Klallam language Totally Explained

Everything about Klallam Language totally explained

Klallam or Clallam (native name: Nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əmúcən) is a nearly extinct Straits Salishan language that was traditionally spoken by the Klallam peoples at Becher 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:
central

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Glottal
		Bilabial	lateral	plain	Post- alveolar	Palatal	labial	plain	labial		Glottal
Nasal	plain	m	n						ŋ /ɴ/
Nasal	glottalized	mʼ	nʼ						ŋ /ɴʼ/
Plosive	plain	p	t				(k)	kʷ	q	qʷ
Plosive	glottalized	pʼ	tʼ					kʼʷ	qʼ	qʼʷ	ʔ
Affricate	plain		c /ts/		č /tʃ/
Affricate	glottalized		cʼ /tsʼ/	ƛʼ /tɬʼ/	čʼ /tʃʼ/
Fricative			s	ɬ	š /ʃ/			xʷ	x̣ /χ/	x̣ /χʷ/	h
Approximant	plain			l		y /j/		w
Approximant	glottalized					yʼ /jʼ/		wʼ

Glottalized resonants /mʼ/, /nʼ/, /ɴʼ/, /jʼ/, /wʼ/ are realized either ť # with creaky voice: [m̰], [n̰], [ɴ̰], [j̰], [w̰],

# as decomposed glottal stop + resonant: [ʔm], [ʔn], [ʔɴ], [ʔj], [ʔw], or ť # as decomposed resonant + 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 /ʦ/ contrasts with a sequence of stop + fricative /ts/.

Vowels

The 4 vowels of Klallam:

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid		ə
Low		a

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/: ť 'bird' /ʦʼiʔʦʼəmʼ/ → [ ʦʼɛʔʦʼəmʼ ]

'deer' /huʔpt/ → [ hoʔpt ] ť 'salmon backbone' /sχəʔqʷəʔ/ → [ sχaʔqʷaʔ ]

Vowels are also often lowered when followed by a glottalized resonant (for example, /mʼ/, /nʼ/, /ɴʼ/, /jʼ/, /wʼ/).

Grammar

Further Information

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