Gwichʼin language

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The Gwichʼin language ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> belongs to the Athabaskan language family and is spoken by the Gwich'in First Nation (Canada) / Alaska Native People (United States). It is also known in older or dialect-specific publications as Kutchin, Takudh, Tukudh, or Loucheux.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Gwich'in is spoken primarily in the towns of Inuvik, Aklavik, Fort McPherson (aka Teetł'it Zheh), and Tsiigehtchic (formerly Arctic Red River), all in the Northwest Territories and Old Crow in Yukon of Canada.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref> In Alaska of the United States, Gwichʼin is spoken in Fort Yukon, Chalkyitsik, Birch Creek, Venetie and Arctic Village.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The ejective affricate in the name Gwichʼin is usually written with symbol Template:Unichar, though the correct character for this use (with expected glyph and typographic properties) is Template:Unichar.

Current statusEdit

According to the UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, Gwichʼin is at present severely endangered. There are about 260 Gwichʼin speakers in Canada out of a total Gwichʼin population of 1,900. About 300 out of a total Alaska Gwichʼin population of 1,100 speak the language.<ref name=":0" /> Gwichʼin speakers have been shifting from their heritage language to English as the majority language of both the US and Canada.

DialectsEdit

There are two main varieties of Gwichʼin, Eastern and Western, which are delineated roughly at the Canada–US border.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There are several dialects within these subgroupings, including Fort Yukon Gwichʼin, Arctic Village Gwichʼin, Western Canada Gwichʼin (Takudh, Tukudh, Loucheux), and Arctic Red River. Each village has unique pronunciation features, vocabulary, and expressions.

Inhabitants of Old Crow in the northern Yukon speak a similar dialect to those bands living in Venetie and Arctic Village, Alaska. Kâachik and Tâachik dialects are spoken in Johnson Creek village.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Language preservation and documentationEdit

In 1988, the NWT Official Languages Act named Gwich'in an official language of the Northwest Territories, and the Official Languages of Alaska Law as amended declared Gwich'in a recognized language in 2014.<ref name=":0" />

The Gwich'in language is taught regularly at the Chief Zzeh Gittlit School in Old Crow, Yukon.<ref name=":2" />

Projects are underway to further document the language from a linguistic standpoint, and foster the writing and translation skills of younger Gwich'in speakers. In one project, lead research associate and fluent speaker Gwichʼin elder Kenneth Frank works with linguists and young Gwich'in speakers affiliated with the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks to document traditional knowledge of caribou anatomy (Mishler and Frank 2020).<ref name="Linguistics_2014">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Residential schools and language declineEdit

Assimilation efforts through residential schools played a factor in creating a cultural disruption and a language shift. One of the goals of residential schools was to wipe out indigenous culture and replace it with the European culture, seen as more conducive to “civilized” society. In the process, indigenous children were taken away from their families and placed in a dedicated school (“Indian Schools” in the US).

Indigenous children were often punished for speaking First-Nation languages, leading children to abandon their heritage languages. Residential schools caused major cultural disruption also among the Gwich’in.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

PhonologyEdit

ConsonantsEdit

The consonants of Gwichʼin are shown in IPA notation below, with orthographic symbols in brackets:<ref name=":2" />

Labial Inter-
dental
Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
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Plosive/
Affricate
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Fricative Template:Small Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr
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Sonorant Template:Small (Template:IPA link Template:Angbr) Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr
Template:Small Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr

VowelsEdit

Gwich’in has six phonemic vowel qualities {{#invoke:IPA|main}} which contrast in duration, nasality, and tones.

Front Central Back
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Close Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr
Mid Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr
Open Template:IPA link Template:Angbr Template:IPA link Template:Angbr

Allophonic variationEdit

Short vowels show different vowel qualities from their long counterparts

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Tone and nasalityEdit

  • Nasal vowels are marked with an ogonek, e.g. ‹ą į ǫǫ› for /ə̃́ ɪ̃́ ṍː/, respectively.
  • Low tone is marked with a grave accent, e.g. [à], whereas high tones are never marked.

Syllable structureEdit

Gwichʼin has moderate complexity of syllable structure, in which the maximal syllable shape is CCVC. However, no consonant clusters occur within a syllable besides /Cj/ onsets, as in /ɬjə̃́h/ łyąh “hook”, or -/tʰjɛ̀ʔ/ -tyèʼ “father” (i.e. /ʃɪ́tʰjɛ̀ʔ/ shityèʼ “my father”). Word-medially, two-consonant sequences may occur. All consonants may occur syllable-initially (i.e. in onset position), but syllable-finally, no ejective, retroflex, affricate, interdental or labialized consonants occur. In coda-position, fricatives are also restricted to the glottal, lateral, and non-sibilant consonants.

