Lushootseed language

Lushootseed
Skagit-Nisqually
dxʷləšúcid
Native to	Canada, United States
Region	Southern British Columbia into Northern Washington
Ethnicity	Duwamish, Snohomish, Suquamish, Sammamish, Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Sahewamish, Skagit, Nisqually
Native speakers	unknown (100 Skagit cited 1977) 210 Southern Puget (2010 census), 10 Lushootseed proper (2007), 10 Snohomish (1998)
Language family	Salishan Coast Salish Central Lushootseed
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: lut – Lushootseed slh – Southern Puget Sound Salish ska – Skagit sno – Snohomish
Glottolog	lush1251

Lushootseed (also Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, Skagit-Nisqually) is the language or dialect continuum of several Salish Native American tribes of modern-day Washington state. Lushootseed is a member of Coast Salish, one of two main divisions of the Salishan language family.

Related languages and current status

Lushootseed, like its neighbour Twana, is in the Southern Coast Salish subgroup of the Salishan family of languages. The language was spoken by many Puget Sound region peoples, including the Duwamish, Steilacoom, Suquamish, Squaxin Island Tribe, Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Nisqually, and Puyallup in the south and the Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit, and Swinomish in the north.

Bust of Chief Seattle with accompanying text in Lushootseed: ti šišəgʷł gʷəl al tiʔəʔəxʷ sgʷaʔčᵉł səxʷəsłałlilčəł siʔał dəgʷi gʷəl liiiiləxʷ dʔiišəd cəłul’ul’ cəł ʔəslax̌ədxʷ ti gʷaalapu

Ethnologue quotes a source published in 1990 (and therefore presumably reflecting the situation in the late 1980s), according to which there were 60 fluent speakers of Lushootseed, evenly divided between the northern and southern dialects. On the other hand, the Ethnologue's list of United States languages also lists, alongside Lushootseed's 60 speakers, 100 speakers for Skagit, 107 for Southern Puget Sound Salish, and 10 for Snohomish (a dialect on the boundary between the northern and southern varieties). Some sources given for these figures, however, go back to the 1970s when the language was less critically endangered. Linguist Marianne Mithun has collected more recent data on the number of speakers of various Native American languages, and could document that by the end of the 1990s there were only a handful of elders left who spoke Lushootseed fluently. The language was extensively documented and studied by linguists with the aid of tribal elder Vi Hilbert, d. 2008, who was the last speaker with a full native command of Lushootseed. There are efforts at reviving the language, and instructional materials have been published.

Language revitalization

As of 2013, the Tulalip Tribes' Lushootseed Language Department teaches classes in Lushootseed, and its website offers a Lushootseed "phrase of the week" with audio. The Tulalip Montessori School teaches Lushootseed to young children. As of 2013, an annual Lushootseed conference is held at Seattle University. A course in Lushootseed language and literature has been offered at Evergreen State College. Lushootseed has also been used as a part of environmental history courses at Pacific Lutheran University. It has been spoken during the annual Tribal Canoe Journey (Tribal Journeys) that take place throughout the Salish Sea.

There are also efforts within the Puyallup Tribe. They have created their own language department which operates a website and Facebook page available to assist anyone wanting to learn. Their website and social media are updated often. www.puyalluptriballanguage.org. www.facebook.com/twulshootseedlanguage

Subdivisions

Lushootseed consists of two dialect groups which can be further divided into subdialects:

• Northern Lushootseed
  • Snohomish (at Tulalip)
  • Stillaguamish
  • Lower Skagit-Swinomish (on Skagit River and on Whidbey Island)
  • Upper Skagit
  • Sauk-Suiattle (on Sauk River and Suiattle River)
• Southern Lushootseed
  • Skykomish
  • Snoqualmie
  • Steilacoom
  • Suquamish
  • Duwamish
  • bǝqǝlšuɫucid (Muckleshoot Language) (on Green and White rivers)
  • txʷǝlšucid (The Official Language of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians)
  • Nisqually
  • Sahewamish

Alphabet

According to work published by Vi Hilbert and other Lushootseed language specialists, Lushootseed uses a morphophonemic writing system meaning that it is a phonemic alphabet with slight changes occurring periodically, such as when an affix is introduced. The chart below is based on the Lushootseed Dictionary. Typographic variations such as p' and p̓ do not indicate phonemic distinctions.

