| Chilcotin | |
|---|---|
| Tŝinlhqutʼin | |
| Pronunciation | [ts̠ˤʰᵊĩɬqʰotʼin] |
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | Chilcotin Country,Central Interior of British Columbia |
| Ethnicity | 4,350Tsilhqotʼin (2014,FPCC)[1] |
Native speakers | 860 (2014,FPCC)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | clc |
| Glottolog | chil1280 |
| ELP | Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) |
 Chilcotin is classified as Definitely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
| Tŝilhqóx / Nen "Ochre River"/"Land" | |
|---|---|
| People | Nenqayni[2] (Tŝilhqotʼin) |
| Language | Nenqayni Ch'ih (Tŝilhqotʼin Chʼih) |
| Country | Tŝilhqotʼin Nen |
Nenqayni Chʼih (lit. "the Native way"), alsoChilcotin,Tŝilhqotʼin,Tsilhqotʼin,Tsilhqútʼin, is aNorthern Athabaskan language spoken inBritish Columbia by theTsilhqotʼin people.
The nameChilcotin is derived from the Chilcotin name for themselves,Tŝilhqotʼin, literally "people of the red ochre river".
Chilcotin has 47consonants,[3] likely the largest number within the Athabaskan family:[4]
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | sibilant | lateral | plain | labial | plain | labial | ||||||
| Nasal | m⟨m⟩ | n̪⟨n⟩ | ||||||||||
| Occlusive | tenuis | p⟨b⟩ | t̪⟨d⟩ | ts̪⟨dz⟩ | tɬ⟨dl⟩ | ts̱ˤ⟨dẑ⟩ | tʃ⟨j⟩ | k⟨g⟩ | kʷ⟨gw⟩ | q⟨gg⟩ | qʷ⟨ggw⟩ | ʔ⟨ʔ⟩ |
| aspirated | pʰ⟨p⟩ | t̪ʰ⟨t⟩ | ts̪ʰ⟨ts⟩ | tɬʰ⟨tl⟩ | ts̱ˤʰ⟨tŝ⟩ | tʃʰ⟨ch⟩ | kʰ⟨k⟩ | kʷʰ⟨kw⟩ | qʰ⟨q⟩ | qʷʰ⟨qw⟩ | ||
| ejective | t̪ʼ⟨tʼ⟩ | ts̪ʼ⟨tsʼ⟩ | tɬʼ⟨tlʼ⟩ | ts̱ˤʼ⟨tŝʼ⟩ | tʃʼ⟨chʼ⟩ | kʼ⟨kʼ⟩ | kʷʼ⟨kwʼ⟩ | qʼ⟨qʼ⟩ | qʷʼ⟨qwʼ⟩ | |||
| Continuant | voiceless | s̪⟨s⟩ | ɬ⟨lh⟩ | s̱ˤ⟨ŝ⟩ | ç⟨sh⟩ | xʷ⟨wh⟩ | χ⟨x⟩ | χʷ⟨xw⟩ | h⟨h⟩ | |||
| voiced | z̪⟨z⟩ | l⟨l⟩ | ẕˤ⟨ẑ⟩ | j⟨y⟩ | w⟨w⟩ | ʁ⟨r⟩ | ʁʷ⟨rw⟩ | |||||
Chilcotin has 6vowels:
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tense-long | lax-short | tense-long | lax-short | tense-long | lax-short | |
| High | i⟨i⟩ | ɪ⟨ɨ⟩ | u⟨u⟩ | ʊ⟨o⟩ | ||
| Low | æ⟨a⟩ | ɛ⟨e⟩ | ||||
Every given Chilcotin vowel has a number of different phonetic realizations from complexphonological processes (such as nasalization, laxing, flattening). For instance, the vowel/i/ can be variously pronounced[i,ĩ,ɪ,e,ᵊi,ᵊĩ,ᵊɪ].
Chilcotin is atonal language with two tones: high tone and low tone.
Chilcotin has vowel flattening and consonant harmony.Consonant harmony (sibilant harmony) is rather common in the Athabaskan language family. Vowel flattening is unique to Chilcotin but is similar to phonological processes in other unrelated InteriorSalishan languages spoken in the same area, such asShuswap,Stʼátʼimcets, andThompson River Salish (and thus was probably borrowed into Chilcotin). That type of harmony is anareal feature common in this region of North America. The Chilcotin processes, however, are much more complicated.
