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Chipewyan language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Chippewa language.
Chipewyan
Dënesųłinë́
ᑌᓀ ᓱᒼᕄᓀ ᔭᕠᐁ (Dënesųłinë́ yatié)
Dënesųłinë́ sign at La Loche Airport
Pronunciation[tènɛ̀sũ̀ɬìné jàtʰìɛ́]
Native toCanada
RegionNorthern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba; southern Northwest Territories and Nunavut
Ethnicity30,910 Chipewyan people (2016 census)[1]
Native speakers
11,325, 41% of ethnic population (2016 census)[2]
Dialects
  • Dënesųłinë́ yatié
  • Dënedédliné yatié
  • Tthetsánót’iné yatié
  • Tetsǫ́t’iné yatié
Official status
Official language in
Canada (Northwest Territories)[3]
Language codes
ISO 639-2chp
ISO 639-3chp
Glottologchip1261
ELPDënesųłiné
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
PeopleDënesųłinë́
LanguageDënesųłinë́ yatıé
CountryDënesųłinë́ nëné,
Denendeh
ᑌᓀᐣᑌᐧ

Chipewyan /ˌtʃɪpəˈwaɪən/[4] or Dënesųłinë́ (ethnonym: Dënesųłinë́ yatié[5][6] IPA: [tènɛ̀sũ̀ɬìné jàtʰìɛ́]), often simply called Dëne, is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of northwestern Canada. It is categorized as part of the Northern Athabaskan language family. It has nearly 12,000 speakers in Canada, mostly in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.[7] It has official status only in the Northwest Territories, alongside eight other aboriginal languages: Cree, Tlicho, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey and South Slavey.[3][8]

Most Chipewyan people now use Dëne and Dënesųłinë́ to refer to themselves as a people and to their language, respectively. The Saskatchewan communities of Fond-du-Lac,[9] Black Lake,[10] Wollaston Lake[11] and La Loche are among these.

Geographic distribution and speakers

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Chipewyan language is located in Canada
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Villages in Canada with a Dënësųłinë́-speaking population
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Fifteen communities in Canada with Dënesųłinë́ populations. Larger dots are villages with over 1,000 speakers.
Welcome signs by the La Loche Airport
Close-up of Dënesųłinë́ and English sign

In the 2011 Canada Census 11,860 people chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue. 70.6% were located in Saskatchewan and 15.2% were located in Alberta.[12]

Not all were from the historical Chipewyan regions south and east of Great Slave Lake. Approximately 11,000 of those who chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011 are Dëne/Chipewyan with 7,955 (72%) in Saskatchewan, 1,005 (9%) in Manitoba, 510 plus urban dwellers in Alberta and 260 plus urban dwellers in the Northwest Territories. The communities within the Dëne traditional areas are shown below:

Saskatchewan

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The Dënesųłinë́-speaking communities of Saskatchewan are located in the northern half of the province. The area from the upper Churchill River west of Pinehouse Lake all the way north to Lake Athabasca and from Lake Athabasca east to the north end of Reindeer Lake is home to 7410 people who chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.[13]

Prince Albert had 265 residents who chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011, Saskatoon had 165, the La Ronge Population Centre had 55 and Meadow Lake had 30.[13]

3,050 were in the Lake Athabasca-Fond du Lac River area including Black Lake and Wollaston Lake in the communities of:

3,920 were in the upper Churchill River area including Peter Pond Lake, Churchill Lake, Lac La Loche, Descharme Lake, Garson Lake and Turnor Lake in the communities of:

Manitoba

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Two isolated communities are in northern Manitoba. The two Manitoban communities use Dënesųłinë́ syllabics to write their language.

Alberta

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The Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake Economic Region in the north eastern portion of Alberta from Fort Chipewyan to the Cold Lake area has the following communities. 510 residents of this region chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.[13]

  • Fort Chipewyan 45 out of 847 residents chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.[13]
  • Fort McKay 30 out of 562 residents chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.
  • Janvier (Janvier 194) 145 out of 295 residents chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.
  • Janvier South 35 out of 104 residents chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.
  • Cold Lake 149 105 out of 594 residents chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.
  • Cold Lake 149 B, Alberta 25 out of 149 residents chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.

Northwest Territories

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Three communities are located south of Great Slave Lake in Region 5. 260 residents of Region 5 chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.[13]

  • Fort Smith 30 out of 2093 residents chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.[13]
  • Fort Resolution 95 out of 474 residents chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.[13]
  • Lutselk'e 120 out of 295 residents chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.[13]

Phonology

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Consonants

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The 39 consonants of Dënesųłinë́:

Bilabial Inter-
dental 		Dental Post-
alveolar 		Dorsal Glottal
plain sibilant lateral plain labial
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩
Plosive/
Affricate 		plain p ⟨b⟩ tθ ⟨ddh⟩ t ⟨d⟩ ts ⟨dz⟩ tɬ ⟨dl⟩ tʃ ⟨j⟩ k ⟨g⟩ kʷ ⟨gw⟩ ʔ ⟨’⟩
aspirated tθʰ ⟨tth⟩ tʰ ⟨t⟩ tsʰ ⟨ts⟩ tɬʰ ⟨tł⟩ tʃʰ ⟨ch⟩ kʰ ⟨k⟩ kʷʰ ⟨kw⟩
ejective tθʼ ⟨tthʼ⟩ tʼ ⟨tʼ⟩ tsʼ ⟨tsʼ⟩ tɬʼ ⟨tłʼ⟩ tʃʼ ⟨chʼ⟩ kʼ ⟨kʼ⟩ kʷʼ ⟨kwʼ⟩
Fricative voiceless θ ⟨th⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ɬ ⟨ł⟩ ʃ ⟨sh⟩ χ ⟨hh⟩ χʷ ⟨hhw⟩ h ⟨h⟩
voiced ð ⟨dh⟩ z ⟨z⟩ ɮ ⟨l⟩ ʒ ⟨zh⟩ ʁ ⟨gh⟩ ʁʷ ⟨ghw⟩
Tap ɾ ⟨r⟩
Approximant l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩

