Koyukon (also called ''Denaakk'e'') is the geographically most widespread Athabascan language spoken in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
. The
Athabaskan language is spoken along the
Koyukuk and the middle
Yukon River
The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...
in western interior Alaska. In 2007, the language had approximately 300 speakers, who were generally older adults bilingual in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. The total
Koyukon
The Koyukon (russian: Коюконы) are an Alaska Native Athabascan people of the Athabascan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers where they subsisted for thousands of years by ...
ethnic population was 2,300.
History
Jules Jetté, a
French Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
, began recording the language and culture of the
Koyukon people
The Koyukon (russian: Коюконы) are an Alaska Native Athabascan people of the Athabascan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers where they subsisted for thousands of years by ...
in 1898. Considered a fluent Koyukon speaker after spending years in the region, Jetté died in 1927. He had made a significant quantity of notes on the Koyukon people, their culture and beliefs, and their language.
Eliza Jones, a Koyukon, came across these manuscripts while studying, and later working, at the
University of Alaska in the early 1970s. Working from Jetté's notes and in consultation with Koyukon tribal elders, Jones wrote the ''Koyukon Athabaskan Dictionary.'' It was edited by
James Kari
James Kari is a linguist and Professor Emeritus with the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) specializing in the Dene (a.k.a. Athabascan languages) of Alaska. In the past forty-five years he has done extensiv ...
and published in 2000 by the Alaska Native Language Center at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...
.
The ''Koyukon Athabaskan Dictionary'' is unusually comprehensive in terms of documentation of an American indigenous language, in part because Jetté's notes were of excellent quality and depth. In addition, he wrote about the language and culture nearly a century ago, when the language was far more widely spoken in daily life and the Koyukon people were living in a more traditional way. The use of the word, "Dictionary", in the title is perhaps misleading; the book is more similar to an encyclopedia, as it also is a record of the culture and traditions of the Koyukon people.
The book includes traditional stories recorded by Catherine Attla and published in 1983 by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Three dialects
As of 1978 there were three Koyukon Language dialects (Lower, Central and Upper).
[Junior Dictionary for Central Koyukon Athabaskan, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Jones, Eliza (author), 1978, http://www.uafanlc.arsc.edu/data/Online/KO972J1978i/koyukon%20junior%20dictionary.pdf] Lower Koyukon
was spoken in
Kaltag and
Nulato; Central Koyukon was spoken on the
Yukon River
The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...
in the villages of
Galena
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...
,
Ruby
A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sa ...
,
Koyukuk and part of
Tanana, and on the
Koyukuk River
The Koyukuk River (; ''Ooghekuhno' '' in Koyukon, ''Kuuyukaq'' or ''Tagraġvik'' in Iñupiaq) is a tributary of the Yukon River, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the last major tributary entering the Yukon before the larger river empties int ...
in the villages of
Huslia
Huslia (; in Koyukon) is a city
in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. Rarely known as Hussliakatna, it is inhabited by Koyukuk-hotana Athabascans. The population was 293 at the 2000 census and 275 as of the 2010 census.
...
,
Hughes
Hughes may refer to:
People
* Hughes (surname)
* Hughes (given name)
Places Antarctica
* Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency
* Mount Hughes, Oates Land
* Hughes Basin, Oates Land
* Hughes Bay, Graham Land
* Hughes Bluff, Victoria La ...
, and
Allakaket
Allakaket ( ) (''Aalaa Kkaakk’et'' in Koyukon) is a second class city in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area of the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 105 at the 2010 census.
History and culture
Several Native gr ...
; Upper Koyukon was spoken at
Stevens Village,
Rampart
Rampart may refer to:
* Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement
Rampart may also refer to:
* "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...
, and part of
Tanana.
Language revitalization
In 2012, Susan Pavskan reported:
On Thursday evenings Denaakk'e (Koyukon Athabascan) classes are held at Yukon-Koyukuk School District offices in Fairbanks and Huslia
Huslia (; in Koyukon) is a city
in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. Rarely known as Hussliakatna, it is inhabited by Koyukuk-hotana Athabascans. The population was 293 at the 2000 census and 275 as of the 2010 census.