Vowel nasalization is a phonological process by which the phoneme/n/ is nasalizes the preceding vowel. It occurs when the vowel +/n/ sequence is followed by a (tautosyllabic)continuant consonant (such as/ɬ,sˤ,zˤ,ç,j,χ/).
| /pinɬ/ | → | [pĩɬ] | 'trap' |
Vowel laxing is a process by which tense vowels (/i,u,æ/) become lax when followed by a syllable-final/h/: the tense and lax distinction isneutralized.
| /ʔɛstɬʼuh/ | → | [ʔɛstɬʼʊh] | 'I'm knitting' | (u → ʊ) | ||
| /sɛjæh/ | → | [sɛjɛh] | 'my throat' | (æ → ɛ) |
Chilcotin has a type ofretracted tongue rootharmony. Generally, "flat" consonants lower vowels in both directions.Assimilation is both progressive and regressive.
Chilcotin consonants can be grouped into three categories: neutral, sharp, and flat.
| Neutral | Sharp | Flat | |
|---|---|---|---|
p, pʰ, m | ts, tsʰ, tsʼ, s, z | sˤ-series: | tsˤ, tsʰˤ, tsʼˤ, sˤ, zˤ |
| q-series: | q, qʰ, qʼ, χ, ʁ | ||
The flat consonants can be further divided into two types:
Thesˤ-series is stronger than theq-series by affecting vowels farther away.
This table shows both unaffected vowels and flattened vowels:
| unaffected vowel | flattened vowel |
|---|---|
| i | ᵊior e |
| ɪ | ᵊɪ |
| u | o |
| ʊ | ɔ |
| ɛ | ə |
| æ | a |
The vowel/i/ surfaces as[ᵊi] if after a flat consonant and as[e] before a flat consonant:
| /sˤit/ | → | [sˤᵊit] | 'kinɡfisher' | (sˤ flattens i → ᵊi) | ||
| /nisˤtsˤun/ | → | [nesˤtsˤon] | 'owl' | (sˤ flattens i → e) |
The progressive and regressive flattening processes are described below.
In theprogressive (left-to-right) flattening, theq-series consonants affect only the immediately following vowel:
| /ʁitʰi/ | → | [ʁᵊitʰi] | 'I slept' | (ʁ flattens i → ᵊi) | ||
| /qʰænɪç/ | → | [qʰanɪç] | 'spoon' | (qʰ flattens æ → a) |
Like theq-series, the strongersˤ-series consonants affects the immediately following vowel. However, it affects the vowel in the followingsyllable as well if the first flattened vowel is a lax vowel. If the first flattened is tense, the vowel of the following syllable is not flattened.
| /sˤɛɬ.tʰin/ | → | [sˤəɬ.tʰᵊin] | 'he's comatose' | (sˤ flattens both ɛ → ə, i → ᵊi ) | ||
| /sˤi.tʰin/ | → | [sˤᵊi.tʰin] | 'I'm sleeping' | (sˤ flattens first i → ᵊi, but not second i: *sˤᵊitʰᵊin) |
Thus, the neutral consonants are transparent in the flattening process. In the first word/sˤɛɬ.tʰin/ 'he's comatose',/sˤ/ flattens the/ɛ/ of the first syllable to[ə] and the/i/ of the second syllable to[ᵊi]. In the word/sˤi.tʰin/ 'I'm sleeping',/sˤ/ flattens/i/ to[ᵊi]. Since, however, the vowel of the first syllable is/i/, which is a tense vowel, the/sˤ/ cannot flatten the/i/ of the second syllable.
The sharp consonants, however, block the progressive flattening caused by thesˤ-series:
| /tizˤ.kʼɛn/ | → | [tezˤ.kʼɛn] | 'it's burning' | (flattening of ɛ is blocked by kʼ: *tezˤkʼən) | ||
| /sˤɛ.kɛn/ | → | [sˤə.kɛn] | 'it's dry' | (flattening of ɛ is blocked by k: *sˤəkən) |
In regressive (right-to-left) harmony, theq-series flattens the preceding vowel.
| /ʔælæχ/ | → | [ʔælaχ] | 'I made it' | (χ flattens æ → a) | ||
| /junɛqʰæt/ | → | [junəqʰat] | 'he's slappinɡ him' | (qʰ flattens ɛ → ə) |
The regressive (right-to-left) harmony of thesˤ-series, however, is much stronger than the progressive harmony. The consonants flatten all preceding vowels in a word:
| /kunizˤ/ | → | [konezˤ] | 'it is lonɡ' | (zˤ flattens all vowels, both i → e, u → o) | ||
| /kʷɛtɛkuljúzˤ/ | → | [kʷətəkoljózˤ] | 'he is rich' | (zˤ flattens all vowels, ɛ → ə, u → o) | ||
| /nækʷɛnitsˤɛ́sˤ/ | → | [nakʷənetsˤə́sˤ] | 'fire's gone out' | (tsˤ, sˤ flatten all vowels, æ → a, ɛ → ə) |
Both progressive and regressive flattening processes occur in Chilcotin words:
| /niqʰin/ | → | [neqʰᵊin] | 'we paddled' | |
| /ʔɛqʰɛn/ | → | [ʔəqʰən] | 'husband' |