Nisgaʼa languageNisgaʼa (also Nisg̱aʼa, Nass, Nisgha, Nishka, Niska, Nishga, Nisqaʼa) is an Indigenous language of northwestern British Columbia. It is a part of the language family generally called Tsimshianic, although some Nisgaʼa people resent the precedence the term gives to Coast Tsimshian. Nisgaʼa is very closely related to Gitxsan. Indeed, many linguists regard Nisgaʼa and Gitksan as dialects of a single Nass–Gitksan language.
Penutian languagesPenutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. The existence of a Penutian stock or phylum has been the subject of debate among linguists. Even the unity of some of its component families has been disputed.
Marie-Lucie TarpentMarie-Lucie Tarpent (born November 9, 1941) is a French-born Canadian linguist, formerly an associate professor of linguistics and French at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She is known for her descriptive work on the Nisga'a language, a member of the Tsimshianic language family, and for her proof of the affiliation of the Tsimshianic languages to the Penutian language group.
Southern Tsimshian dialectSouthern Tsimshian, Sgüüx̣s (pronounced: /skiːxs/) or Sgüümk, is the southern dialect of the Tsimshian language, spoken by the Gitga'ata and Kitasoo Tsimshians in Klemtu, B.C. It became extinct with the death of the last remaining speaker, Violet Neasloss. Sgüüx̣s is close to Coast Tsimshian and has been described as a highly conservative dialect, however it may not have been mutually intelligible with Coast Tsimshian. The name Sgüüx̣s means "the language beside."
Language familyA language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term family is a metaphor borrowed from biology, with the tree model used in historical linguistics analogous to a family tree, or to phylogenetic trees of taxa used in evolutionary taxonomy. Linguists thus describe the daughter languages within a language family as being genetically related.
AlaskaU.S. stateState in the United StatesAlaska ( , ) is a U.S. state located in the northwestern regions of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is considered to be the northernmost, westernmost, and, longitudinally, the easternmost state in the United States. It is a semi-exclave of the U.S., bordering the Canadian territory of Yukon and the province of British Columbia to the east.
Coast Tsimshian dialectTsimshian, known by its speakers as Sm'algya̱x, is a dialect of the Tsimshian language spoken in northwestern British Columbia and southeastern Alaska. Sm'algya̱x means literally 'real or true language'. The linguist Tonya Stebbins estimated the number of speakers of Tsimshian in 2001 as around 400 and in 2003 as 200 or fewer (see references below).
Annette IslandAnnette Island or Tàakw.àani (Tlingit) is an island in the Gravina Islands of the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean on the southeastern coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is at 55°08′06″N131°27′21″W / 55.13500°N 131.45583°W / 55.13500; -131.45583. It is about 18 km (11 mi) long and about 18 km (11 mi) wide. The land area is 332.573 km (128.407 sq mi).
Ketchikan, AlaskaKetchikan ( ; Tlingit: Kichx̱áan, pronounced) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough on Revillagigedo Island of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic Landmark District. With a population at the 2020 census of 8,192, up from 8,050 in 2010, it is the sixth-most populous city in the state, and thirteenth-most populous community when census-designated places are included.
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts, and grassy plains.
Edward SapirEdward Sapir (; January 26, 1884 – February 4, 1939) was an American anthropologist-linguist, and one of the most important figures in the development of the discipline of linguistics in the United States. Born in German Pomerania, in what is now northern Poland, his family emigrated to the United States of America when he was a child.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.