...
. About 18 people from four generations attended Thursday over video-conference. At the end of class, I demonstrated how MP3 sound files can be imported into iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
then synced with iPads
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
or iPods
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
. The students demonstrated these to their parents and grandparents.
The children's show ''
Molly of Denali
''Molly of Denali'' (stylized as ''MOLLY of DENALI'') is an animated children's television series produced by Atomic Cartoons in association with WGBH Kids, created by Dorothea Gillim and Kathy Waugh for PBS Kids and CBC Kids. '' features the Koyukon language.
Phonology and orthography
Consonants
Sounds are given in
IPA
IPA commonly refers to:
* India pale ale, a style of beer
* International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation
* Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound
IPA may also refer to:
Organizations International
* Insolvency Practitioners ...
with the orthographic equivalent in angled brackets:
[
]
Plosives and affricates, other than the labial ''b'' and the glottal'' '', distinguish plain,
aspirated and
ejective
In phonetics, ejective consonants are usually voiceless consonants that are pronounced with a glottalic egressive airstream. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated, voiced and tenuis consonants. Some ...
forms. Other consonants include labial and alveolar
nasals
In phonetics, a nasal, also called a nasal occlusive or nasal stop in contrast with an oral stop or nasalized consonant, is an occlusive consonant produced with a lowered velum, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The vast majorit ...
; alveolar, velar and glottal
fricative
A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...
s; and alveolar and palatal
approximant
Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a ...
s. Again other than the labial ''m'' and the glottal ''h'', these distinguish forms with and without
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
.
Vowels
There are four full vowels in Koyukon:
*
*
*
*
And there are three reduced vowels:
*
* (previously and )
*
References
Further reading
*Attla, Catherine. 1983. ''Sitsiy Yugh NoholnikTs'in': As My Grandfather Told It''. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center and Yukon-Koyukuk School District.
*Axelrod, Melissa. (1990). "Incorporation in Koyukon Athabaskan", ''International Journal of American Linguistics 56'', 179-195.
*Axelrod, Melissa. (1993). ''The Semantics of Time: Aspectual Categorization in Koyukon Athabaskan''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
*Axelrod, Melissa. 2000. "The Semantics of Classification in Koyukon Athabaskan," In: ''The Athabaskan Languages: Perspectives on a Native American Language Family''. Fernald, T and Paul R. Platero eds. Oxford University Press.
*Henry, Chief. (1976). ''K'ooltsaah Ts'in'. Koyukon Riddles''. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center.
*Henry, Chief. (1979). ''Chief Henry Yugh Noholnigee: The Stories Chief Henry Told''. (Transcribed and edited by Eliza Jones). Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center.
*Henry, David and Kay Henry. (1969). "Koyukon locationals", ''Anthropological Linguistics'' 11(4): 136-42.
*Jette, Jules and Eliza Jones (authors) and James Kari (ed.). (2000). ''Koyukon Athabaskan Dictionary''. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center.
*Jones, Eliza. (1986). ''Koyukon Ethnogeography''. Alaska Historical Commission.
*Jones, Eliza, Comp. ''Junior Dictionary for Central Koyukon Athabaskan: Dinaakkanaaga Ts'inh Huyoza''. Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 900111, Fairbanks, AK 99775-0120, 1992.
*Nelson, Richard K. 1986. ''Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
External links
Service Book in the Dialect of the Qlīyukuwhūtana Indians: Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in Upper Koyukon (1908)digitized by Richard Mammana
Alaska Native Language CenterWord-Lists of the Athabaskan, Yup'ik and Alutiiq Languagesby Lt. Laurence Zagoskin, 1847 (containing Koyukon on pages 3–8)
Koyukon basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
{{Languages of Alaska
Koyukon
Endangered Dené–Yeniseian languages
Indigenous languages of Alaska
Indigenous languages of the North American Subarctic
Northern Athabaskan languages
Native American language revitalization
Official languages of Alaska