Tahltan language

Tahltan
Tałtan ẕāke, dah dẕāhge, didene keh
Native toCanada
Ethnicity2,460 Tahltan people (2014, FPCC)
Native speakers
95 (2016)
Language codes
ISO 639-3tht
Glottologtahl1239
ELPTāłtān (Tahltan)
Tahltan is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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.

Tahltan, Tāłtān, also called Tałtan ẕāke ("Tahltan people language"), dah dẕāhge ("our language") or didene keh ("this people’s way") is a poorly documented Northern Athabaskan language historically spoken by the Tahltan people (also "Nahanni") who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. Tahltan is a critically endangered language. Several linguists classify Tahltan as a dialect of the same language as Tagish and Kaska (Krauss and Golla 1981, Mithun 1999).

Language revitalization

As of May 2013, language researcher Dr. Judy Thompson estimated that there are 30 Tahltan speakers. A new Language and Culture office is exploring evening "language immersion" classes, a Master-Apprentice program, and creating a "language nest" for teaching the language to young children. Scholarships are planned for part-time language learners.

Lacking written documentation, it was unclear to the language revitalization coordinator how to teach the language, and how to explain the grammar. "After a year of study, Oscar Dennis says he, along with Reginald and Ryan Dennis, have finally cracked the code on Tahltan language’s fundamental patterns." As a Dene language, like Navajo, Tahltan has “encoded” patterns in which small pieces are added to words to create meaning. "Dr. Gregory Anderson from the Living Tongues Institute visited our territory, and was so impressed with the team’s work that he said he 'couldn’t improve upon it.'"

A digital archive of Tahltan recordings, located "at the Tahltan Language Revitalization Offices in Dease Lake, Iskut and Telegraph Creek" can be used on iPods.

Phonology

Consonants

There are 47 consonant sounds:

Labial Dental Inter-
dental
Post-
alveolar
Velar Uvular Glottal
plain sibilant lateral plain labial
Nasal plain m n
voiceless
glottalized
Plosive/
Affricate
voiced b
unaspirated t ts k q ʔ
aspirated tsʰ tɬʰ tθʰ tʃʰ kʷʰ
ejective tsʼ tɬʼ tθʼ tʃʼ kʼʷ
Fricative voiceless s ɬ θ ʃ x χ h
voiced z ɮ ð ʒ ɣ ɣʷ ʁ
Approximant j w
  1. ^ a b Phonemes /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are very limited in use and may or may not be phonemes.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
ɪ ʊ
Mid ɛ ə ʌ o
Open ɑ

Phonological processes


This page was last updated at 2024-01-25 17:50 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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