Salishan languages

The Salishan languages are a group of languages spoken by people living in the Pacific Northwest of North America. These languages are mainly found in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

People who study languages call these the Salish or Salishan languages. The name comes from the Flathead Nation. Many of these languages are not used very much anymore, and only a few people still know how to speak them.

Some groups have created their own ways to write these languages using regular letters. This helps keep the languages alive and lets more people learn about them.

Family division

The Salishan language family has twenty-three languages. They are usually grouped into five main divisions: Central Salish (also called Coast Salish), Tsamosan (also called Olympic Salish), Interior Salish, Tillamook, and Nuxalk. Sometimes, Nuxalk is considered part of the Coastal Division, and Tillamook is also sometimes included in the Coast Division. A scholar named Morris Swadesh suggested that the Olympic branch of Coast Salishan languages might be a special group, but most linguists today see it as a smaller part of the Coast Salish division. The Interior Salish languages are more similar to each other than they are to the Coast Salish languages.

Language tree

Below is a list of Salishan languages, dialects, and subdialects. These languages share a common origin, and nearby groups have often talked to each other. Because of this, it can be hard to know how much each dialect and language has influenced the others. This list shows how linguists group the languages, but it might not match how the Salishan groups themselves see their languages. Some Salishan groups think their way of speaking is its own language, not just a dialect.

Languages or dialects with no living native speakers are marked with †.

Reduced overview

Detailed overview

Genetic relations

No strong connection between the Salishan languages and any other language families has been found.

Edward Sapir thought the Salishan languages might be linked to the Wakashan and Chimakuan languages in a group called the Mosan family. But there is not much proof for this idea, so researchers have not made much progress.

The Salishan languages, especially Chehalis, added many words to the Chinook Jargon.

Family features

The Salishan languages have some special features. They can have syllables without vowels. They use a process called grammatical reduplication, where parts of words are repeated to change their meaning. Their verbs do not change form to show if an action happened in the past, present, or future. These languages also use ways of changing words that are different from English, like glottalization.

Syntax

The Salish languages have a unique way of arranging words in sentences. In these languages, the verb usually comes first, then the subject, and finally the object. For example, instead of saying "The dog chased the cat," someone might say "Chased the dog the cat."

These languages also have special ways to show if someone is doing something to another person or thing. They add small pieces to verbs to change their meaning or to show who is involved in the action. For instance, adding a piece to a verb might change a sentence from "I got scared" to "I got scared of you."

There are also different ways to say "no" or "not" in Salish languages. One common way is to use a special verb at the start of the sentence. Another way is to use a word at the beginning that connects to the subject of the sentence. There is also a simpler way that just uses a word at the start without changing anything else in the sentence.

Nounlessness

Salishan languages, along with the Wakashan and the extinct Chimakuan languages, use words in a special way. In these languages, any word can be the main part of a sentence or a description. Words that usually name things can also describe actions, and words that describe actions can name things.

For example, in the Lushootseed language, the word sbiaw means "(is a) coyote" when describing something. Another word, ʔux̌ʷ, means "(one that) goes" when naming something. This special use of words is also found in St’át’imcets and other Salish and Wakashan languages. Some experts think this shows these languages do not separate words into nouns and verbs like other languages do. Others believe there are still hidden differences between words that act like nouns and those that act like verbs, even if they can be used in flexible ways.

Historical linguistics

There are twenty-three languages in the Salishan language family. They are found in the Pacific Northwest, mostly in one large area. These languages are related, but it is hard to follow their history because the people who speak them have interacted a lot. This makes it difficult to see how different dialects and languages influenced each other.

The differences between these languages depend on two main things: how far apart the communities are and what natural barriers, like mountains, exist between them. Languages that are closer together often share more words because the people talk to each other more. However, mountains or other barriers can keep people apart, leading to bigger differences in their languages even if they live near each other.

In popular culture

Stanley Evans has written crime fiction novels that use stories and words from the Salish languages.

An episode of Stargate SG-1 called "Spirits" shows people from space. Their culture is based on the traditions of the Pacific coastal First Nations, and they speak a language called "ancient Salish".