Chipewyan or Denesuline (ethnonym: ), often simply called Dene, is the
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
spoken by the
Chipewyan
The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified ...
people of northwestern
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. It is categorized as part of the
Northern Athabaskan language family. Dënësųłinë́ has nearly 12,000 speakers in Canada, mostly in
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
and the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
.
[Statistics Canada: 2006 Census](_blank)
Sum of 'Chipewyan' and 'Dene'. It has
official status only in the Northwest Territories, alongside 8 other
aboriginal languages Aboriginal language may refer to:
* Indigenous language
* Australian Aboriginal languages
* Taiwanese aboriginal languages
* Indigenous languages of the Americas
* Aboriginal Malay languages
The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-P ...
:
Cree
The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
,
Tlicho,
Gwich'in,
Inuktitut
Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...
,
Inuinnaqtun
Inuinnaqtun (; natively meaning ''like the real human beings/peoples''), is an indigenous Inuit language. It is spoken in the central Canadian Arctic. It is related very closely to Inuktitut, and some scholars, such as Richard Condon, believe ...
,
Inuvialuktun
Inuvialuktun (part of ''Western Canadian Inuit/Inuktitut/Inuktut/Inuktun'') comprises several Inuit language varieties spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by Canadian Inuit who call themselves ''Inuvialuit''. Some dialects and sub-dialec ...
,
North Slavey and
South Slavey.
[Northwest Territories Official Languages Act, 1988](_blank)
(as amended 1988, 1991–1992, 2003)
Most Chipewyan people now use Dené and Dënësųłinë́ to refer to themselves as a people and to their language, respectively. The Saskatchewan communities of Fond-du-Lac, Black Lake, Wollaston Lake and La Loche are among these.
Phonology
Consonants
The 39 consonants of Dënesųłiné:
Vowels
Dënesųłinë́ has vowels of 6 differing qualities.
Most vowels can be either
*
''oral'' or
''nasal''. Nasals are marked with an
ogonek
The (; Polish: , "little tail", diminutive of ) is a diacritic hook placed under the lower right corner of a vowel in the Latin alphabet used in several European languages, and directly under a vowel in several Native American languages. It i ...
in the orthography: ⟨ą ę ę̈ ı̨ ǫ ų⟩.
* ''short'' or ''long''
As a result, Dënesųłinë́ has 24
phonemic
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
vowels:
Dënesųłinë́ also has 9 oral and nasal
diphthong
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
s of the form ''vowel'' + .
Tone
Dënësųłinë́ has two tones:
* high (marked with acute accents in the orthography: ⟨á é ë́ ı́ ó ú⟩)
* low
Demographics
In the 2011 Canada Census 11,860 people chose Dene as their mother tongue. 70.6% were located in
Saskatchewan and 15.2% were located in Alberta.
*7,955 were in
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
*1,680 were in
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
(the
Dene Tha' First Nation
The Dene Thá (/'tɛnɛ ðɑː/) First Nation is a First Nations government of the South Slavey in Northern Alberta, Canada. The people call themselves Dene Dháa (sometimes spelled Dene Tha' or Dene Th'a) or 'Ordinary People' in the Dene Dháh l ...
a Dene/
South Slavey group (approximately 1000 people) are included in this total)
*1,005 were in
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
*450 were in the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
*70 were in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
*45 were in the
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
*20 were in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
Not all were from the historical
Chipewyan
The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified ...
regions south and east of
Great Slave Lake
Great Slave Lake (french: Grand lac des Esclaves), known traditionally as Tıdeè in Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì (Dogrib), Tinde’e in Wıìlıìdeh Yatii / Tetsǫ́t’ıné Yatıé (Dogrib / Chipewyan), Tu Nedhé in Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé (Chi ...
.
Approximately 11,000 of those who chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011 are Dene/Chipewyan with 7,955 (72%) in Saskatchewan, 1,005 (9%) in Manitoba, 510 plus urban dwellers in Alberta and 260 plus urban dwellers in the Northwest Territories. The communities within the Dene/Chipewyan traditional areas are shown below:
Saskatchewan
The Dene (Dënesųłiné) speaking communities of Saskatchewan are located in the northern half of the province. The area from the upper
Churchill River west of
Pinehouse Lake
Pinehouse Lake is a lake in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The northern village of Pinehouse is located on the western shore.
The Churchill River flows in from Sandy Lake into the north-west end of the lake at McDonald Bay and flows out thro ...
all the way north to
Lake Athabasca
Lake Athabasca (; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , "herethere are plants one after another") is located in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake ...
and from Lake Athabasca east to the north end of
Reindeer Lake
Reindeer Lake is a lake in western Canada located on the border between north-eastern Saskatchewan and north-western Manitoba, with the majority in Saskatchewan. The name of the lake appears to be a translation of the Algonquian name. It is ...
is home to 7410 people who chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
Prince Albert had 265 residents who chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011,
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
had 165, the
La Ronge
La Ronge is a northern town in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan, Canada. Its location is approximately north of Prince Albert where Highway 2 becomes Highway 102. La Ronge lies on the western shore of Lac la Ronge, is adjacent ...
