Nuxalk [nuχalk] is a Salishan language spoken in Bella Coola (Q’umk’uts) in British Colombia in Canada. In 2014 there were 17 Nuxalk speakers, all of whom were elderly. The language is also known as Bella Coola, although Nuxalk is the preferred name, particularly for the Nuxalk Nation government. The name Bella Coola comes from bḷ́xʷlá, which means "stranger" in Heiltsuk, a Wakashan language also spoken in British Colombia.
Nuxalk is taught in a number of provincial schools in British Colombia and in Nuxalk Nation's school, Acwsalcta.
There are two ways of writing Nuxalk: the Americanist orthography developed by Philip Davis and Ross Saunders, and a practical orthography used in Hank Nater's The Bella Coola Language (1984) and his Nuxalk-English Dictionary (1990).
The practical orthography is shown first, then the Americanist orthography, where they differ. For example, in the practical orthography the phoneme /xʲ/ is written C, and it's written X in the Americanist orthography.
Download a Nuxalk pronunciation chart in PDF or Excel format.
Some details of Nuxalk pronunciation supplied by Wolfram Siegel
Way kamalh kw’alhtnim wa suuncw ats, p’iixlalayctimut-s ti qnklsytilh t’ayc ala snuxyals wa skulhaltwas; ska sisuuncwalh t’axw alhtxw.
When the world was being created our earth was like an island floating in an ocean of stars; ever moving in the cosmos of outer space.
Uts’i S'tlhilh Nuxalkmcilh
Our Greatest Strength is Being Nuxalk.
Source: https://nuxalknation.ca/culture-and-language/
clhp'xwlhtlhplhhskwts' / xłp̓χʷłtłpłłskʷc̓
Then he had had in his possession a bunchberry plant.
IPA transcription: /xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt͡sʼ/
This is an example of a word with no vowels, something that is quite common in Nuxalk.
Souce: Nater, Hank F. (1984). The Bella Coola Language. Mercury Series; Canadian Ethnology Service (No. 92). Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
Information about Nuxalk | Numbers
Information about the Nuxalk Language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuxalk_language
https://nuxalknation.ca/culture-and-language/
http://www.native-languages.org/nuxalk.htm
http://www.acwsalcta.ca/nuxalk-language
http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Nuxalk/words
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nuxalk-bella-coola
Coeur d'Alene, Comox, Halkomelem, Klallam, Lushootseed, Lillooet, Nooksack, Nuxalk, Okanagan, Saanich, Salish, she shashishalhem, Shuswap, Squamish, Nlaka’pamux (Thompson)
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 03.12.24
[top]
You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.
Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.
[top]