Nooksack language
Revived Salish language of Washington state
title: "Nooksack language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["coast-salish-languages", "endangered-languages-of-north-america", "languages-of-the-united-states", "nooksack", "native-american-language-revitalization", "indigenous-languages-of-the-pacific-northwest-coast", "indigenous-languages-of-washington-(state)"] description: "Revived Salish language of Washington state" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nooksack_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Revived Salish language of Washington state ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Nooksack |
| nativename | Lhéchelesem |
| region | Whatcom County, Washington |
| ethnicity | Nooksack people |
| extinct | 1988, with the death of Sindick Jimmy |
| ref | e18 |
| revived | 1 fluent L2 speaker (2020) |
| familycolor | salishan |
| fam1 | Salish |
| fam2 | Coast Salish |
| fam3 | Central |
| iso3 | nok |
| glotto | nook1247 |
| glottorefname | Nooksack |
| notice | IPA |
| pronunciation | |
| map | Lang Status 01-EX.svg |
| mapcaption | |
| :: |
| name = Nooksack | nativename = Lhéchelesem | region = Whatcom County, Washington | ethnicity = Nooksack people | extinct = 1988, with the death of Sindick Jimmy | ref = e18 | revived = 1 fluent L2 speaker (2020) | familycolor = salishan | fam1 = Salish | fam2 = Coast Salish | fam3 = Central | iso3 = nok | glotto = nook1247 | glottorefname = Nooksack | notice = IPA | pronunciation = | map = Lang Status 01-EX.svg | mapcaption =
Nooksack (, ) is a Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Nooksack is spoken by the Nooksack people, who reside primarily along the Nooksack River in Whatcom County, Washington.
Linguistically, Nooksack is most closely related to the Squamish, shíshálh and Halkomelem languages, which are all spoken in nearby parts of British Columbia, Canada. Some researchers have questioned whether the Nooksack language is simply a divergent dialect of Halkomelem, but research has proved that Nooksack is in fact a distinct language.
The Nooksack language has only one fluent speaker as of 2020.
Usage and revitalization efforts
In the 1970s, the linguist Brent Galloway worked closely with the last remaining native speaker, Sindick Jimmy, to compile a dictionary of the Nooksack language. His book, Nooksack Place Names: Geography, Culture, and Language, was published in 2011. In 1988, Nooksack became extinct with the death of Sindick Jimmy.
Now, the Nooksack Indian Tribe has offered classes in the language.{{Cite journal | title = Nooksack program revives a nearly extinct language | journal = Canku Ota | access-date = 2013-09-15 | date = 2002-02-23 | url = http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues02/Co02232002/CO_02232002_Nooksack.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141127034620/http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues02/Co02232002/CO_02232002_Nooksack.htm | archive-date = 2014-11-27 | url-status = usurped | last = Adkinson | first = Brita | title = Revitalization project hopes to revive Nooksack language | work = Foothills Gazette | access-date = 2013-09-15 | url = http://foothillsgazette.com/2010/02/14/nooksack-language-to-be-passed-on-through-revitalization-project/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101217163152/http://foothillsgazette.com/2010/02/14/nooksack-language-to-be-passed-on-through-revitalization-project/ | archive-date = 2010-12-17 | url-status = dead
Phonology
Vowels
The following table includes all the vowel sounds found in the Nooksack language. ::data[format=table]
| Front | Central | Back | Close | Mid | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| () | |||||
| :: |
Consonants
The following table includes all the consonant sounds found in the Nooksack language. ::data[format=table] | Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | plain || sibilant || lateral | plain || lab. | plain || lab. | Stop | plain | ejective | Fricative | plain | ejective | Sonorant | plain | glottalized | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
Orthography
::data[format=table]
| Letter | IPA |
|---|---|
| a | |
| ch | // |
| ch' | |
| e | / |
| h | |
| i | |
| k | |
| k' | k̓ |
| kw | |
| kw' | |
| l | |
| lh | |
| m | |
| n | |
| o | |
| o̱ | |
| p | |
| p' | |
| q | |
| q' | |
| qw | |
| qw' | |
| s | |
| sh | |
| t | |
| t' | |
| th | /θ/ |
| th' | /θʼ/ |
| tl' | |
| ts | |
| ts' | |
| u | |
| w | |
| x | |
| xw | |
| x̱ | |
| x̱w | |
| y | |
| 7 | |
| :: |
In addition, the diacritic "ː" indicates that the preceding sound is long (e.g. , ). An acute accent (´) is placed on the accented syllable.
References
References
- (2010). "Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". UNESCO.
- (2023-09-21). "About Us".
- Richardson, Allan. (2011). "Nooksack Place Names: Geography, Culture, and Language". UBC Press.
- (1984). "A Look at Nooksack Phonology". Anthropological Linguistics.
- Hu, Jane C. (2020-02-01). "One woman took a stand against tribal disenrollment and paid for it".
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