Sekani language
| Sekani | |
|---|---|
| Tse'khene | |
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | British Columbia |
| Ethnicity | 1,410 Sekani people (2014, FPCC)[1] |
Native speakers | 35 (2021 census) 135 with knowledge (2021)[2] |
| Latin script Canadian Aboriginal syllabics | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sek |
| Glottolog | seka1250 |
| ELP | Tse'khene (Sekani) |
 Sekani is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Sekani or Tse’khene is the indigenous language of the Sekani of the British Columbia Interior. It is spoken primarily in communities located along the upper Peace, Parsnip, and Finlay river systems, including areas around Kwadacha, Tsay Keh Dene First Nation, and McLeod Lake. The language historically reflects the people's mobility across a vast boreal and mountainous landscape, with different bands occupying distinct territories while maintaining close linguistic ties.
Most are only semispeakers, and the language is considered critically endangered.[3] English predominates in education, government, wage labor, and interactions with outsiders, while Sekani is spoken more frequently by older generations and in family or ceremonial contexts. Many younger Sekani understand some of the language but have limited fluency, reflecting the effects of residential schools, language shift, and changing economic and social structure. As a result, English often serves economic functions, whereas Sekani remains closely associated with cultural knowledge and traditional ways of life.[4]
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]Sekani has 33 consonants:
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- Alveolar |
Velar | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | lateral | plain | labial | |||||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | ts | tɬ | tʃ | k | kʷ | |
| aspirated | (pʰ) | tʰ | tsʰ | tɬʰ | tʃʰ | kʰ | kʷʰ | ||
| ejective | tʼ | tsʼ | tɬʼ | tʃʼ | kʼ | kʼʷ | ʔ | ||
| Nasal | m | n | |||||||
| Fricative- Approximant[a] |
voiceless | s | ɬ | ç | x | xʷ | h | ||
| voiced | z | l | j | ɣ | w | ||||
- ↑ Sekani, like other Athabaskan languages, does not contrast fricatives with approximants.
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Low | a |
Tone
[edit]Sekani has two tones: low and high. High tone is the more common tone. Syllables phonologically marked for tone are low. For example, tsun means 'dirt', while tsùn means 'meat'.[5]
Nasalization
[edit]Nasalization of vowels is phonemic. The root *ghèl means 'scrape', while the root *ghę̀l means 'roll'.[5] Nasal vowels also contrast with vowels followed by /n/.
Orthography
[edit]The orthography of the Kwadcha Tsek'ene dictionary uses the following letters.[6][7]
| Letter | IPA | |
|---|---|---|
| Syll. init. | Syll. final | |
| ’ | ʔ | |
| a | ɑ | |
| à | ɑ˩ | |
| ą | ɑ̃ | |
| ą̀ | ɑ̃˩ | |
| b | p | - |
| ch | t͡ʃʰ | - |
| ch’ | t͡ʃ’ | - |
| d | d | - |
| dl | tɬ | - |
| dz | ts | - |
| e | e | |
| ę | ẽ | |
| è | e˩ | |
| ę̀ | ẽ˩ | |
| g | k | - |
| gw | kʷ | - |
| h | h | |
| i | ɪ | - |
| į | ɪ̃ | - |
| ì | ɪ˩ | - |
| į̀ | ɪ̃˩ | - |
| j | tʃ | - |
| ii | i | |
| įį | ĩ | |
| ìì | i˩ | |
| į̀į̀ | ĩ˩ | |
| k | kʰ | k |
| k’ | k’ | - |
| kh | x | |
| gh | ɣ | |
| kw | kʷ | - |
| kw’ | kʷ’ | - |
| l | l | |
| lh | ɬ | |
| m | m | |
| n | n | |
| o | o | |
| ǫ | õ | |
| ò | o˩ | |
| ǫ̀ | õ˩ | |
| oo | u | |
| ǫǫ | ũ | |
| òò | u˩ | |
| ǫ̀ǫ̀ | ũ˩ | |
| p | pʰ | p |
| s | s | |
| z | z | |
| sh | ʃ | |
| t | tʰ | t |
| t’ | t’ | - |
| tl | tɬ | |
| tl’ | tɬ’ | - |
| ts | tsʰ | ts |
| ts’ | ts’ | - |
| u | ɐ | - |
| ų | ɐ̃ | - |
| ù | ɐ˩ | - |
| ų̀ | ɐ̃˩ | - |
| w | w | |
| yh | ç | - |
| y | j | |
| zh | ʒ | - |
In addition, ⟨wu⟩ represents /ʊ/, ⟨iii⟩ represents /iː/, ⟨ee⟩ represents /eː/, and ⟨aa⟩ represents /ɑː/.
