The Nooksack language (''Lhéchalosem'', or ''Lhéchelesem'') is a

Salishan The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana). They are characterised by ...

language spoken by the

Nooksack people The Nooksack (; Nooksack: ''Noxwsʼáʔaq'') are a federally recognized Native American tribe near the Pacific Northwest Coast. They are a sovereign nation, located in the mainland northwest corner of Washington state in the United States alon ...

of the Pacific Northwest Coast. It comes from the area now known as northwestern

Washington (state) Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washingt ...

Whatcom County Whatcom County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Canadian Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts of British Columbia) to the north, Okanogan ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The Nooksack language has only one fluent speaker as of 2020. Nooksack is most closely related to Squamish, Sháshíshálhem (Sechelt) and

Halkomelem Halkomelem (; in the Upriver dialect, in the Island dialect, and in the Downriver dialect) is a language of various First Nations peoples of the British Columbia Coast. It is spoken in what is now British Columbia, ranging from southeastern ...

, which are all spoken in nearby parts of

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, for ...

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 to ...

. Some researchers have questioned whether the Nooksack language is simply a divergent dialect of Halkomelem, but research has proved that Nooksack is in fact a distinct language.

Usage and revitalization efforts

In the 1970s, the Salishan linguist

Brent Galloway Brent Douglas Galloway (8 April 1944 – 6 August 2014) was an American linguist noted for his work with endangered Amerindian languages, specializing in several of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. He completed his degrees through a doc ...

, worked closely with the last remaining native speaker, Sindick Jimmy, who died in 1988. He was compiling a

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologie ...

of the language, and his book, ''Nooksack place names: geography, culture, and language'', appeared in 2011. The Nooksack tribe has offered classes in the language. As of 2020, one fluent speaker remained, a Nooksack tribal member who has been part of the Lhéchalosem Teacher Training Language Immersion Project. Students will spend mornings in

language immersion Language immersion, or simply immersion, is a technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics, including math, science, or social studies. The languages used for instruction ...

, and afternoons working on special projects, focusing on the language use in one aspect of local native culture such as fishing or crafts. After two years, the students will obtain a certificate similar to an Associate Degree, and after four years they will be fully qualified language teachers, with the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts. The aim is to revive the use of the Lhéchalosem language in all aspects of daily life. The program has an annual budget of $110,000, with 60 percent funded by the

Administration for Native Americans The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) is a program office within the United States Department of Health and Human Services established in 1974 through the Native American Programs Act (NAPA). Background The mission of ANA is to promote ...

(ANA) and 40 percent funded by the Nooksack Tribe.

Phonology

Vowels

The following table includes all the vowel sounds found in the Nooksack language.

Consonants

The following table includes all the consonant sounds found in the Nooksack language.

Orthography

In addition, the diacritic "ː" indicates that the preceding sound is long (e.g. , ). An acute accent (´) is placed on the accented syllable.

References

Nooksack Tribe page
*

External links

OLAC resources in and about the Nooksack language
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nooksack Language Coast Salish languages Endangered languages Languages of the United States Nooksack Native American language revitalization Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast Indigenous languages of Washington (state)