Heiltsuk , ''HÃÉ«zaqv'', also known as Bella Bella and Haihais, is a dialect of the North
Wakashan
Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
As is typical of the Nor ...
(Kwakiutlan) language
Heiltsuk-Oowekyala that is spoken by the Haihai (
Xai'xais) and Bella Bella
First Nations
First nations are indigenous settlers or bands.
First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to:
Indigenous groups
*List of Indigenous peoples
*First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
peoples of the
Central Coast region of the
Canadian province
Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...
of
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, around the communities of
Bella Bella and
Klemtu,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. Bella Bella is the headquarters of the
Heiltsuk Nation
The Heiltsuk Nation (Heiltsuk_dialect, Heiltsuk: ''HaÃÉ«zaqv'') is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations government in the Central Coast Regional District, British Columbia, Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, ...
government. There are only seven fluent speakers left of Heiltsuk.
Heiltsuk is spoken in the villages of Bella Bella and Klemtu, both located on coastal islands in British Columbia not far from Bella Coola and Ocean Falls. It is one of the four Northern Wakashan languages, the others being Haisla (spoken in Kitimaat), Oowekyala (in Rivers Inlet), and Kwakwala (in Alert Bay, Port Hardy, and various settlements).
Heiltsuk is considered to be a dialect of
Heiltsuk-Oowekyala, which, like neighbouring
Haisla Haisla may refer to:
* Haisla people, an indigenous people living in Kitamaat, British Columbia, Canada.
* Haisla language, their northern Wakashan language.
* Haisla Nation
The Haisla Nation is the Indian Act-mandated band government which repr ...
and
Kwak'wala, are part of the
Northern Wakashan language group. Heiltsuk has both conversational and ceremonial forms.
Phonology
Consonants
The following is a chart of the consonants in Heiltsuk.
The resonants in intervocalic forms function similarly to vowels, and so will be charted below.
Vowels
Heiltsuk has phonemic short, long, and glottalized vowels. There are mainly three vowel sounds in the Heiltsuk dialect which are written as ,
although nine other sounds are heard as
allophones
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is one of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, the voiceless plosi ...
¨, ɪ, ÊŠ, É›, É™, É”, æ, ÊŒ, É‘
Tone
Vowels and the syllabic resonants can take either high or low tone. High tone is written with an
acute. Syllabic resonants are marked with a dot underneath (). Glottalized resonants may also be syllabic (), but may only take low tone.
[
The velar and glottal resonants are sometimes preaspirated.]
Writing system
References
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).
* Howe, Darin M. (2000). Oowekyala segmental phonology. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Ottawa).
* Mithun, Marianne. (1999). ''The languages of Native North America''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* 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. (1974). ''On the Phonological Description of the Heiltsuk Language''. Dutch Contributions to the 9th International Conference on Salish Languages.
* Rath, John C. (1981). ''A practical Heiltsuk-English dictionary with a grammatical introduction''. Mercury Series paper, Canadian Ethnology Service, (No. 75). Vol. i & ii. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
* Windsor, Evelyn W. (1982). ''Oowekeeno oral traditions as told by the late chief Simon Walkus, Sr.'' Hilton, S.; & Rath, J. (Eds.). Mercury series (No. 84). Ottawa: National Museum of Man.
External links
The Heiltsuk-Oweek'ala Language
(YDLI)
(YDLI)
Heiltsuk Nation Website
Heiltsuk Tourism Website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiltsuk Language
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Wakashan languages
Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast
First Nations languages in Canada
Central Coast of British Columbia
Endangered Wakashan languages