| Sekani | |
| Nativename: | Tse'khene |
| States: | Canada |
| Region: | British Columbia |
| Ethnicity: | 1,410 Sekani people (2014, FPCC) |
| Speakers: | 200, 14% of ethnic population |
| Date: | 2016 census |
| Ref: | [1] |
| Familycolor: | Dené-Yeniseian |
| Fam2: | Na-Dené |
| Fam3: | Athabaskan |
| Fam4: | Northern Athabaskan |
| Iso3: | sek |
| Glotto: | seka1250 |
| Glottorefname: | Sekani |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Script: | Latin script Canadian Aboriginal syllabics |
| Map: | Lang Status 20-CR.svg |
The Sekani language or Tse’khene is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken by the Sekani people of north-central British Columbia, Canada.
Sekani has 33 consonants:
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | lateral | plain | labial | |||||
| Stop | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| aspirated | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ejective | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| Fricative- Approximant | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Near-close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Near-open | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Open | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ |
pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, and pronounced as /link/ are reduced vowels, that is, phonetically shorter and not found word finally. Nasal vowels are rarely reduced, but there are at least two words with pronounced as /link/.
Sekani has two tones: low and high. High tone is the more common tone. Syllables phonologically marked for tone are low. For example, tsun means, while tsùn means .[2]
Nasalization of vowels is phonemic. The root *ghèl means, while the root *ghę̀l means .[2] Nasal vowels also contrast with vowels followed by pronounced as /link/. A near-minimal pair is pronounced as //ɬõ˩// and pronounced as //tɐlon// .
The orthography of the Kwadcha Tsek'ene dictionary uses the following letters.[3] [4]
| Letter | IPA | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Syll. init. | Syll. final | ||
| ’ | pronounced as /ʔ/ | ||
| a | pronounced as /ɑ/ | ||
| à | pronounced as /ɑ˩/ | ||
| ą | pronounced as /ɑ̃/ | ||
| ą̀ | pronounced as /ɑ̃˩/ | ||
| b | pronounced as /p/ | - | |
| ch | pronounced as /t͡ʃʰ/ | - | |
| ch’ | pronounced as /t͡ʃ’/ | - | |
| d | pronounced as /d/ | - | |
| dl | pronounced as /tɬ/ | - | |
| dz | pronounced as /ts/ | - | |
| e | pronounced as /e/ | ||
| ę | pronounced as /ẽ/ | ||
| è | pronounced as /e˩/ | ||
| ę̀ | pronounced as /ẽ˩/ | ||
| g | pronounced as /k/ | - | |
| gw | pronounced as /kʷ/ | - | |
| h | pronounced as /h/ | ||
| i | pronounced as /ɪ/ | - | |
| į | pronounced as /ɪ̃/ | - | |
| ì | pronounced as /ɪ˩/ | - | |
| į̀ | pronounced as /ɪ̃˩/ | - | |
| j | pronounced as /tʃ/ | - | |
| ii | pronounced as /i/ | ||
| įį | pronounced as /ĩ/ | ||
| ìì | pronounced as /i˩/ | ||
| į̀į̀ | pronounced as /ĩ˩/ | ||
| k | pronounced as /kʰ/ | pronounced as /k/ | |
| k’ | pronounced as /k’/ | - | |
| kh | pronounced as /x/ | ||
| gh | pronounced as /ɣ/ | ||
| kw | pronounced as /kʷ/ | - | |
| kw’ | pronounced as /kʷ’/ | - | |
| l | pronounced as /l/ | ||
| lh | pronounced as /ɬ/ | ||
| m | pronounced as /m/ | ||
| n | pronounced as /n/ | ||
| o | pronounced as /o/ | ||
| ǫ | pronounced as /õ/ | ||
| ò | pronounced as /o˩/ | ||
| ǫ̀ | pronounced as /õ˩/ | ||
| oo | pronounced as /u/ | ||
| ǫǫ | pronounced as /ũ/ | ||
| òò | pronounced as /u˩/ | ||
| ǫ̀ǫ̀ | pronounced as /ũ˩/ | ||
| p | pronounced as /pʰ/ | pronounced as /p/ | |
| s | pronounced as /s/ | ||
| z | pronounced as /z/ | ||
| sh | pronounced as /ʃ/ | ||
| t | pronounced as /tʰ/ | pronounced as /t/ | |
| t’ | pronounced as /t’/ | - | |
| tl | pronounced as /tɬ/ | ||
| tl’ | pronounced as /tɬ’/ | - | |
| ts | pronounced as /tsʰ/ | pronounced as /ts/ | |
| ts’ | pronounced as /ts’/ | - | |
| u | pronounced as /ɐ/ | - | |
| ų | pronounced as /ɐ̃/ | - | |
| ù | pronounced as /ɐ˩/ | - | |
| ų̀ | pronounced as /ɐ̃˩/ | - | |
| w | pronounced as /w/ | ||
| yh | pronounced as /ç/ | - | |
| y | pronounced as /j/ | ||
| zh | pronounced as /ʒ/ | - | |
In addition, (wu) represents pronounced as /link/, (iii) represents pronounced as /link/, (ee) represents pronounced as /link/, and (aa) represents pronounced as /link/.
These words are from the FirstVoices dictionary for Kwadacha Tsek'ene dialect.[3]
| Kwadacha Tsek'ene | English | |
|---|---|---|
| dune | man, person | |
| tlįį | dog | |
| wudzįįh | caribou | |
| yus | snow | |
| chǫ | rain | |
| k’wus | cloud | |
| kwùn | fire (n) | |
| ’įįbèh | summer | |
| too | water | |
| mun | lake | |
| nun | land | |
| tselh | axe | |
| ʼukèʼ | foot | |
| ’àtse | my grandfather | |
| ’àtsǫǫ | my grandmother | |
| lhìghè’ | one | |
| lhèkwudut’e | two | |
| tadut’e | three | |
| dįįdut’e | four | |
| ǫ | yes | |
| Tlįį duchę̀’ ’ehdasde | January | |
| Dahyusè’ nùkehde wìlę | February | |
| ’Iihts’ii nùtsudawit’į̀į̀h | March | |
| Nùts’iide | March | |
| Dasè’ | April | |
| ’Ut’ǫ̀’ kùlhaghnukehde wìlę | May | |
| ’Ut’ǫ̀’ kùnuyehde | May | |
| Jìje dinììdulh | July | |
| Yhììh nunutsunde wìlę | August | |
| Yhììh ukudeh’àsde | September | |
| ’Udììtl’ǫh ’uwit’į̀į̀h | October | |
| Yus ’ut’į̀į̀h | November | |
| Khuye ’uwììjàh | December |
