Haíɫzaqvḷa / Heiltsuk Language
Heiltsuk (ISO 639-3 hei) is a northern Wakashan language spoken mid-way up the Pacific coast of British Columbia. The writing system presented here is based on the practical orthography as shown in Rath 1981. The current form is used in Kitasoo and Bella Bella, with several modifications. It is a compromise of sorts between the linguistic and B.C.-style practical orthographies. Some its most notable features are: using 〈v〉 as a diacritic for rounded velars and uvulars, and the complex forms of vocalic nasals and resonants, like 〈ṃ̓〉.
The Canadian Census counts 125 people with knowledge of Haíɫzaqvḷa in 2016. According to Howe and Cook, there are 200 speakers.
Haíɫzaqvḷa Consonants
bilabial | alveolar | alveolar affricate | lateral | velar (y‑offglide) | velar rounded | uvular | uvular rounded | glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
voiced stop | b | d | z | λ | g | gv | ǧ | ǧv | |
voiceless stop | p | t | c | ƛ | k | kv | q | qv | |
ejective stop | p̓ | t̓ | c̓ | ƛ̓ | k̓ | k̓v | q̓ | q̓v | |
voiceless fricative | s | ɫ | x | xv | x̌ | x̌v | |||
nasal / resonant | m | n | l | y | w | h | |||
glottalized n/r | m̓ | n̓ | l̓ | y̓ | w̓ | h̓ | |||
syllabic n/r | ṃ | ṇ | ḷ | ||||||
syllabic high-tone n/r | ṃ́ | ṇ́ | ḷ́ | ||||||
glottalized syllabic n/r | ṃ̓ | ṇ̓ | ḷ̓ |
Haíɫzaqvḷa Vowels
front | central | back | |
---|---|---|---|
high | i í i̓ | u ú u̓ | |
mid | e é | ||
low | a á a̓ |
Notes
- Rath 1981 differs from the community orthography in the way laterals are written: λ→dh, ƛ→th, ƛ̓→t̓h, ɫ→lh.
- The capital forms of λ and ƛ are upside-down capital ‘Y’ and ‘Y’ with a bar.
- The acute accent á is high tone. The apostophe accent a̓ indicates a glottalised vowel.