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Tahltan language facts for kids

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Tahltan
Tałtan ẕāke, dah dẕāhge, didene keh
Native to Canada
Ethnicity 2,460 Tahltan people (2014, FPCC)
Native speakers 95  (2016)
Language family
Lang Status 20-CR.svg
Tahltan is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Tahltan, Tāłtān, also called Tałtan ẕāke ("Tahltan people language"), dah dẕāhge ("our language") or didene keh ("this people’s way") is a poorly documented Northern Athabaskan language historically spoken by the Tahltan people (also "Nahanni") who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. Tahltan is a critically endangered language. Several linguists classify Tahltan as a dialect of the same language as Tagish and Kaska (Krauss and Golla 1981, Mithun 1999).

Language revitalization

As of May 2013, language researcher Dr. Judy Thompson estimated that there are 30 Tahltan speakers. A new Language and Culture office is exploring evening "language immersion" classes, a Master-Apprentice program, and creating a "language nest" for teaching the language to young children. Scholarships are planned for part-time language learners.

Lacking written documentation, it was unclear to the language revitalization coordinator how to teach the language, and how to explain the grammar. "After a year of study, Oscar Dennis says he, along with Reginald and Ryan Dennis, have finally cracked the code on Tahltan language’s fundamental patterns." As a Dene language, like Navajo, Tahltan has “encoded” patterns in which small pieces are added to words to create meaning. "Dr. Gregory Anderson from the Living Tongues Institute visited our territory, and was so impressed with the team’s work that he said he 'couldn’t improve upon it.'"

A digital archive of Tahltan recordings, located "at the Tahltan Language Revitalization Offices in Dease Lake, Iskut and Telegraph Creek" can be used on iPods.

Phonology

Consonants

There are 47 consonant sounds:

Labial Dental Inter-
dental		 Post-
alveolar		 Velar Uvular Glottal
plain sibilant lateral plain labial
Nasal plain m n
voiceless n̥
glottalized [[Error using : IPA symbol "nʼ" not found in list|nʼ]]
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiced b
unaspirated t ts tɬ [[Error using : IPA symbol "tθ" not found in list|tθ]] tʃ k kʷ q ʔ
aspirated tʰ tsʰ tɬʰ tθʰ tʃʰ kʰ kʷʰ qʰ
ejective tʼ tsʼ tɬʼ [[Error using : IPA symbol "tθʼ" not found in list|tθʼ]] tʃʼ kʼ kʼʷ qʼ
Fricative voiceless s ɬ θ ʃ x xʷ χ h
voiced z ɮ ð ʒ ɣ ɣʷ ʁ
Approximant j w

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
ɪ ʊ
Mid ɛ ə ʌ o
Open ɑ


Phonological processes

  • Vowel flattening.
  • Consonant harmony
  • Vowel nasalization
  • Vowel laxing
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