Columbia-Moses language

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Moses-Columbia
Columbia-Wenatchi
Nxaʔamxcín
Native toUnited States of America
Regionnorthern Idaho, eastern Washington
Ethnicity230 (2000 census)[1]
Native speakers
40 (2007)[1]
Salishan
Dialects
  • Columbian
  • Wenatchi
Language codes
ISO 639-3col
Glottologcolu1241
ELPColumbian

Moses-Columbia, or Columbia-Wenatchi, is a Southern Interior Salish language, also known as Nxaảmxcín. Speakers currently reside on the Colville Indian Reservation. The Columbia people were followers of Chief Moses.

There are two dialects, Columbia (Sinkiuse, Columbian) and Wenatchi (Wenatchee, Entiat, Chelan). Wenatchi is the heritage language of the Wenatchi, Chelan, and Entiat tribes, Columbian of the Sinkiuse-Columbia.

Phonology[]

Phonology of the Columbia-Wenatchi dialect:

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
central sibilant lateral plain lab. plain lab. plain lab.
Plosive/
Affricate
plain p t ts k q ʔ
glottalized tsʼ tɬʼ kʷ’ qʷ’
Fricative s ɬ x χ χʷ ħ ħʷ h
Sonorant plain m n l j w ʕ ʕʷ
glottalized ʕˀ ʕʷˀ
Trill plain r
glottalized

The three vowels in Moses-Columbia are /i/, /a/, /u/. They are sometimes transcribed as [e]; /i/, [o]; /u/, and [æ]; /a/, and could also tend to sound unstressed, almost as a schwa sound, /ə/.

References[]

  1. ^ a b Moses-Columbia at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

Further reading[]

  • Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa and Paul Proulx. 2000. "REVIEWS - What's in a Word? Structure in Moses-Columbia Salish". International Journal of American Linguistics. 66, no. 3: 410.
  • Kinkade, M. Dale. Dictionary of the Moses-Columbia Language (Nxaʔamxcín). Nespelem, Wash: Colville Confederated Tribes, 1981.
  • Mattina, Nancy. 2006. "Determiner Phrases in Moses-Columbia Salish". International Journal of American Linguistics. 72, no. 1: 97.
  • Willet, Marie Louise. 2003." A Grammatical Sketch of Nxa'amxcin" PhD Thesis, University of Victoria.


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