Nisgaʼa language

Nisgaʼa
Nisqaʼa
Nisg̱aʼa, nisqáʔamq
Pronunciation[nisɢaʔa]
Native toCanada
RegionNorthwest British Columbia (Nisg̱aʼa Nation)
Ethnicity5,495 Nisgaʼa
Native speakers
470 (2016 census)[1]
1,500 L2 speakers[2]
Tsimshianic
Nisg̱aʼa alphabet (NAPA)
Language codes
ISO 639-3ncg
Glottolognisg1240
ELPNisga'a
  Nisgaʼa
Nisgaʼa is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
PeopleNisgaʼa
LanguageNisg̱aʼamg̱
CountryNisg̱aʼa La̱xyip

Nisgaʼa (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. 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, Nisgaʼa is an endangered language. 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.[3]

Anglican missionary James Benjamin McCullagh conducted much early linguistic work in Nisgaʼa, preparing translations of parts of the Bible and Book of Common Prayer published in 1890, as well as a Nisgaʼa primer for students published in 1897. These were published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). These items included some portions of Scripture.

Other notable documentation of the Nisgaʼa language include "A Short Practical Dictionary of the Gitksan Language" compiled by Bruce Rigsby and Lonnie Hindle,[4] published in 1973 in Volume 7, Issue 1 of Journal of Northwest Anthropology.[5] In this dictionary, Rigsby created a simple alphabet for Nisgaʼa that is widely used today.[6]

Revitalization efforts

In January 2012, a Nisgaʼa app for iPhone and iPad was released for free.[7] Recently, the app was made available for use on Android.[8] The Nisgaʼa app is a bilingual dictionary and phrase collection archived at the First Voices data base, resources include audio recordings, images and videos.[9]

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 Nisgaʼa language.[10] In 2003, First Voices website, an online language archive was created to support language documentation, language teaching, and revitalization.[11] The Nisgaʼa First Voices is publicly accessible. Information on the website is managed by the Wilp Wilx̱oʼoskwhl Nisg̱aʼa 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 Nisgaʼa Community Portal at First Voices.[8]

In 1993, the Wilp Wilx̱oʼoskwhl Nisg̱aʼa Institute (WWNI) was established to provide post-secondary education for Nisgaʼa community and promote language and culture revitalization. It is the Nisgaʼa 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, Coast Mountain College (formerly 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 Nisgaʼa Studies.[12]

A recent project called “Raising Nisgaʼa Language, Sovereignty, and Land-Based Education Through Traditional Carving Knowledge” (RNL) was started by Nisgaʼa professor Amy Parent at University of British Columbia working with and the Laxgaltsʼap Village Government.[13] It will run over several years and aims to combine virtual reality technology with traditional knowledge in Nisgaʼa.[14]

Phonology

The phonology in Nisgaʼa is presented as follows:[15]

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
plain sibilant lateral plain rounded
Plosive/
Affricate 		plain p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ ts ⟨ts⟩ k ⟨k⟩ kʷ ⟨kw⟩ q ⟨ḵ⟩ ʔ ⟨ʼ⟩
ejective pʼ ⟨pʼ⟩ tʼ ⟨tʼ⟩ tsʼ ⟨tsʼ⟩ tɬʼ ⟨tlʼ⟩ kʼ ⟨kʼ⟩ kʼʷ ⟨kwʼ⟩ qʼ ⟨ḵʼ⟩
Fricative s ⟨s⟩ ɬ ⟨hl⟩ x ⟨x⟩ xʷ ⟨xw⟩ χ ⟨x̱⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Sonorant plain m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩
glottalized ˀm ⟨m̓⟩ ˀn ⟨n̓⟩ ˀl ⟨l̓⟩ ˀj ⟨y̓⟩ ˀw ⟨w̓⟩

Vowels

Front Central Back
short long short long short long
High i ⟨i⟩ iː ⟨ii⟩ u ⟨u⟩ uː ⟨uu⟩
Mid e ⟨e⟩ eː ⟨ee⟩ o ⟨o⟩ oː ⟨oo⟩
Low a ⟨a⟩ aː ⟨aa⟩

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 Nisgaʼa words but these pairs of sounds contrast one another in words borrowed into the language, making them distinct.[15]

In Nisgaʼa phonology, the voiced plosives [b, d, dz, g, gʷ, ɢ] are allophones of the unvoiced plosives /p, t, ts, k, kʷ, q/ and occur before vowels. Modern Nisgaʼa orthography writes the voiced plosives with their own characters b, d, j, g, gw, g̠ respectively.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Nisgaʼa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Nisgaʼa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  3. ^ Dunlop B., Gessner, S., Herbert T. & Parker A. (2018). "Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages" (PDF). The First Peoples' Cultural Council.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Hindle, L., Bruce, R. (1973). "A Short Practical Dictionary of the Gitksan Language". Journal of Northwest Anthropology. 7.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Journal of Northwest Anthropology — List of Past Volumes". Journal of Northwest Anthropology. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  6. ^ Tarpent, Marie-Lucie (1987). A grammar of the Nisgha language. ISBN 0-315-68126-8. OCLC 28598572.
  7. ^ "FirstVoices Apps". FirstVoices. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  8. ^ a b "FirstVoices: Nisgaʼa Community Portal". Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  9. ^ "Nisgaʼa on the App Store". App Store. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  10. ^ "First Peoples' Cultural Council | About us". www.fpcc.ca. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  11. ^ "FirstVoices". www.firstvoices.com. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  12. ^ "About « Welcome to WWNI – Nisgaʼa House of Wisdom". wwni.bc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  13. ^ Reporter, Ben Bogstie,Local Journalism Initiative. "New project using virtual reality to revitalize Nisgaʼa language". Prince George Citizen. Retrieved 2020-12-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ AP_admin. "Research Projects". Dr. Amy Parent. Archived from the original on 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  15. ^ a b c Tarpent, Marie-Lucie (1987). A grammar of the Nisgha language. ISBN 0-315-68126-8. OCLC 28598572.

Further reading

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