Oowekyala Explained

Oowekyala
Nativename:’Wuik̓ala
Region:Northern Central Coast Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
Ethnicity:Wuikinuxv people
Speakers:6
Date:2014, FPCC
Familycolor:American
Fam1:Wakashan
Fam2:Northern
Fam3:Heiltsuk–Oowekyala
Isoexception:dialect
Glotto:oowe1239
Glottorefname:Ooweekeeno

Oowekyala,[1] also Ooweekeeno and ’Wuik̓ala in the language itself, is a dialect (or a sublanguage) of Heiltsuk–Oowekyala, a Northern Wakashan language spoken around Rivers Inlet and Owikeno Lake in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv, whose government is the Wuikinuxv Nation.

The name is also spelled Wuikala, Wuikenukv, Oweekeno, Wikeno, Owikeno, Oowekeeno, Oweekano, Awikenox, Oowek'yala, Oweek'ala.

Sounds

Consonants

The 45 consonants of Oowekyala:

LabialAlveolarVelarUvularGlottal
centrallateralsibilantplainlabialplainlabial
Plosivevoicedpronounced as /b/pronounced as /d/pronounced as /d͡l/[2] pronounced as /d͡z/pronounced as /ɡ/pronounced as /ɡʷ/pronounced as /ɢ/pronounced as /ɢʷ/
voicelesspronounced as /p/pronounced as /t/pronounced as /t͡ɬ/pronounced as /t͡s/pronounced as /k/pronounced as /kʷ/pronounced as /q/pronounced as /qʷ/
ejectivepronounced as /pʼ/pronounced as /tʼ/pronounced as /t͡ɬʼ/pronounced as /t͡sʼ/pronounced as /kʼ/pronounced as /kʷʼ/pronounced as /qʼ/pronounced as /qʷʼ/
Fricativepronounced as /ɬ/pronounced as /s/pronounced as /x/pronounced as /xʷ/pronounced as /χ/pronounced as /χʷ/
Sonorantshortpronounced as /m/pronounced as /n/pronounced as /l/pronounced as /j/pronounced as /w/pronounced as /ɦ/
longpronounced as /mː/pronounced as /nː/pronounced as /lː/
glottalizedpronounced as /mˀ/pronounced as /nˀ/pronounced as /lˀ/pronounced as /jˀ/pronounced as /wˀ/pronounced as /ʔ/

Phonologically, affricates are treated as stops, and nasals and approximants are treated as sonorants. Additionally, pronounced as //ɦ// and pronounced as //ʔ// are treated as sonorants.

Vowels

Oowekyala has phonemic short, long, and glottalized vowels:

 FrontCentralBack
shortlongglottalizedshortlongglottalizedshortlongglottalized
Closepronounced as /i/pronounced as /iː/pronounced as /iˀ/   pronounced as /u/pronounced as /uː/pronounced as /uˀ/
Mid   pronounced as /ə/     
Open   pronounced as /a/pronounced as /aː/pronounced as /aˀ/   

Phonotactics

Oowekyala, like Nuxálk (Bella Coola), allows long sequences of obstruents, as in the following 7-obstruent word:

pronounced as /[t͡sʼkʷʼχtʰt͡ɬʰkʰt͡sʰ]/  'the invisible one here-with-me will be short'   (Howe 2000: 5)

[kxlqs{{IPA|ɬ}}{{IPA|t͡s}}{{IPA|xʷ}}] kxlqsłcxv - you struck a match for me [3]

External links

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. William C. Sturtevant, 1978. Handbook of North American Indians: Northwest Coast
  2. Not pronounced as /[d͡ɮ]/. Howe (2000:24)
  3. Web site: OOWEKYALA SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY DARIN MATHEW HOWE. B.A. (Hons.), University of Ottawa, 1994 M.A., University of Ottawa, PDF. docplayer.net. 2018-08-13.