Population Centre had 55 and
Meadow Lake had 30.
3,050 were in the
Lake Athabasca
Lake Athabasca (; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , "herethere are plants one after another") is located in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake ...
-
Fond du Lac River area including
Black Lake and
Wollaston Lake
Wollaston Lake is a lake in north-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is northeast of Prince Albert. With a surface area of (excluding islands; if islands are included), it is the largest bifurcation lake in the world – that is, a lake tha ...
in the communities of:
*
Fond-du-Lac
Fond du Lac Dene Nation ( chp, Gánį Kóé) is a Dene First Nation located in the boreal forest area of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The main settlement is Fond-du-Lac, situated on the east side of Lake Athabasca. It is a remote fly-in com ...
705 out of 874 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Stony Rapids 140 out of 243 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Black Lake (Chicken 224) 1040 out of 1070 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Uranium City
Uranium City is a northern settlement in Saskatchewan, Canada. Located on the northern shores of Lake Athabasca near the border of the Northwest Territories, it is above sea level. The settlement is northwest of Prince Albert, northeast of ...
(hamlet)
*
Camsell Portage
Camsell Portage is a northern settlement of 37 people, located on the north-central shore of Lake Athabasca. The northern settlement is an unincorporated community in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District.
Camsell is one of the few rem ...
(hamlet)
*
Wollaston Lake
Wollaston Lake is a lake in north-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is northeast of Prince Albert. With a surface area of (excluding islands; if islands are included), it is the largest bifurcation lake in the world – that is, a lake tha ...
*
Wollaston Post (Lac La Hache 220) 1165 out of 1251 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
3,920 were in the upper
Churchill River area including
Peter Pond Lake
Peter Pond Lake is a glacial lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located in northwestern Saskatchewan in the Boreal Forest and Canadian Shield within the Churchill River drainage basin. It was on the fur trade route to the Methye Portage which c ...
,
Churchill Lake
Churchill Lake is a glacial lake in north west Saskatchewan, Canada. Frobisher Lake flows in from the north while Peter Pond Lake flows in from the east through the Kisis Channel. Highway 155 crosses this channel at the village of Buffalo Narr ...
,
Lac La Loche, Descharme Lake, Garson Lake and
Turnor Lake
Turnor Lake is a community on the southern shore of Turnor Lake. From Highway 155 it is accessible by Highway 909. The community includes the Northern Hamlet of Turnor Lake and Turnor Lake 193B of the Birch Narrows First Nation.
The combined p ...
in the communities of:
*
La Loche
La Loche () is a village in northwest Saskatchewan. It is located at the end of Highway 155 on the eastern shore of Lac La Loche in Canada's boreal forest. La Loche had a population of 2,827 in 2016 and is within the Northern Saskatchewan Admini ...
2,300 out 2,611 chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Clearwater River 720 out of 778 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Black Point (hamlet)
*
Bear Creek (hamlet)
*
Garson Lake Garson may refer to:
Places
* Garson, Manitoba, Canada
* Garson, Ontario, Canada
Other uses
* Garson (surname)
See also
* Garçon (disambiguation)
* Garzon (disambiguation)
{{disambiguation, geo ...
(hamlet)
*
Descharme Lake (hamlet)
*
Turnor Lake
Turnor Lake is a community on the southern shore of Turnor Lake. From Highway 155 it is accessible by Highway 909. The community includes the Northern Hamlet of Turnor Lake and Turnor Lake 193B of the Birch Narrows First Nation.
The combined p ...
*
Turnor Lake
Turnor Lake is a community on the southern shore of Turnor Lake. From Highway 155 it is accessible by Highway 909. The community includes the Northern Hamlet of Turnor Lake and Turnor Lake 193B of the Birch Narrows First Nation.
The combined p ...
(
Birch Narrows First Nation
Birch Narrows Dene Nation ( chp, K'ı́t'ádhı̨ká) is a Dene First Nation band government in the boreal forest region of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is affiliated with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC).
Demographics
In 1972, Turnor ...
) 70 out of 419 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Dillon
Dillon may refer to:
People
*Dillon (surname)
* Dillon (given name)
* Dillon (singer) (born 1988), Brazilian singer
*Viscount Dillon, a title in the Peerage of Ireland
Places Canada
*Dillon, Saskatchewan
United States
*Dillon Beach, Californi ...
(
Buffalo River Dene Nation
The Buffalo River Dene Nation ( chp, Ɂëjëre dësché) is a Dene First Nations band government in Saskatchewan, Canada. The band's main community, Dillon, is located on the western shore of Peter Pond Lake at the mouth of the Dillon River, and ...
) 330 out of 764 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
St. George's Hill, Saskatchewan
St. George's Hill is a northern hamlet in the Canadian prairie province of Saskatchewan. It is located where the Highway 925 spans the Dillon River about 10 kilometres south of Dillon. The mayor is Donna Janvier.
