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:

	Labial	Alveolar			Velar		Uvular		Glottal
central		lateral	sibilant	plain	labial	plain	labial
Plosive	voiced	pronounced as /b/	pronounced as /d/	pronounced as /d͡l/^[2]	pronounced as /d͡z/	pronounced as /ɡ/	pronounced as /ɡʷ/	pronounced as /ɢ/	pronounced as /ɢʷ/
	voiceless	pronounced as /p/	pronounced as /t/	pronounced as /t͡ɬ/	pronounced as /t͡s/	pronounced as /k/	pronounced as /kʷ/	pronounced as /q/	pronounced as /qʷ/
	ejective	pronounced as /pʼ/	pronounced as /tʼ/	pronounced as /t͡ɬʼ/	pronounced as /t͡sʼ/	pronounced as /kʼ/	pronounced as /kʷʼ/	pronounced as /qʼ/	pronounced as /qʷʼ/
Fricative				pronounced as /ɬ/	pronounced as /s/	pronounced as /x/	pronounced as /xʷ/	pronounced as /χ/	pronounced as /χʷ/
Sonorant	short	pronounced as /m/	pronounced as /n/	pronounced as /l/		pronounced as /j/	pronounced as /w/			pronounced as /ɦ/
	long	pronounced as /mː/	pronounced as /nː/	pronounced as /lː/
	glottalized	pronounced 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:

	Front			Central			Back
	short	long	glottalized	short	long	glottalized	short	long	glottalized
Close	pronounced 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

• The Heiltsuk-Oweek'ala Language
• Bibliography of Materials on the Heiltsuk Language
• The Wakashan Languages
• map of Northwest Coast First Nations (including Oowekyala, shown as "Oowekeeno")

Bibliography

• Boas, Franz. (1928). Bella Bella texts. Columbia University contributions to anthropology (No. 5).
• Boas, Franz. (1932). Bella Bella tales. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society (No. 25).
• Hanuse, R., Sr.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (Eds.) (1983?). The Adjee and the Little Girl. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
• Hilton, Suzanne; & Rath, John C. (1982). Oowekeeno oral traditions. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
• Howe, Darin. (1998). Aspects of Heiltsuk laryngeal phonology. Ms., University of British Columbia.
• Howe, Darin M. (2000). Oowekyala segmental phonology. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Ottawa). https://wcmprod2.ucalgary.ca/dflynn/files/dflynn/Howe2000.pdf
• Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). What time is it? Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
• Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). Fishing at Rivers Inlet. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
• Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). Qaquthanugva uikala. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
• Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). Sisa'kvimas. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
• Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). ’Katemxvs ’Wuik’ala. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
• Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1984?). Oowekyala words. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
• Lincoln, Neville J.; & Rath, John C. (1980). North Wakashan comparative root list. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
• Poser, William J. (2003). The status of documentation for British Columbia native languages. Yinka Dene Language Institute Technical Report (No. 2). Vanderhoof, British Columbia: Yinka Dene Language Institute.
• Rath, John C. (1981). A practical Heiltsuk-English dictionary. Canadian Ethnology Service, Mercury Series paper (No. 75). Ottawa: National Museum of Man.
• Stevenson, David. (1980). The Oowekeeno people: A cultural history. Ottawa, Ontario: National Museum of Man (now Hull, Quebec: Museum of Civilization). (Unpublished).
• Stevenson, David. (1982). The ceremonial names of the Oowekeeno people of Rivers Inlet. Ottawa, Ontario: National Museum of Man (now Hull, Quebec: Museum of Civilization). (Unpublished).
• Storie, Susanne. (Ed.). (1973). Oweekano Stories. (Special Collections: E99). Victoria: British Columbia Indian Advisory Committee.
• Windsor, Evelyn W. (1982). Oowekeeno oral traditions as told by the late chief Simon Walkus, Sr. Hilton, S.; & Rath, J. C. (Eds.). Mercury series (No. 84). Ottawa: National Museum of Man.

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.