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. What makes these languages special is that they use many sounds put together in a row, which can make their words look very long and complex.

People who study languages call these the Salish or Salishan languages. The name comes from the Flathead Nation, and it was later used for other related languages in the same area. Many of these languages are not used very much anymore, and only a few people still know how to speak them. In fact, most of the people who can still speak these languages are older than sixty, and some have almost no speakers left at all.

Even though these languages are not written in the same way as English, some groups have created their own ways to write them using the regular letters we use every day. This helps keep their 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 proven.

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

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

Family features

The Salishan languages have some special features. One is that they can have syllables without vowels. They also use a process called grammatical reduplication, where parts of words are repeated to change their meaning. Another feature is tenselessness, meaning verbs don’t change form to show if an action happened in the past, present, or future. These languages also sometimes use infixes, metathesis, and glottalization, which are ways of changing words that are a bit different from what we usually see in English.

Syntax

The Salish languages have a special way of putting words together in sentences. In these languages, the verb usually comes first, followed by the subject and then the object. For example, instead of saying "The dog chased the cat," someone might say "Chased the dog the cat" in a Salish language.

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, show a special way of using words. In these languages, any word can act as the main part of a sentence or as a description. Words that usually mean things can also be used to describe actions, and words that usually describe actions can be used to name things.

For example, in the Lushootseed language, the word sbiaw means "(is a) coyote" when used to describe something. Another word, ʔux̌ʷ, means "(one that) goes" when used to name something. This special way of using words is also found in St’át’imcets and other Salish and Wakashan languages. Some experts think this shows that these languages do not separate words into nouns and verbs in the same way other languages do. However, others believe there are still hidden differences between noun-like and verb-like words, 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 include stories and words from the Salish languages.

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