Editing Kaska language

{{Short description|Northern Athabaskan language of the Kaska Dena people}}
{{distinguish|Kaskian language}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Kaska
| nativename = {{lang|kkz|Dene Zágéʼ}}
| states = [[Canada]]
| ethnicity = 1,435 [[Kaska people|Kaska]] (2016 census)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=110522&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=122&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|title=Aboriginal Ancestry Responses (73), Single and Multiple Aboriginal Responses (4), Residence on or off reserve (3), Residence inside or outside Inuit Nunangat (7), Age (8A) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data|publisher=Government of Canada|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|date=25 October 2017 |language=en|access-date=2017-11-23}}</ref>
| speakers = 240
| date = 2016 census
| ref = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=110514&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=122&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|title=Aboriginal Language Spoken at Home (90), Single and Multiple Responses of Language Spoken at Home (3), Aboriginal Identity (9), Registered or Treaty Indian Status (3) and Age (12) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data|last=Canada|first=Government of Canada, Statistics|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|date=28 March 2018 |language=en|access-date=2018-05-10}}</ref>
| familycolor = Dené-Yeniseian
| fam2 = [[Na-Dené languages|Na-Dené]]
| fam3 = [[Athabaskan languages|Athabaskan]]
| fam4 = [[Northern Athabaskan languages|Northern Athabaskan]]
| fam5 = Central Cordillera
| iso3 = kkz
| glotto = kask1239
| glottorefname = Kaska
| map = Lang Status 40-SE.svg
| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Kaska is classified as Severely Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''}}}}
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|root=[[Dene]]<br/><small>"person"</small>|people=[[Kaska|Kaska Dena]]|language='''Kaska Dena Zágéʼ'''|country=Kaska Dena Kayeh, [[Denendeh]]}}
The '''Kaska language''' is an endangered [[Athabaskan languages|Athabaskan language]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Moore|first=J. P.|date=2003|title=Lessons on the Land: The Role of Kaska Elders in a University Language Course|journal=Canadian Journal of Native Education|volume=27. No. 1|pages=127–139|id={{ProQuest|230305886}}}}</ref> Traditionally, Kaska was an oral aboriginal language used by the [[Kaska Dena]] people.<ref name=":1">{{cite thesis |last=Farnell |first=Gillian |year=2014 |title=The Kaska Dene: A study of Colonialism, Trauma and Healing in Dene Kēyeh |degree=MA |publisher=The University of British Columbia |url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0167385 |doi=10.14288/1.0167385 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The Kaska Dene region consists of a small area in the Southwestern part of the [[Northwest Territories]], the Southeastern part of [[Yukon]] Territory, and the Northern part of [[British Columbia]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />  The communities that are in the Kaska Dene region are Fort Ware in N.W.T.; Ross River and Watson Lake in Y.T.; Dease Lake, Good Hope Lake, Lower Post, Fireside, and Muncho Lake in B.C.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=We Are Our Language: An Ethnography of Language Revitalization in a Northern Athabaskan Community |last=Meek|first=Barbra <!-- not Barbara--> A. |publisher=The University of Arizona Press |year=2010 |location=Tucson |pages=1–40 |isbn=9780816514533}}</ref>  Kaska is made up of eight dialects,<ref name=":3">{{Cite thesis |last=Meek |first=Barbra Allyn |date=2001 |title=Kaska language socialization, acquisition and shift |type=PhD dissertation |url=https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/290390 |hdl=10150/290390 |hdl-access=free |language=en-US}}</ref> all of which have similar pronunciations and expressional terms.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" />  The town of Watson Lake was established around the period of the second World War when the [[Alaska Highway]] was built in 1942.<ref name=":2" />  A major consequence of colonization was Kaska language loss.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Another major cause of Kaska language loss in Canada was due to the [[Canadian Residential School System]].  The effect that these schools had on the Kaska language have caused a language gap between two generations, resulting in few young speakers.

