Nisga’a (also Nass, Nisgha, Nisg̱a’a, Nishka, Niska, Nishga, Nisqa’a) is a

Tsimshianic The Tsimshianic languages are a family of languages spoken in northwestern British Columbia and in Southeast Alaska on Annette Island and Ketchikan. All Tsimshianic languages are endangered, some with only around 400 speakers. Only around 2,170 ...

language of the Nisga'a people of northwestern

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, ...

. Nisga'a people, however, dislike the term ''Tshimshianic'' as they feel that it gives precedence to

Coast Tsimshian Tsimshian, known by its speakers as Sm'álgyax, is a dialect of the Tsimshian language spoken in northwestern British Columbia and southeastern Alaska. ''Sm'algyax'' means literally "real or true language." The linguist Tonya Stebbins estimat ...

. Nisga’a is very closely related to Gitxsan. Indeed, many linguists regard Nisga’a and Gitksan as dialects of a single Nass–Gitksan language. The two are generally treated as distinct languages out of deference to the political separation of the two groups.

History and usage

Like almost all other First Nations languages of British Columbia, Nisga’a is an

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead langu ...

. In the 2018 Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages, there were 311 fluent speakers and 294 active language learners reported in a population of 6,113. Anglican missionary

James Benjamin McCullagh James Benjamin McCullagh (1854–1921) was an Anglican missionary in British Columbia; he worked under the supervision of the Church Missionary Society, a Protestant body with an evangelical program and practices. McCullagh is notable for his ling ...

conducted much early linguistic work in Nisga’a, preparing translations of parts of the Bible and

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

published in 1890, as well as a Nisga’a primer for students published in 1897. These were published by the

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world. The SPCK is th ...

(SPCK). These items included some portions of Scripture. Other notable documentation of the Nisga'a language include 'A Short Practical Dictionary of the Gitksan Language' compiled by

Bruce Rigsby Bruce Rigsby (1937 – March 19, 2022) was an American-Australian anthropologist specializing in the languages and ethnography of native peoples on both continents. He was professor emeritus at Queensland University, and a member of both the Au ...

and Lonnie Hindle, published in 1973 in Volume 7, Issue 1 of Journal of Northwest Anthropology. In this dictionary, Rigsby created a simple alphabet for Nisga'a that is widely used today.

Revitalization efforts

In January 2012, a Nisga’a app for iPhone and

iPad 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 s ...

was released for free. Recently, the app was made available for use on Android. The Nisga'a app is a bilingual dictionary and phrase collection archived at the

First Voices FirstVoices is a web-based project to support Indigenous peoples' teaching and archiving of language and culture. It is administered by the First Peoples' Cultural Council in British Columbia (B.C.). FirstVoices was initially launched in 2003 to ai ...

data base, resources include audio recordings, images and videos. Since 1990, the First Peoples' Heritage Language and Culture Council has been providing support to revitalize First Peoples' language, arts and cultures. A total of $20 million has been distributed to support various projects, including revitalization of Nisga'a language. In 2003,

website, an online language archive was created to support language documentation, language teaching, and revitalization. Th
Nisga'a
First Voices is publicly accessible. Information on the website is managed by th
Wilp Wilx̱o'oskwhl Nisg̱a'a Institute
Resources include alphabets, online dictionary, phrasebook, songs, stories, and interactive online games with sounds, pictures and videos. A total of 6092 words and 6470 phrases have been archived on the Nisga'a Community Portal at First Voices. In 1993, the Wilp Wilx̱o'oskwhl Nisg̱a'a Institute (WWNI) was established to provide post-secondary education for Nisga'a community and promote language and culture revitalization. It is the Nisga'a university-college located in the Nass Valley in Gitwinksihlkw on the northwest coast of British Columbia. The WWNI is a community driven, non-profit organization that is affiliated with the University of Northern British Columbia, Northwest Community College, and Royal Roads University. It is the only place where students can earn accreditation and certification of its courses and programs in Nisga'a Studies. A recent project called “Raising Nisga’a Language, Sovereignty, and Land-Based Education Through Traditional Carving Knowledge” (RNL) was started by Nisga’a professor Amy Parent at

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

working with and the Laxgalts’ap Village Government. It will run over several years and aims to combine

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

technology with traditional knowledge in Nisga'a.

Phonology

The phonology in Nisga'a is presented as follows:

Consonants

Vowels

The high and mid short front vowels /i/ and /e/ as well as the high and mid short back vowels /u/ and /o/ are largely found to be in complementary distribution in native Nisga'a words but these pairs of sounds contrast one another in words borrowed into the language, making them distinct.

References

External links

The Nisg̱a’a Language
(YDLI)
Nisga’a Language on First Voices.com

Nisga’a-language videos

''Niš'ga Primer''
published in 1897
part I, spelling and reading ; anspelsqum Tsim algiuk
Internet Archive
OLAC resources in and about the Nisga'a language

Anglican liturgical text in Nisga’a published in 1977 *
Nisga'a Lisims Government Language Tools
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nisga'a language *L01 Tsimshianic languages Endangered Tsimshianic languages Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations languages in Canada Languages of Canada