Letter	Letter Name	IPA	Notes
ʔ	Glottal stop	/ʔ/
a		/ɑ/
b		/b/
bʼ	Glottalized b	/ɓ/	Rare sound, does not begin words
c		/t͡s/
cʼ	Glottalized c	/t͡sʼ/
č	c-wedge	/c͡ç/
čʼ	Glottalized c-wedge	/t͡sʼ/
d		/d/
dᶻ	d-raised-z	/d͡z/
ə	Schwa	/ə/
g		/ɡ/
gʷ	g-raised-w	/ɡʷ/
h		/h/
i		/ɪ~i/
ǰ	j-wedge	/ɟ͡ʝ/
k		/k/
kʼ	Glottalized k	/kʼ/
kʷ	k-raised-w	/kʷ/
kʼʷ	Glottalized k-raised-w	/kʼʷ/
l		/l/
lʼ	Strictured l	/lʼ/
ɫ	Barred-l	/ɬ/
ƛʼ	Glottalized barred-lambda	/t͜ɬʼ/	Alveolar lateral ejective affricate
m		/m/
mʼ	Strictured m	/m̥ ̰ /	Laryngealized bilabial nasal
n		/n/
nʼ	Strictured n	/n̥ ̰/	Laryngealized alveolar nasal
p		/p/
pʼ	Glottalized p	/pʼ/
q		/q/
qʼ	Glottalized q	/qʼ/
qʷ	q-raised-w	/qʷ/
qʼʷ	Glottalized q-raised-w	/qʼʷ/
s		/s/
š	s-wedge	/ç~ɕ/
t		/t/
tʼ	Glottalized t	/tʼ/
u		/ʉ/
w		/w~ʋ/
wʼ	Strictured w	/w ̰/	Laryngealized high back rounded glide
xʷ	x-w	/xʷ/
x̌	x-wedge	/χ/
x̌ʷ	Rounded x-wedge	/χʷ/
y		/j/
yʼ	Strictured y	/j ̰/	Laryngealized high front unrounded glide

Some vocabulary

Southern Lushootseed salmonoid vocabulary

sčədadxʷ 

a word that covers all Pacific salmon and some species of trout.

sac̓əb 

Chinook or King

cʼuwad 

sockeye salmon

skʷǝxʷic 

coho salmon

ƛ̕xʷayʼ 

chum salmon

hədu 

the pink salmon

skʷawǝľ 

steelhead

pədkʷəxʷic 

coho season

sc̓ayʼayʼ 

gills

ɫičaʔa 

nets

ɫičaʔalikʷ 

net fishing

ʔalil tiʔiɫ ƛ̕usq̓íl 

spawning season

skʷǝɫt 

tailfin

t̓altəd 

fillet knife

sqʼʷəlus 

kippered dried salmon

səlusqid 

fish heads

qəlx̌ 

dried salmon eggs

ƛ̕ǝbƛ̕əbqʷ 

fresh eggs

sɫuʔb 

dried chum

sxʷudᶻəʔdaliɫəd 

fish with a large amount of body fat

xʷšabus 

lightly smoked

Northern Lushootseed salmonid vocabulary

sʔuladxʷ 

a word that covers all Pacific salmon and some species of trout.

yubəč 

Chinook or King

scəqiʔ 

sockeye salmon

ƛ̕xʷayʔ 

chum salmon

skʷəxʷic 

silver salmon

Northern Lushootseed aquatic vocabulary

qalʼqaləx̌ič 

Blackfish - Killer Whale

čəxʷəluʔ 

Grey Whale

sq̓aƛ̕ 

otter

sup̓qs

seal

sťəqxʷ 

beaver

sqibk̕ʷ 

octopus

ʔaləšək 

Western pond turtle

waq̓waq̓ 

frog

sk̕ʷic̕i 

sea urchin

təǰabac 

sea cucumber

q̓ʷəlačiʔ 

star fish

bəsqʷ 

crab

ťaɫiɡʷs 

Rock Cod

p̓uay̓ 

flounder

kəlapx̌ʷəlč 

jelly fish

sʔax̌ʷuʔ 

clam

tulqʷ 

mussel

ƛ̕ux̌ʷƛ̕ux̌ʷ 

oyster

c̕ubc̕ub 

barnacle

sx̌aʔaʔ 

little neck steam clams

xʷč́iɫqs 

large native oyster

ɡʷidəq 

geoduck

stxʷub 

butter clam

sx̌əpab 

cockle clam

haʔəc 

horse clam

č́ič́əlpyaqid / puʔps 

periwinkle

sč́awyʔ 

any seashell

ʔuk̕ʷs 

large chiton

x̌ald 

small chiton

References

Language learning materials

• Bates, D., Hess, T., & Hilbert, V. (1994). Lushootseed dictionary. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295973234
• Chamberlain, Rebecca, Lushootseed Language & Literature: Program reader. (Lushootseed language, cultural, and storytelling traditions.)
• Hess, Tom and Vi Hilbert. Lushootseed Book 1; The language of the Skagit, Nisqually, and other tribes of Puget Sound. An Introduction. Lushootseed Press 1995
• Hess, Tom and Vi Hilbert. Lushootseed Book 2 (Advanced Lushootseed). Lushootseed Press, 1995
• Hilbert, Vi. Haboo: Native American Stories from Puget Sound. Seattle: University of Washington, 1985
• Hilbert, Vi, Crisca Bierwest, Thom Hess. Way of the Lushootseed People; Ceremonies & Traditions of North Puget Sound's First People. Third Edition, Lushootseed Press, 2001
• dxʷlešucid xʷgʷədgʷatəd tul̓ʔal taqʷšəblu; Some Lushootseed Vocabulary from taqʷšəblu. Lushootseed Press, 1993

External links

• Puyallup Tribal Language Program
• The Tulalip Lushootseed Department's Website
• History professor helps keep local Native American language alive by Drew Brown for PLU Scene Magazine
• Lushootseed Peoples of Puget Sound Country
• Lushootseed Research
• Dr. David Beck, Salishan Language specialist
• Developing a corpus for Lushootseed