Vocabulary
[edit]These words are from the FirstVoices dictionary for Kwadacha Tsek'ene dialect.[6]
| Kwadacha Tsek'ene | English |
|---|---|
| dune | man, person |
| tlįį | dog |
| wudzįįh | caribou |
| yus | snow |
| chǫ | rain |
| k’wus | cloud |
| kwùn | fire (n) |
| ’įįbèh | summer |
| too | water |
| mun | lake |
| nun | land |
| tselh | axe |
| ʼukèʼ | foot |
| ’àtse | my grandfather |
| ’àtsǫǫ | my grandmother |
| lhìghè’ | one |
| lhèkwudut’e | two |
| tadut’e | three |
| dįįdut’e | four |
| ǫ | yes |
| Tlįį duchę̀’ ’ehdasde | January |
| Dahyusè’ nùkehde wìlę | February |
| ’Iihts’ii nùtsudawit’į̀į̀h | March |
| Nùts’iide | March |
| Dasè’ | April |
| ’Ut’ǫ̀’ kùlhaghnukehde wìlę | May |
| ’Ut’ǫ̀’ kùnuyehde | May |
| Jìje dinììdulh | July |
| Yhììh nunutsunde wìlę | August |
| Yhììh ukudeh’àsde | September |
| ’Udììtl’ǫh ’uwit’į̀į̀h | October |
| Yus ’ut’į̀į̀h | November |
| Khuye ’uwììjàh | December |
Notes
[edit]- ↑ Sekani language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ↑ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (29 March 2023). "Indigenous languages in Canada, 2021". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
- ↑ "Did you know Tse'khene (Sekani) is critically endangered?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
- ↑ Lanoue, Guy (2021). Brothers: The Politics of Violence among the Sekani of Northern British Columbia. Explorations in Anthropology (1 ed.). Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-367-71680-6.
- 1 2 Hargus, Sharon (21 April 2000). "Ft. Ware (Kwadacha) Sekani Dictionary". Alaska Native Language Archive. University of Alaska Fairbanks. CN990H2000.
- 1 2 "Kwadacha Tsek'ene alphabet". FirstVoices. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ↑ Hargus, Sharon (26 September 2016). "Sounds and writing systems of Deg Xinag, Tsek'ene and Witsuwit'en" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2022.
Bibliography
[edit]- Hargus, Sharon (1988). The Lexical Phonology of Sekani. Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-5187-4.
- Original dissertation: Hargus, Sharon Louise (1985). The Lexical Phonology of Sekani (PhD dissertation). Los Angeles: University of California.
- Mithun, Marianne (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521298759.
Articles
[edit]- Hargus, Sharon (26 June 2010). Effects on consonant duration in Fort Ware Tsek'ene (PDF). Athabaskan/Dene Languages Conference. Eugene, OR. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016.
- "References" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016.
- Hargus, Sharon (2009). Causatives and transitionals in Kwadacha Tsek'ene (PDF). Athabaskan Languages Conference. Berkeley, CA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
- Hargus, Sharon (10 July 2010). Phonetic vs. phonological rounding in Athabaskan languages (PDF). LabPhon 12. Albuquerque, NM.
- References: "References" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
- Journal article: Hargus, Sharon (2012). "Deg Xinag Rounding Assimilation: A case study in phonologization". Journal of Laboratory Phonology. 3 (1): 163–193. doi:10.1515/lp-2012-0010.
