Lushootseed
Lushootseed (/lʌˈʃuːtsiːd/ luh-SHOOT-tseed),[3][a] historically known as Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, or Skagit-Nisqually, is a Central Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Lushootseed is the general name for the dialect continuum composed of two main dialects, Northern Lushootseed and Southern Lushootseed, which are further separated into smaller sub-dialects.
For a list of all Lushootseed-speaking peoples, see List of Lushootseed-speaking peoples.Lushootseed
North Western Washington, around the Puget Sound
2008[1]
472 L2 speakers (2022)[2]
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Coast Salish
- Central
- Lushootseed
- Central
Lushootseed was historically spoken across southern and western Puget Sound roughly between modern-day Bellingham and Olympia by a large number of Indigenous peoples, numbering 12,000 at its peak.[4][5] Today, however, it is primarily a ceremonial language, spoken for heritage or symbolic purposes, and there are about 472 second-language speakers.[2] It is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger and classified as Reawakening by Ethnologue.[6] Despite this, many Lushootseed-speaking tribes are attempting to revitalize their language in daily use, with several language programs and classes offered across the region.[7][8][9][10][11]
Name[edit]
Lushootseed has been historically known as Niskwalli/Nisqually, Puget Sound Salish, Puget Salish, Pugué, Squaxon,[6] Skagit, and Skagit-Nisqually.
The name of the language in Lushootseed is pronounced (and spelled) variably across different dialects. In the northern dialects, the language is called dxʷləšucid. In most southern dialects, it is txʷəlšucid, whereas in the Muckleshoot dialect it is pronounced xʷəlšucid. The southern pronunciation txʷəlšucid is derived from the original by de-voicing d into t and switching the position of l and ə.[12]
The English name "Lushootseed" is derived from dxʷləšucid. The prefix dxʷ- along with the suffix -ucid means "language." The meaning of the root word, ləš, has been debated. According to linguist Thom Hess, ləš is an old word for "people," related to the word "Salish."[13]
Language revitalization[edit]
As of 2013, the Tulalip Tribes' Lushootseed Language Department teaches classes in Lushootseed,[7][8] and its website has Lushootseed phrases with audio.[21] The Tulalip Montessori School also teaches Lushootseed to young children.[9] Tulalip Lushootseed language teachers also teach at the Tulalip Early Learning Academy, Quil Ceda-Tulalip Elementary in the Marysville School District, Totem Middle School, and Marysville-Getchell, Marysville-Pilchuck and Heritage High Schools. Since 1996, the Tulalip Lushootseed Department has hosted the annual dxʷləšucid sʔəsqaləkʷ ʔə ti wiw̓suʔ, a summer language camp for children. Teachers also offer family classes in the evening every year, making Lushootseed a family experience.
Wa He Lut Indian School teaches Lushootseed to Native elementary school children in their Native Language and Culture program.
As of 2013, an annual Lushootseed conference is held at Seattle University.[11] A course in Lushootseed language and literature has been offered at Evergreen State College.[22]
Lushootseed has also been used as a part of environmental history courses at Pacific Lutheran University.[1] It has been spoken during the annual Tribal Canoe Journeys that takes place throughout the Salish Sea.
There are also efforts within the Puyallup Tribe. Their website and social media, aimed at anyone interested in learning the language, are updated often.[10]
To facilitate the use of Lushootseed in electronic files, in 2008 the Tulaip Tribes contracted type designer Juliet Shen to create Unicode-compliant typefaces that met the needs of the language. Drawing upon traditional Lushootseed carvings and artwork, she developed two typefaces: Lushootseed School and Lushootseed Sulad.[23][24]
In the summer of 2016, the first ever adult immersion program in Lushootseed was offered at the University of Washington's Tacoma campus. It was sponsored by The Puyallup Tribal Language Program in partnership with University of Washington Tacoma and its School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.[25] A similar program is scheduled to be offered in August 2019, with the instructors Danica Sterud Miller, Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington Tacoma, and Zalmai Zahir, a PhD student of theoretical linguistics at the University of Oregon.[26]
Lushootseed consists of two main dialect groups, Northern Lushootseed (dxʷləšucid) and Southern Lushootseed (txʷəlšucid~xʷəlšucid). Both of these dialects can then be broken down into subdialects:[27]
The Lower and Upper Skagit dialects have variously been categorized as being different from one another, or one in the same, but are both recognized as being distinct from the Sauk dialect.[13][27] There is no consensus on whether the Skykomish dialect should be grouped into Northern or Southern Lushootseed.[27][28]
Dialects differ in several ways. Pronunciation between dialects is different. In Northern dialects, the stress of the word generally falls on the first non-schwa of the root, whereas in the Southern dialects, stress usually is placed on the penultimate syllable. Some words do not fit the pattern, but generally, pronunciation is consistent in those ways. Northern Lushootseed also was affected by progressive dissimilation targeting palatal fricatives and affricates, whereas Southern Lushootseed was not, leading to some words like čəgʷəš ("wife") being pronounced čəgʷas in Northern dialects.[27]
Different dialects often use completely different words. For example, the word for "raccoon" is x̌aʔx̌əlus in Northern Lushootseed, whereas bəlups is used in Southern Lushootseed.[27]
Morphology also differs between Northern and Southern Lushootseed. Northern Lushootseed and Southern Lushootseed have related, but different determiner systems. There are also several differences in utilizing the prefix for marking "place where" or "reason for," in subordinate clauses, with Northern Lushootseed using dəxʷ- and Southern Lushootseed using sxʷ-.[27]
See Determiners for more information on this dialectical variation.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Lushootseed:
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: