Columbia-Moses language

Moses-Columbia, or Columbia-Wenatchi (in Moses-Columbia: Nxaʔamxcín), is a Southern Interior Salish language, also known as Nxaảmxcín. Speakers currently reside on the Colville Indian Reservation. The Columbia people were followers of Chief Moses.

Moses-Columbia
Columbia-Wenatchi
Nxaʔamxcín
Native toUnited States of America
Regionnorthern Idaho, eastern Washington
Ethnicity230 (2000 census)[1]
ExtinctApril 2023[1]
53 second language speakers
Salishan
Dialects
  • Columbian
  • Wenatchi
Language codes
ISO 639-3col
Glottologcolu1241
ELPColumbian
Columbian is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

There are two dialects, Columbia (Sinkiuse, Columbian) and Wenatchi (Wenatchee, Entiat, Chelan). Wenatchi is the heritage language of the Wenatchi, Chelan, and Entiat tribes, Columbian of the Sinkiuse-Columbia.

Pauline Stensgar, who died in April 2023, is reported to have been the last fully fluent speaker. There are 53 other non-native speakers of varying proficiency. [2]

Phonology

Phonology of the Columbia-Wenatchi dialect:

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
centralsibilantlateral plainlab. plainlab. plainlab.
Plosive/
Affricate		 plain p t ts k kʷ q qʷ ʔ
glottalized pʼ tʼ tsʼ tɬʼ kʼ kʷ’ qʼ qʷ’
Fricative s ɬ x xʷ χ χʷ ħ ħʷ h
Sonorant plain m n l j w ʕ ʕʷ
glottalized mˀ nˀ lˀ jˀ wˀ ʕˀ ʕʷˀ
Trill plain r
glottalized rˀ

The three vowels in Moses-Columbia are /i/, /a/, /u/. They are sometimes transcribed as [e]; /i/, [o]; /u/, and [æ]; /a/, and could also tend to sound unstressed, almost as a schwa sound, /ə/.

References
  1. Moses-Columbia at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Hanlon, James (May 5, 2023). "Last fluent speaker of n̓xaʔm̓xčín̓ language dies at 96". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved May 5, 2023.

Further reading
  • Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa and Paul Proulx. 2000. "REVIEWS - What's in a Word? Structure in Moses-Columbia Salish". International Journal of American Linguistics. 66, no. 3: 410.
  • Kinkade, M. Dale. Dictionary of the Moses-Columbia Language (Nxaʔamxcín). Nespelem, Wash: Colville Confederated Tribes, 1981.
  • Mattina, Nancy. 2006. "Determiner Phrases in Moses-Columbia Salish". International Journal of American Linguistics. 72, no. 1: 97.
  • Willet, Marie Louise. 2003." A Grammatical Sketch of Nxa'amxcin" PhD Thesis, University of Victoria.


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