==Endangerment==
With around 200 speakers as of 2011, the Ethnologue lists Kaska as Status 7 (shifting).  It is mostly Kaska Dena Elders who are the fluent speakers<ref name=":1" /> despite four communities ([[Good Hope Lake]], [[Lower Post]], [[Watson Lake, Yukon|Watson Lake]] and [[Ross River, Yukon|Ross River]]) where the language is taught in schools.<ref>{{Ethnologue17|kkz}}</ref>  Kaska Dena children are not learning to be fluent because many families do not use the Kaska language at home.<ref name=":2" />  The Kaska Dena people recognize the importance in revitalizing the Kaska language and have worked towards building Kaska language written and oral materials as well as programs such as culture camps and training programs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Meek |first1=A. B. |last2=Messing |first2=J. |date=2007 |title=Framing Indigenous Languages a Secondary to Matrix Languages |journal=2 |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=99–118 |jstor=25166611}}</ref>

==Phonology==

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | 
! rowspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan="3" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-al.]]<br/>/[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! <small>[[Central consonant|central]]</small>
! <small>[[sibilant]]</small>
! <small>[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]</small>
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
|
| {{IPA link|n}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! <small>tenuis</small>
| {{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|tθ}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|ts}}
| {{IPA link|tɬ}}
| {{IPA link|tʃ}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
! <small>aspirated</small>
| {{IPA link|pʰ}}
|{{IPA link|tθʰ}}
| {{IPA link|tʰ}}
| {{IPA link|tsʰ}}
| {{IPA link|tɬʰ}}
| {{IPA link|tʃʰ}}
| {{IPA link|kʰ}}
| 
|-
! <small>ejective</small>
| 
|{{IPA link|tθʼ}}
| {{IPA link|tʼ}}
| {{IPA link|tsʼ}}
| {{IPA link|tɬʼ}}
| {{IPA link|tʃʼ}}
| {{IPA link|kʼ}}
| 
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
! <small>voiceless</small>
|
|{{IPA link|θ}}
| 
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ɬ}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|x}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| 
|{{IPA link|ð}}
| 
| {{IPA link|z}}
| {{IPA link|ɮ}}
| {{IPA link|ʒ}}
| {{IPA link|ɣ}}
| 
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|w}}
|
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|}

===Vowels===

Kaska makes use of the vowels /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/, which, through various combinations of inflection (high, falling, and rising tone), lengthening and nasalization, produce about 60 vowel sounds in total.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}}, {{IPA link|iː}}, {{IPA link|ĩ}}
|
|{{IPA link|u}}, {{IPA link|uː}}, {{IPA link|ũ}}
|-
![[Near-close vowel|Near-close]]
|({{IPA link|ɪ}})
|
|({{IPA link|ʊ}})
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}}
| rowspan="2" |({{IPA link|ə}})
|{{IPA link|o}}, {{IPA link|oː}}, {{IPA link|õ}}
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|({{IPA link|ɛ}}), {{IPA link|ɛ̃}}
|{{IPA link|ʌ}}, {{IPA link|ʌ̃}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|{{IPA link|æː}}, ({{IPA link|æ̃ː}})
|{{IPA link|aː}}, {{IPA link|ãː}}
|
|}
Allophones of sounds {{IPA|/i, e, o, ɛ̃/}} can also be heard as {{IPA|[ɪ, ɛ~ə, ʊ, æ̃ː]}}.<ref name="Moore" /><ref name=":3" />

==Morphology==
Source:<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://coyotepapers.sbs.arizona.edu/CPXIII/odonnell.pdf |access-date=2014-02-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305105334/http://coyotepapers.sbs.arizona.edu/CPXIII/odonnell.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-05 |last=O'Donnell |first=Meghan |title=Inflectional Affixes & Clitics in Kaska (Northern Athabaskan) |journal=Coyote Papers |volume=XIII: Papers Dedicated to the Indigenous Languages of the Americas |pages=41–74 |publisher=University of Arizona |year=2004 |hdl=10150/126635}}</ref>

Kaska is a polysynthetic language, commonly featuring sentence words. It is head-final, availing nine prefix positions to a given stem verb morpheme. Kaska does not mark for control or grammatical gender. (Sexual gender is often implied in narratives through contextual association with the prevalent gender roles of Kaska society, particularly with regard to warfare.)

