|speakers=4
|date=2014, FPCC
|ref=e18
|familycolor=American
|fam1=Salishan
|fam2=Coast Salish
|fam3=Central
|iso3=sec
|glotto=sech1246
|glottorefname=Sechelt
}}The Sechelt language, Sháshíshálh or Shashishalhem ({{IPA-sec|ʃáʃíʃáɬəm|IPA}}), is a Coast Salish language spoken by the Shishalh (Sechelt) people of southwestern British Columbia, Canada, centred on their reserve communities in the Sechelt Peninsula area of the Sunshine Coast.
In 1999, the language was spoken by fewer than 40 elderly people.[1] A grammar of the language by linguist Ron Beaumont was published in 1985.[2]
They now only have 7 elderly/fluent speakers, but have many teachers that teach children from preschool all the way through till high school. UBC, Vancouver and Okanagan offers language courses, that give students the opportunity to learn various languages, Shashishalhem being one of the few[3]
In 2014, the Coastal Corridor Consortium, "an entity made up of board members from First Nations and educational partners to improve aboriginal access to and performance in postsecondary education and training", created a Sechelt Nation language certificate.[4]
Sechelt is most closely related to Squamish, Halkomelem, and the Nooksack.
Although endangered, the Sechelt people, with help from others, have reclaimed 603 phrases and 5659 words in total. [5]
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | | central | lateral | plain | rounded | plain | rounded |
|---|
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | kʷ | q | qʷ | ʔ |
|---|
| ejective | pʼ | tʼ | kʼ | kʼʷ | qʼ | qʼʷ |
|---|
| Affricate | voiceless | ts | tʃ |
|---|
| ejective | tsʼ | tɬʼ | tʃʼ |
|---|
| Nasal | m | n |
|---|
| Fricative | s | ɬ | ʃ | x | xʷ | χ | χʷ | h |
|---|
| Approximant | l | j | w |
|---|
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | | Close | i | u |
|---|
| Mid | ə |
|---|
| Open | a |
|---|
The four vowel sounds may also have the allophones [æ, ɪ~ʊ~ʌ, e, o].[6]
See also
- Shishalh
- Sechelt, British Columbia
References
1. ^{{cite book | last = Mithun | first = Marianne | title = The Languages of Native North America | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | year = 2001 | page = 487 | isbn = 978-0-521-29875-9 }}
2. ^{{cite book | last = Beaumont | first = Ron | title = She Shashishalhem, The Sechelt Language: Language, Stories, and Sayings of the Sechelt Indian people of British Columbia | publisher = Theytus Books | location = Penticton, B. C. | year = 1985 }}
3. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.firstvoices.com/en/she-shashishalhem|title=she shashishalhem Community Portal|last=null|first=null|website=www.firstvoices.com|access-date=2017-11-02}}
4. ^{{Cite news| last = Wood| first = Stephanie| title = Despite limited resources, indigenous-language programs persevere in B.C.| work = Georgia Straight, Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly| accessdate = 2014-02-27| date = 2014-01-22| url = https://www.straight.com/news/572066/despite-limited-resources-indigenous-language-programs-persevere-bc}}
5. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.firstvoices.com/en/she-shashishalhem|title=she shashishalhem Community Portal|last=null|first=null|website=www.firstvoices.com|access-date=2017-11-02}}
6. ^{{Cite book|title=Sechelt Dictionary|last=Beaumont|first=Ronald C.|publisher=|year=2011|isbn=|location=|pages=}}
External links
- First Nations Languages of British Columbia Sechelt page
- OLAC resources in and about the Sechelt language
{{Salishan languages}}{{Languages of Canada}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Shashishalh Language}}{{indigenousAmerican-lang-stub}}{{BritishColumbia-stub}} 5 : Coast Salish languages|Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast|First Nations languages in Canada|Endangered languages|Shishalh