Demographics
In the 2021 Cen ...
85 out of 100 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Michel Village
Michel Village is a northern hamlet in Saskatchewan. It is located on the western shore of Peter Pond Lake at the end of Highway 925 north of Dillon. There were 66 residents in Michel Village in 2011. The mayor is Cliff Coombs.
Demographics
In ...
55 out of 66 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Buffalo Narrows
Buffalo Narrows is a northern village in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a community of 1,110 people. Located at the "Narrows" between Peter Pond Lake and Churchill Lake, tourism and resource extraction (logging, fishing) are its main economic a ...
35 out of 1153 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Patuanak
Patuanak is a community in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dene First Nations reserve near Churchill River and the north end of Lac Île-à-la-Crosse. In Dene, it sounds similar to ''Boni Cheri'' (Bëgh ...
35 out of 64 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Patuanak (Wapachewunak 1920) 265 out of 482 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Beauval (La Plonge 192) 25 out of 115 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
Manitoba
Two isolated communities are in northern Manitoba. The two Manitoban communities use
Déné Syllabics to write their language.
*
Lac Brochet (197 A) 720 out of 816 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Tadoule Lake (Churchill 1) 170 out of 321 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
Alberta
The Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake Economic Region in the north eastern portion of Alberta from Fort Chipewyan to the
Cold Lake area has the following communities. 510 residents of this region chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Fort Chipewyan
Fort Chipewyan , commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada, within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. It is located on the western tip of Lake Athabasca, adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park, app ...
45 out of 847 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Fort McKay
Fort McKay ( ) or Fort MacKay is a community in northern Alberta, northeast Alberta, Canada that is located at the confluence of the Athabasca River, Athabasca and MacKay rivers. It is approximately north of Fort McMurray via Alberta Highway 63, ...
30 out of 562 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Janvier (Janvier 194) 145 out of 295 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Janvier South
Janvier South is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. Whle the hamlet's official name is ''Janvier South'' according to Alberta Municipal Affairs, it is also known and referred to as Janv ...
35 out of 104 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Cold Lake 149
Cold Lake 149 is an Indian reserve of the Cold Lake First Nations in Alberta, located within the Municipal District of Bonnyville No. 87. It is 26 kilometers east of Bonnyville
Bonnyville is a town situated in east-central Alberta, Canada bet ...
105 out of 594 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*Cold Lake 149 B, Alberta 25 out of 149 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
Northwest Territories
Three communities are located south of
Great Slave Lake
Great Slave Lake (french: Grand lac des Esclaves), known traditionally as Tıdeè in Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì (Dogrib), Tinde’e in Wıìlıìdeh Yatii / Tetsǫ́t’ıné Yatıé (Dogrib / Chipewyan), Tu Nedhé in Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé (Chi ...
in Region 5. 260 residents of
Region 5 chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Fort Smith 30 out of 2093 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Fort Resolution
Fort Resolution (''Denı́nu Kų́ę́'' (pronounced "deh-nih-noo-kwenh") "moose island place") is a hamlet in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is situated at the mouth of the Slave River, on the shores o ...
95 out of 474 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
*
Lutselk'e 120 out of 295 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
See also
*
Chipewyan syllabics
*
Chipewyan people
The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified ...
References
Bibliography
* Cook, Eung-Do. (2004). ''A Grammar of Dëne Sųłiné (Chipewyan)''. Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics - Special Athabaskan Number, Memoir 17. Winnipeg: Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics. .
* Cook, Eung-Do. 2006. "The Patterns of Consonantal Acquisition and Change in Chipewyan (Dëne Sųłiné)". ''International Journal of American Linguistics''. 72, no. 2: 236.
* De Reuse, Willem. 2006. "A Grammar of Dëne Sųłiné (Chipewyan) (Cook)". ''International Journal of American Linguistics''. 72, no. 4: 535.
* Elford, Leon W. ''Dene sųłiné yati ditł'ísé = Dene sųłiné reader''. Prince Albert, SK: Northern Canada Mission Distributors, 2001.
* Gessner, S. 2005. "Properties of Tone in Dëne Sųłiné". Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science. Series IV, ''Current Issues in Linguistic Theory''. 269: 229-248.
*
Li, Fang-Kuei. (1946). Chipewyan. In C. Osgood & H. Hoijer (Eds.), ''Linguistic Structures of Native America'' (pp. 398–423). New York: The Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology (No. 6). (Reprinted 1963, 1965, 1967, & 1971, New York: Johnson Reprint Corp.).
External links
First Voices Dene Community Portal(Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre)
OLAC resources in and about the Chipewyan language* Kirkby, William West: The New Testament, translated into the Chipewyan language = ᑎᑎ ᗂᒋ ᕞᐢᕞᒣᐣᕠ (Didi gothi testementi). London, 1881
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chipewyan Language
Northern Athabaskan languages
Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands
Indigenous languages of the North American Subarctic
First Nations languages in Canada
American Book Award winners