Sahaptin (), also called Ichishkiin (; Umatilla: , Yakama: ), is one of the two-language Sahaptian branch of the

Plateau Penutian Plateau Penutian (also Shahapwailutan, Lepitan, Plateau) is a family of languages spoken in northern California, reaching through central-western Oregon to northern Washington and central-northern Idaho. The family is accepted by Campbell (202 ...

family spoken in a section of the northwestern plateau along the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

and its tributaries in southern Washington, northern Oregon, and southwestern Idaho, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

; the other language is

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

(''Niimi'ipuutímt''). Sahaptin is spoken by various tribes of the Washington Reservations; Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla; and also spoken in many smaller communities such as Celilo, Oregon. The

Yakama Nation The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat ...

tribal cultural resources program has been promoting the use of their traditional name of the language, ' ('this language'), instead of the Salish-derived name Sahaptin.

Name

Sahaptin is typically known as Ichiskiin in its various dialects. In the Yakama dialect, it is called , spelled variously , , , or . In the Umatilla dialect, it is called or . The words Sahaptin, Shahaptin, and Sahaptian are derived from the Columbia-Moses name for the

, . Cognates appear in other Interior Salishan languages, such as

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of ...

'Nez Perce' or

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

'Nez Perce', indictating the ancient age of the ethnonym. The name Sahaptin has also been spelled "Shahaptin", "Sahapten", "Shahaptian", and "Shawpatin". The first usage of the word "Sahaptin" dates to 1811, in the journal of fur trader David Thompson, who wrote of the "Chief of all the Shawpatin Tribes", referring to the Nez Perce. At the time, "Sahaptin" (and variants) was used to refer to the Nez Perce, while "Walla Walla" was used to refer to the Sahaptin-speaking peoples. Alexander Ross visited a large camp on the

Walla Walla River The Walla Walla River is a tributary of the Columbia River, joining the Columbia just above Wallula Gap in southeastern Washington in the United States. The river flows through Umatilla County, Oregon, and Walla Walla County, Washington. Its dra ...

later that year, identifying "the Walla-Wallas, the Shaw Haptens, and the Cajouses". In 1844,

Horatio Hale Horatio Emmons Hale (May 3, 1817December 28, 1896) was an American-Canadian ethnologist, philologist and businessman. He is known for his study of languages as a key for classifying ancient peoples and being able to trace their migrations. Hale ...

wrote of the "Sahaptin or Nez-Perces" language and the "Walawala" language. At the same time, the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

was also sometimes called the Sahaptin River, because it led from the Columbia River to the country of the Nez Perce. In the 1960s, the name "Sahaptin" was used by linguists, but it was rare for Sahaptin speakers to even be aware of the term. Most speakers used the terms (Yakama) or (Walla Walla and Umatilla), which mean literally "in this way/manner".

Dialects

In the '' Handbook of North American Indians'', Sahaptin was split in the following dialects and dialect clusters: * Sahaptin ** Northern Sahaptin *** Northwest cluster **** Klikatat **** Taitnapam (Upper Cowlitz) **** Upper Nisqually (Mishalpam) **** Yakima **** Pshwanwapam *** Northeast cluster **** Wanapum **** Palouse **** Lower Snake River **** Chamnapam **** Wauyukma **** Naxiyampam **** Walla Walla (Waluulapam) ** Southern Sahaptin (Columbia River dialects) *** Umatilla *** Rock Creek *** John Day *** Celilo (Wyampam) *** Tenino *** Tygh Valley

Phonology

The charts of consonants and vowels below are used in the Yakima Sahaptin (Ichishkiin) language:

Consonants

Vowels

Vowels can also be accented (e.g. /á/).

Writing system

This writing system is used for Umatilla Sahaptin. Other works use the Yakima practical alphabet.

Grammar

There are published grammars, a recent dictionary, and a corpus of published texts. Sahaptin has a split ergative syntax, with direct-inverse voicing and several applicative constructions. The

ergative case In grammar, the ergative case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that identifies a nominal phrase as the agent of a transitive verb in ergative–absolutive languages. Characteristics In such languages, the ergative case is typically m ...

inflects third-person nominals only when the direct object is first- or second-person (the examples below are from the Umatilla dialect): The direct-inverse contrast can be elicited with examples such as the following. In the inverse, the transitive direct object is coreferential with the subject in the preceding clause. The inverse (marked by the verbal prefix ''pá-'') retains its transitive status, and a patient nominal is case marked accusative. A semantic inverse is also marked by the same verbal prefix ''pá-''. In Speech Act Participant (SAP) and third-person transitive involvement, direction marking is as follows:

References

Bibliography

* * * *: part 1 (English language) *: part 2 (Sahaptin language) * cited in * * * * * * *

External links

* * * * * * *ELAR archive o
Yakima (Sahaptin) language documentation materials
{{Indigenous peoples in Washington Sahaptian languages Indigenous languages of Washington (state) Indigenous languages of Oregon Indigenous languages of Idaho