Upper Chinook language explained

Upper Chinook
Nativename:Kiksht
States:United States
Region:Columbia River
Extinct:11 July 2012, with the death of Gladys Thompson
Familycolor:American
Fam1:Chinookan
Iso3:wac
Glotto:wasc1239

Upper Chinook, endonym Kiksht,[1] also known as Columbia Chinook, and Wasco-Wishram after its last surviving dialect, is a recently extinct language of the US Pacific Northwest. It had 69 speakers in 1990, of whom 7 were monolingual: five Wasco[2] and two Wishram. In 2001, there were five remaining speakers of Wasco.[3]

The last fully fluent speaker of Kiksht, Gladys Thompson, died in July 2012.[4] She had been honored for her work by the Oregon Legislature in 2007.[5] [6] [7] Two new speakers were teaching Kiksht at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in 2006.[8] The Northwest Indian Language Institute of the University of Oregon formed a partnership to teach Kiksht and Numu in the Warm Springs schools.[9] [10] Audio and video files of Kiksht are available at the Endangered Languages Archive.[11]

The last fluent speaker of the Wasco-Wishram dialect was Madeline Brunoe McInturff, and she died on 11 July 2006 at the age of 91.[12]

Dialects

Kathlamet has been classified as an additional dialect; it was not mutually intelligible.

Phonology

! rowspan="2"
LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarUvularGlottal
plain sibilant lateralplain labialplain labial
Nasalpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Plosive/
Affricate
plainpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
ejectivepronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
voicedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Continuantvoicelesspronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
voicedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/

Vowels in Kiksht are as follows: /u a i ɛ ə/.

References

  1. Leonard. Wesley Y.. Haynes. Erin. December 2010. Making "collaboration" collaborative: An examination of perspectives that frame linguistic field research. Language Documentation & Conservation. 4. 269–293. 10125/4482 . 1934-5275.
  2. https://archive.today/20060323201356/http://www.warmsprings.com/Warmsprings/Tribal_Community/History__Culture/Culture/ Culture: Language.
  3. Web site: Lewis & Clark—Tribes—Wasco Indians. National Geographic. 2013-02-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20021222182915/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/record_tribes_065_13_32.html. dead. December 22, 2002.
  4. News: Kristian Foden-Vencil. Last Fluent Speaker Of Oregon Tribal Language 'Kiksht' Dies. Oregon Public Broadcasting. 2013-02-26. 2012-07-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20191010153203/http://www.opb.org/news/article/last-fluent-speaker-oregon-tribal-language-kiksht-dies/. 2019-10-10.
  5. http://news.opb.org/article/last-fluent-speaker-oregon-tribal-language-kiksht-dies/?google_editors_picks=true Last Fluent Speaker of Kiksht Dies
  6. Web site: Honors Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs elder Gladys Miller Thompson for her contribution to preserving Native languages of Oregon.. 74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session. 2013-02-26.
  7. News: Zelma Smith, 1926-2010. Spilyay Tymoo, Coyote News, the Newspaper of the Warm Springs Reservation. 2013-02-25.
  8. News: Keith Chu. New speakers try to save language. The Bulletin. Bend, OR. 2013-02-25. 2006-07-30.
  9. Web site: Joanne B. Mulcahy. Warm Springs: A Convergence of Cultures. Oregon History Project. 2013-02-26. 2005.
  10. Web site: Aaron Clark. USA: Tribes Strive to Save Native Tongues. GALDU, Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 2013-02-26.
  11. Web site: Nariyo Kono. Conversational Kiksht. Endangered Languages Archive. 2013-02-25.
  12. Web site: Holy road: Speaker of Wasco language dead at 91 - Indian Country Media Network. indiancountrymedianetwork.com. en-US. 2017-05-24.

Bibliography

External links