===The Verb-Sentence===
Verb-sentences, or single-word sentences consisting of a stem verb modified by inflectional, derivational and/or other types of affixes, commonly appear in Kaska.  In these cases, a word-final verb morpheme may be accompanied by up to nine prefixes grouped into three categories: the disjunct, the conjunct and the verb theme. O'Donnell's Kaska verb structure diagram is shown below.

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! colspan="3" | Disjunct Prefixes
! colspan="4" | Conjunct Prefixes
! colspan="3" | Verb Theme
|-
| Oblique Object || Postposition || Distributive Plural
| Subject Agreement II || Direct Object || Mood/Aspect || Subject Agreement I
| Thematic Prefix || Classifier || '''Verb Stem'''
|}

====Verb Theme====
The '''verb theme''' carries the stem verb morpheme, which is immediately preceded by one of four ''classifiers'' (-h-, -Ø-, -l-, -d-).

The ''-Ø-'' classifier primarily marks intransitive and stative verbs.

The classifier ''-h-'', referred to as ''ł'' classification in Athabaskan literature, marks transitivity and/or causativity and deletes when preceded by the first-person singular subject marking ''s-''. Though it is found in some intransitive clauses, as in ''se'''h'''tsū́ts'' ("clothlike object is located"), these generally bear the ''-Ø-'' classifier.<ref name="Moore">{{cite thesis |last=Moore |first=Patrick James |title=Point of view in Kaska historical narratives |publisher=Indiana University |year=2003 |id={{ProQuest|305335008}}}}</ref>

*etsén segan 'the meat is dried'
*etsén se'''h'''gan 's/he dried the meat'

The ''-d-'' classifier serves a more complex function, accompanying self-benefactives, reflexives, reciprocals, iteratives (marked by the prefix ''ne-'') and passives.

The ''-l-'' classifier combines the functions of the ''-d-'' and ''-h-'' (''ł'') classifiers.

====Conjunct====
The '''conjunct''', which appears between the disjunct prefix group and the verb theme,  carries inflectional information including subject, direct object and mood/aspect markings. In ''subject'' markings, Kaska syntactically differentiates between "subject I" and "subject II" morphemes (the latter represented in the gray boxes in the table below to the left).

{| border="1" class="wikitable floatleft"
|+ Subject Markers in Kaska
! 
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st person
| s- || style="background: silver" | dze-
|-
! 2nd person
| n-
| ah-
|-
! 3rd person
| style="background: silver" | Ø-
| style="background: silver" | ge-
|}

{| border="1" class="wikitable floatright"
|+ Direct Object Markers in Kaska
! 
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st person
| se- || gu-
|-
! 2nd person
| ne-
| neh-
|-
! 3rd person
| Ø-/ye-
| ge-
|}
Subject I markers occur conjunct-finally, while subject II markers occur conjunct-initially.

The ''direct object'' markings are given in the table at right. The marking for third-person singular direct object depends on the subject of the sentence: if the subject is in first- or second-person, then it is ''Ø-'', but becomes ''ye-'' when the subject is in third-person.

====Disjunct====
The '''disjunct''' typically carries adverbial and derivational prefixes, including the negative marker ''dū-'' and the '''distributive plural''' morpheme ''né-'', which pluralizes otherwise dual subjects and, in some cases, singular objects. The presence (or absence) of this feature bears most of the numerical marking that is not already indicated contextually or through the subject and object affixes themselves. The prefix ''ɬe-'' marks for dual subject in at least one verb phrase: "to sit." Postpositional morphemes, such as ''ts'i'-'' ("to") and ''yé-'' ("about"), also appear in the disjunct, along with the oblique object markings listed in the table below. 
{| border="1" class="wikitable"
|+ Oblique Object Markers in Kaska
! 
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st person
| es- || gu-
|-
! 2nd person
| ne-
| neh-
|-
! 3rd person
| me-
| ge-
|}

===Space, Time and Aspect===
Source:<ref name="Moore"/>

In Kaska, time is expressed primarily through aspect marking, called ''modes'' when described in Athabaskan languages. These prefixes convey imperfective, perfective and optative aspect. Overt expressions for quantified units of time exist, such as ''tādet'ē dzenḗs'' ("three days"), but rarely appear in Kaska dialog.

