Nootka language
The provenance of the term "Nuu-chah-nulth", meaning "along the outside " dates from the 1970s, when the various groups of speakers of this language joined together, disliking the term "Nootka" (which means "go around" and was mistakenly understood to be the name of a place, which was actually called Yuquot).
The dictionary, however, is a subject of controversy, with a number of Nuu-chah-nulth elders questioning the author's right to disclose their language. It is based on both work with current speakers and notes from linguist Edward Sapir, taken almost a century ago. Nootkan words in Chinook Jargon include hiyu ("many"), from Nuu-chah-nulth for "ten", siah ("far"), from the Nuu-chah-nulth for "sky".Ī dictionary of the language, with some 7,500 entries, was created after 15 years of research. It is thought that oceanic commerce and exchanges between the Nuu-chah-nulth and other Southern Wakashan speakers with the Chinookan-speaking peoples of the lower Columbia River led to the foundations of the trade jargon that became known as Chinook. The Nuu-chah-nulth language contributed much of the vocabulary of the Chinook Jargon. He made an effort to learn the language, and in 1815 published a memoir with a brief glossary of its terms. Jewitt, an English blacksmith, was held captive by chief Maquinna at Nootka Sound. In the 1780s, Captains Vancouver, Quadra, and other European explorers and traders frequented Nootka Sound and the other Nuu-chah-nulth communities, making reports of their voyages. It is the first language of the indigenous peoples of the Cascadian Coast to have documentary written materials describing it.
Nuu-chah-nulth is a Southern Wakashan language related to Nitinaht and Makah. This work will contribute to a better understanding of the structure of English and many of the world's languages, not just those of the Native Americans.Nuu-chah-nulth, also known as Nootka, is Wakashan language historically spoken on the west coast of Vancouver Island, from Barkley Sound to Quatsino Sound in British Columbia by the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. "Noam Chomsky said you can learn about all languages by studying just one. "There is also a very strong desire by many of the younger people to speak their native tongue. "I hope the dictionary will help efforts to preserve the language and hence the culture of these societies, as language is intricately bound up with tradition," said Dr Stonham. Apart from academic interest, the drive to collect them has been encouraged by concern that Nootka could be lost for ever without a written record. The 150,000 words in the dictionary are divided into 15 subgroups, each a separate variant of the language and most with their own grammar and pronunciation. The range of alternatives means that a sentence as long as "to wipe the tears from one's eyes with the back of one's hand" is rendered simply "fib". His dictionary also draws on the fieldwork of the linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir, who investigated the tribes' homeland on Vancouver Island between 19.Īlso known as Nuuchahnulth, which means "along the mountains" - a reference to the speakers' homeland - Nootka's telescoping of words is unparalleled in other languages. "There are only three basic vowels but 40 consonants and a very complex sound structure when they are spoken," said John Stonham, of Newcastle University, who started collecting Nootka words 20 years ago. Entire sentences of meaning can be crammed into very short words. Years of interviews with some 300 surviving speakers of the language, almost all now aged over 60, have led to 537 pages of unique and remarkably versatile terms.