Coda consonants in Gwichʼin syllables<ref name=":4" />
Coda Example English
Stop oral -k tɬə́k dlak “squirrel”
glottal tsʰɛ́ʔ tse’ “beaver”
Fricative glottal -h ʒɛ́h zheh “house”
lateral tʃə́ɬ jał “fish hook”
non-sibilant tə́ʒə́ð dazhadh “fury”
Sonorant nasal -n ʈʂɪ́n drin “day”
lateral -l ə́htʰə̀l ahtàl “grouse”
rhotic -ɻ̥ tʰéːʒɪ́ɻ̥ teezhirh “steam”

Written GwichʼinEdit

The missionary Robert McDonald first started working on the written representation of Van Tat and Dagoo dialects Gwichʼin. He also produced a Bible and a hymn book which was written in Gwichʼin in 1898. McDonald used English orthography as his model when representing Gwichʼin. This was unusual for missionaries at the time: other missionaries were translating the Bible from French into languages such as northern Slavey.<ref name=":3" /> After 1960, Wycliffe Bible translator Richard Mueller introduced a new modified spelling system. The purpose of his writing system was to better distinguish the sounds of the Gwichʼin language. Later on, Mueller's writing system was officially adopted by the Yukon Territory. The new writing system helped expand the uses of the Gwichʼin language since speakers previously found the system for writing Gwichʼin less user friendly.<ref name="auto" />

GrammarEdit

Gwich’in is a highly polysynthetic, head-marking language with extensive exclusive prefixal inflection. Word order is relatively flexible but generally follows a SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) pattern. The language exhibits evidentiality and verbal inflection that conveys aspectual distinctions rather than tense. Gwich’in uses postpositions rather than prepositions. Like other Athabaskan languages, Gwich’in has classifier prefixes in verbs that indicate transitivity and valency changes.

Verb configurationEdit

A verb in Gwich’in contains a great number of smaller meaningful units or morphemes (e.g. in English un-spok-en) that combine to give the verb its intended meaning. A verb is composed of the stem preceded by a varying number of prefixes, which in Gwich’in contain information about tense, aspect, and the number of people involved in the action.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref>

Template:Interlinear

Unlike English verbs, which come with comparatively very little derivation and inflection (i.e. number of affixes), a Gwich’in verb is so rich in affixes that a single inflected and conjugated verb can correspond to whole sentences in English, as in (1).

In popular cultureEdit

In the PBS Kids television show Molly of Denali, the main character Molly comes from a family of Gwich'in background, and therefore uses words in the Gwich'in language such as 'Mahsi' Choo' throughout the show.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Molly shares her Gwich'in background with the show's creative producer, Princess Daazhraii Johnson.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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Further readingEdit

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  • Firth, William G., et al. Gwìndòo Nànhʼ Kak Geenjit Gwichʼin Ginjik = More Gwichʼin Words About the Land. Inuvik, N.W.T.: Gwichʼin Renewable Resource Board, 2001.
  • Gwichʼin Renewable Resource Board. Nànhʼ Kak Geenjit Gwichʼin Ginjik = Gwichʼin Words About the Land. Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada: Gwichʼin Renewable Resource Board, 1997.
  • McDonald. A Grammar of the Tukudh Language. Yellowknife, N.W.T.: Curriculum Division, Dept. of Education, Government of the Northwest Territories, 1972.
  • Mishler, Craig, ed. Neerihiinjìk: We Traveled From Place to Place: The Gwich’in Stories of Johnny and Sarah Frank. 2nd ed. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, 2001.
  • Mishler, Craig and Kenneth Frank, eds. Dinjii Vadzaih Dhidlit: The Man Who Became a Caribou. 2nd ed. Hanover, N.H.: IPI Press, 2020.
  • Montgomery, Jane. Gwichʼin Language Lessons Old Crow Dialect. Whitehorse: Yukon Native Language Centre, 1994.
  • Northwest Territories. Gwichʼin Legal Terminology. [Yellowknife, N.W.T.]: Dept. of Justice, Govt. of the Northwest Territories, 1993.
  • Norwegian-Sawyer, Terry. Gwichʼin Language Lessons Gwichyàh Gwichʼin Dialect (Tsiigèhchik–Arctic Red River). Whitehorse: Yukon Native Language Centre, 1994.
  • Peter, Katherine, and Mary L. Pope. Dinjii Zhuu Gwandak = Gwichʼin Stories. [Anchorage]: Alaska State-Operated Schools, Bilingual Programs, 1974.
  • Peter, Katherine. A Book of Gwichʼin Athabaskan Poems. College, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, Center for Northern Educational Research, University of Alaska, 1974.
  • Scollon, Ronald. A Sketch of Kutchin Phonology. University of Hawaii, 1975.
  • Yukon Native Language Centre. Gwichʼin Listening Exercises Teetlʼit Gwichʼin dialect. Whitehorse: Yukon Native Language Centre, Yukon College, 2003. Template:ISBN

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External linksEdit

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Template:Athabaskan languages Template:Languages of Alaska Template:Languages of Canada