The ''imperfective'' (prefix ''Ø-'') expresses incomplete action, is used in instrumental marking, descriptions of static situations and to express irrealis mood. In Kaska narratives, imperfective verb forms commonly accompany a humorous tone.

The ''perfective'' mode (prefix ''n-'') functions largely in complement to the imperfective, expressing complete action, is used in descriptions of kinetic events and establishing realis mood. Kaska narratives tend to express a more serious tone through perfective verb forms.

The ''optative'' mode (prefix ''u-'' in conjunction with suffix ''-í'') expresses unrealized or desired activity.

Directional prefixes, stems and suffixes also index spatial relations in Kaska narratives. These include '''allatives''', '''ablatives''', '''areals''' and '''punctuals''', with some examples listed below.

*kúh- 'distant location (known to both speaker and addressee)'
*de- 'distant location (known exclusively to speaker)'
*ah- 'distant location (determined by non-focal character)'
*júh-, jah- 'nearby location'
*degé- 'up ahead' (also used to mean 'in the future')
*nā́né- 'across'
*-áné 'to the side' (often used in conjunction with ''ah-'' prefix)

==Syntax==
When a sentence contains two independent nominals, it takes on Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) structure.

{{interlinear|indent=2
|top= ''eskie ayudeni ganehtan''
|eskie ayudeni ga-Ø-ne-h-tan
|boy girl at-3SG.SBJ-{{gcl|MA|mood/aspect}}-CL-look
|The boy saw/looked at the girl}}

When only one independent nominal is present, the subject and object are differentiated by the prefixes in the verb, shown using the same sample sentence.
*eskie ganehtan ("She saw/looked at the boy")
#eskie '''me'''ganehtan
#boy '''3sg.Obj'''...
#"The boy saw/looked at her"
Subordinate clauses are marked with an ''-i'' or ''-í'' suffix and appear before the independent clause, as in the following example:

{{interlinear|indent=2
|top= ''etsedz'''i''' gugā́nehtān''
|etsedz-'''i''' gugā́nehtān
|3SG.eat-'''{{gcl|SUBCLAUSE|subordinate clause}}''' {3SG.was watching us}
|While he was eating he was watching us.}}

The available literature on Kaska makes no mention of applicatives, relatives or complements, and case marking appears restricted to nominative (subject), accusative (object) and the various forms of locative case marking conveyed through directional morphemes.

==See also==
*[[Tahltan language]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author=Kaska Tribal Council |title=Guzāgi k'ū́gé': our language book : nouns : Kaska, Mountain Slavey and Sekani |location=Watson Lake, Yukon |publisher=Kaska Tribal Council |year=1997 |isbn=0-9682022-0-9}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041216060539/http://www.yukoncollege.yk.ca/ynlc/YNLCinfo/Kaska.html Yukon Native Language Center]
*[http://kaska.arts.ubc.ca/ Kaska Language Website, University of British Columbia]
*[http://kaskadenacouncil.com Kaska Dena Council]
*[http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Liard-Kaska/welcome Kaska Welcome Page - First Voices]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131031075558/http://www.ynlc.ca/languages/ks/ks.html Yukon Native Language Centre]
{{refend}}
{{Athabaskan languages}}
{{Languages of Canada}}
{{Languages of British Columbia}}

[[Category:Kaska Dena]]
[[Category:Northern Athabaskan languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of the North American Subarctic]]
[[Category:First Nations languages in Canada]]
[[Category:Endangered Athabaskan languages]]