X̄a'islak̓ala

X̄a'islak̓ala Text

X̄a'islak̓ala or Haisla (ISO 639-3 has) is a Wakashan language spoken on the British Columbia mainland around the Douglas Channel, across from the Queen Charlotte Islands. There are two main dialects spoken, Kitamaat and Kitlope.

I have come across at least three writing systems for Haisla. The first is used by the community as shown on the Wisenis Haislakala site. The second is a system developed by, I believe, by Hein Vink, and it closely resembles the community orthography. The third is the orthography as given in Lincoln and Rath 1986 (L&R).

The Canadian Census counts 175 people with knowledge of Haisla in 2016. According to Howe and Cook, there are 200 speakers.

X̄a’islak̓ala Consonants

Community Orthography
 bilabialalveolaralveolar affricatelateralvelar (y‑offglide)velar roundeduvularuvular roundedglottal
voiceless stopbdzλgḡʷ'
aspirated stopptcƛkq
ejective stopƛ̓k̓ʷq̓ʷ
voiceless fricativesɫxx̄ʷh
nasal / resonantmnlyw
glottalized
syllabic n/remenel(i)(u)(a)
glottalized syllabic n/r em̓en̓el̓'i'u'a

X̄a’islak̓ala Vowels

Community Orthography
 frontcentralback
highiu
mide
lowaaa (long)

X̄a’ʼislak̓ala Consonants

Vink's Orthography
 bilabialalveolaralveolar affricatelateralvelar (y‑offglide)velar roundeduvularuvular roundedglottal
voiceless stopbdzdhggᵒḡᵒʼ
aspirated stopptcthkkᵒqqᵒ
ejective stopt̓hk̓ᵒq̓ᵒ
voiceless fricativeslhxxᵒx̄ᵒh
nasal / resonantmnlyw
glottalized

X̄a’ʼislak̓ala Vowels

Vink's Orthography
 frontcentralback
highiu
lowa

X̌àh̓isl̩ak̓ala Consonants

Lincoln & Rath
 bilabialalveolaralveolar affricatelateralvelar (y‑offglide)velar roundeduvularuvular roundedglottal
voiceless stopbdzλgǧʷ
aspirated stopptcƛkq
ejective stopƛ̓k̓ʷqq̓ʷ
voiceless fricativesɬxx̌ʷ
nasal / resonantmnlywh
glottalized
syllabic n/riua
glottalized syllabic n/r m̩̓n̩̓l̩̓

Notes

  • In one analysis (L&R), the vowels /i/, /u/, and /a/ are considered to be syllabic counterparts to /y/, /w/, and /'/.
  • Stress is marked with an acute accent á, In L&R a grave accent à, and in Vink with a straight quote mark '.
  • There are two digraphs 〈au〉 [ɔ] and 〈ai〉 [ɛ]—in Vink these are 〈e〉 and 〈o〉.