aat’aaqsapa; West Coast): 185 speakers according to UNESCO and 200 according to SIL
Comments on the classification of Wakashan languages:
The two branches of this family have long been identified and differentiated.
Some of the languages are very close. There is, therefore, some disparity in the number of languages in this family according to various sources (typically between 5 and 7). We follow here the classification proposed by Mithun (1999) which is widely accepted.
– In the North Branch, Heiltsuk-Oowekyala is composed of two main dialects which are sometimes presented as two languages.
– In the South Branch the classification is less stable:
-Nitinaht and Makah are very close and some sources (including Ethnologue.com) consider them to be a single language.
-Nootka is a set of 12 dialects spoken along the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island, Canada.
Note: The term “Mosane Family” describes a group of languages including the Salish, Wakashan and Chimakuan languages. However, the similarities between these three language families are more often attributed to borrowing between the languages due to their geographic proximity rather than an “ancestor language” from which the three language families would have descended.
Here we use the classification proposed by Mithun (1999) which is widely accepted.
Are Wakashan languages in danger?
Yes, all these languages are now in danger of extinction:
– The three languages of the Northern Branch are now spoken only by persons aged 60 years or more. The language of the younger generation is English. These three languages are “Critically Endangered” (level 4 on a scale of 5) according to UNESCO
– The three languages of the Southern Branch are probably even more at risk:
– The last native speaker of Makah died in 2002. Although a dozen people still speak it as a second language, it is generally considered to be a dead language.
– Little information is available on the number of speakers of Nitinaht, but it is unlikely to exceed thirty or so elderly speakers. This language is, therefore, very likely to become a dead language in the coming years if nothing is done to revitalize it.
– The Nootka dialect group is classified “Seriously Endangered” by UNESCO and with fewer than 200 speakers its future is not secure.
In recent years, however, documentation, revitalization and education programs for Wakashan languages have begun to emerge. These are often projects organized by the local authorities of the indigenous peoples such as the Heiltsulk Nation through its cultural center.
The site of the Heiltsulk Nation’s cultural center:
Sources:
Mithun, Marianne The languages of Native North America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (1999).
Campbell, Lyle. American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1997)
Site devoted to American Indian languages:
http://www.native-languages.org/
First Voices offers a set of resources, recordings, and learning games for thirty Aboriginal languages of Canada including the Wakashan languages.
http://www.firstvoices.ca/scripts/WebObjects.exe/FirstVoices.woa/wa/file?
The Yinka-Dene Institute offers a page devoted to the indigenous languages of British Columbia where you can find information on Wakashan languages.
http://www.ydli.org/fnlgsbc.htm
The Department of Linguistics at the University of Washington also devotes several Internet pages to the Wakashan languages.
http://depts.washington.edu/wll2/index.html
The site of the U’mista Cultural Society is dedicated to Kwakwaka’wakw culture
http://www.umista.org/home/index.php
The site of the tribal council of the Heiltsulk nation
The site of the Makah Nation
The site of the DItidaht nation
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have more information on this language: contact@sorosoro.org