The inter-dental series of ⟨ddh⟩, ⟨tth⟩, ⟨tthʼ⟩, ⟨th⟩, and ⟨dh⟩ corresponds to s-like sibilants in other Na-Dené languages.[14]

Vowels

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Dënesųłinë́ vowel diagram

Dënesųłinë́ has vowels of six differing qualities.

Front Central Back
Close i ⟨i⟩ u ⟨u⟩
Close-mid e ⟨ë⟩ o ⟨o⟩
Open-mid ɛ ⟨e⟩
Open a ⟨a⟩

Most vowels can be either

  • oral or nasal. Nasals are marked with an ogonek in the orthography: ⟨ą ę ę̈ į ǫ ų⟩.
  • short or long

As a result, Dënesųłinë́ has 24 phonemic vowels:

Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close oral i iː u uː
nasal ĩ ĩː ũ ũː
Close-mid oral e eː o oː
nasal ẽ ẽː õ õː
Open-mid oral ɛ ɛː
nasal ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː
Open oral a aː
nasal ã ãː

Dënesųłinë́ also has 9 oral and nasal diphthongs of the form vowel + /j/.

Front Central Back
oral nasal oral nasal oral nasal
Close uj ũj
Mid ej ẽj əj oj õj
Open aj ãj

Tone

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Dënesųłinë́ has two tones:

  • high (marked with acute accents in the orthography: ⟨á é ë́ ı́ ó ú⟩)
  • low

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Canada, Government of Canada, Statistics (25 October 2017). "Aboriginal Ancestry Responses (73), Single and Multiple Aboriginal Responses (4), Residence on or off reserve (3), Residence inside or outside Inuit Nunangat (7), Age (8A) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2016 Census – 25% Sample Data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2017-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Language Highlight Tables, 2016 Census - Aboriginal mother tongue, Aboriginal language spoken most often at home and Other Aboriginal language(s) spoken regularly at home for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census – 100% Data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Government of Canada, Statistics. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  3. ^ a b "Official Languages of the Northwest Territories" (PDF). Northwest Territories – Education, Culture and Employment. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-06. Retrieved 2015-10-18. (map)
  4. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
  5. ^ "Official Languages of the Northwest Territories". Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Languages Overview". Office of the Northwest Territories Official Languages Commissioner. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  7. ^ Statistics Canada: 2006 Census Archived October 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Sum of 'Chipewyan' and 'Dene'.
  8. ^ Northwest Territories Official Languages Act, 1988 Archived March 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (as amended 1988, 1991–1992, 2003)
  9. ^ "Prince Albert Grand Council (Fond-du-Lac)". Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
  10. ^ "Prince Albert Grand Council (Black Lake)". Archived from the original on 2014-04-08. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
  11. ^ "Prince Albert Grand Council (Wollaston Lake)". Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
  12. ^ "Statistics Canada Table 1 (Aboriginal language families) Canada Census 2011". 2011. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Community Profiles (Canada Census 2011)". 2011. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  14. ^ Goddard, Pliny (1912). "Analysis of Cold Lake Dialect, Chipewyan". Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History. 10 (2): 67–170.

Bibliography

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  • Cook, Eung-Do (2004). A Grammar of Dëne Su̜łiné (Chipewyan). Winnipeg: Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics. ISBN 0-921064-17-9. OCLC 54906360.
  • Cook, Eung-Do (2006). "The Patterns of Consonantal Acquisition and Change in Chipewyan (Dëne Sųłiné)". International Journal of American Linguistics. 72 (2): 236. doi:10.1086/507166. S2CID 143567603.
  • De Reuse, Willem (2006). "A Grammar of Dëne Sųłiné (Chipewyan) By Eung-Do Cook". International Journal of American Linguistics. 72 (4): 535. doi:10.1086/513060.
  • Elford, Leon W. (2001). Dene sųłiné yati ditł'ísé = Dene sųłiné reader. Prince Albert, SK: Northern Canada Mission Distributors. ISBN 1-896968-28-7.
  • Gessner, Suzanne (2005). "Properties of Tone in Dëne Sųłiné". In Hargus, Sharon; Rice, Keren (eds.). Athabaskan prosody. Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science. Vol. 269. John Benjamins. pp. 229–248. doi:10.1075/cilt.269.13ges. ISBN 9789027247834.
  • Li, Fang-Kuei (1946). "Chipewyan". In Osgood, C.; Hoijer, H. (eds.). Linguistic Structures of Native America. The Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology. Vol. 6. New York: Viking Fund. pp. 398–423. OCLC 7198204. (Reprinted 1963, 1965, 1967, & 1971, New York: Johnson Reprint Corp.).
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