Lushootseed

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Lushootseed (also xʷəlšucid, dxʷləšúcid, Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, Skagit-Nisqually) is the language or dialect continuum of several Salish Native American groups of modern-day Washington state. Lushootseed is a member of Coast Salish, one of the two main divisions of the Salishan language group.

Lushootseed, like its neighbour Twana, is in the Southern Coast Salish subgroup of the Salishan family of languages. The language was spoken by many Puget Sound region peoples, including the Duwamish, Steilacoom, Suquamish, Squaxin Island Tribe, Nisqually, and Puyallup in the south and the Snohomish, Skagit, and Swinomish in the north.

Subdivisions

Lushootseed consists of two dialect groups which can be further divided into subdialects:

• Northern Lushootseed
• Snohomish (at Tulalip)
• Lower Skagit-Swinomish (on Skagit River and on Whidbey Island)
• Upper Skagit
• Sauk-Suiattle (on Sauk River and Suiattle River])
• Southern Lushootseed
• Skykomish
• Snoqualmie
• Steilacoom
• Suquamish
• Duwamish
• Muckleshoot (on Green and White rivers)
• Puyallup
• Nisqually
• Sahewamish

The division into Northern and Southern groups is based on vocabulary and stress patterns. More accurately, the dialects form a cline.

Some Vocabulary

Southern Lushootseed Salmonid Vocabulary

ačədádxʷ : a word that covers all Pacific salmon and some species of trout.sác̓əb : Chinook or Kingx̌ʔəwádxʷ : sockeye salmonsq̓ə́čqs : coho salmonƛ̕xʷáy : chum salmonhədúʔ : the pink salmonqíw̓x̌ : steelheadpədkʷəxʷic : coho seasonsc̓áy’t : gillsɬič☺áʔa : netsɬičaʔalikʷ : net fishing : spawning seasonskʷəlúb : body fatsč̕ət̓šáds : tailfint̓áltəd : fillet knifesq̓wəlús : fish dried for storagesəlúsqid : fish headsqəlx̌ : dried salmon eggsƛ̕ə́bƛ̕əbqʷ : fresh eggssɬúʔb : dried chumsxʷúd^zəʔdaliɬəd : fish with a large amount of body fatxʷšábús : lightly smoked

External links

• The Tulalip Lushootseed Department's Website
• History professor helps keep local Native American language alive by Drew Brown for PLU Scene Magazine
• Lushootseed Peoples of Puget Sound Country
• Ethnologue report
• Rosetta Project: Basic Phonology and Morphology

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Last updated on Monday January 21, 2008 at 19:54:11 PST (GMT -0800)
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