Klallam language

Klallam or Clallam (native name: nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əmúcən) is a nearly extinct Straits Salishan language that was traditionally spoken by the Klallam peoples at Beecher Bay on Vancouver Island in British Columbia and across the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Today it has only 4 remaining native speakers, though revival efforts exist.

Klallam is closely related to North Straits Salish, but not mutually intelligible.

Sounds

Consonants

The 34 consonants of Klallam written in its orthography, with IPA in brackets when different:

• Glottalized sonorants /mʼ/, /nʼ/, /ɴʼ/, /jʼ/, /wʼ/ are realized either

1. with creaky voice: [m̰], [n̰], [ɴ̰], [j̰], [w̰],
2. as decomposed glottal stop + sonorant: [ʔm], [ʔn], [ʔɴ], [ʔj], [ʔw], or
3. as decomposed sonorant + glottal stop: [mʔ], [nʔ], [ɴʔ], [jʔ], [wʔ]

• /k/ is borrowed from English and occurs in only a few words.
• /l/ also rarely occurs in Klallam.
• The alveolar affricate /t͡s/ contrasts with a sequence of stop + fricative /ts/.

Vowels

The 4 vowels of Klallam:

• Vowels may be stressed or unstressed. Unstressed vowels are shorter and lower in intensity than stressed vowels.
• Vowels are lowered when followed by a glottal stop /ʔ/:

'bird'   /t͡sʼiʔt͡sʼəmʼ/ → [t͡sʼɛʔt͡sʼəmʼ ]

'deer'   /huʔpt/ → [ hoʔpt ]

'salmon backbone'   /sχəʔqʷəʔ/ → [ sχaʔqʷaʔ ]

• Vowels are also often lowered when followed by a glottalized sonorant (i.e., /mʼ/, /nʼ/, /ɴʼ/, /jʼ/, /wʼ/).

Grammar

Bibliography

• Brooks, Pamela. (1997). John P. Harrington's Klallam and Chemakum place names. Proceedings of the International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages, 32, 144-188.
• Fleisher, Mark. (1976). Clallam: A study in Coast Salish ethnolinguistics. (Doctoral disseration, Washington State University).
• Fleisher, Mark. (1977). Aspects of Clallam phonology and their implication of reconstruction. Proceedings of the International Conference on Salishan Languages, 12, 132-141.
• Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
• Montler, Timothy. (1996). Languages and dialects in Straits Salishan. Proceedings of the International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages, 31, 249-256.
• Montler, Timothy. (1996). Some Klallam paradigms. Proceedings of the International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages, 31, 257-264.
• Montler, Timothy. (1998). The major processes affecting Klallam vowels. Proceedings of the International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages, 33, 366-373.
• Montler, Timothy. (1999). Language and dialect variation in Straits Salishan. Anthropological linguistics, 41 (4), 462-502.
• Montler, Timothy. (2005). [Personal communication].
• Thompson, Laurence; & Thompson, M. Terry. (1969). Metathesis as a grammatical device. International Journal of American Linguistics, 35, 213-219.
• Thompson, Laurence; & Thompson, M. Terry. (1971). Clallam: A preview. University of California Publications in Linguistics, 65, 251-294.
• Thompson, Laurence; Thompson, M. Terry; & Efrat, Barbara. (1974). Some phonological developments in Straits Salish. International Journal of American Linguistics, 40, 182-196.

External links

• Klallam language (Timothy Montler's site) (main page)
  • Introduction
  • Map
  • Family tree
  • Alphabet
  • Wordlist
  • Phrases
  • "The Flood" (story)
  • "Two Deaf Fishermen" (story)
• Preserving a Culture
• Linguist keeping language, culture of Pacific Northwest tribes alive
• Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
• Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe
• Washington Post: "Northwest Tribe Struggles to Revive Its Language"
• Elaine Grinnell, Klallam storyteller and basket & drum maker
• Klallam at Ethnologue