Chipewyan language

Chipewyan or Dënesųłinë́ (ethnonym: or ), often simply called Dëne, is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of northwestern Canada. It is categorized as part of the Northern Athabaskan language family. It has nearly 12,000 speakers in Canada, mostly in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. It has official status only in the Northwest Territories, alongside eight other aboriginal languages: Cree, Tlicho, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey and South Slavey.

Most Chipewyan people now use Dëne and Dënesųłinë́ to refer to themselves as a people and to their language, respectively. The Saskatchewan communities of Fond-du-Lac, Black Lake, Wollaston Lake and La Loche are among these.

Geographic distribution and speakers

right|thumb|Welcome signs by the La Loche Airport

right|thumb|Close-up of Dënesųłinë́ and English sign

In the 2011 Canada Census 11,860 people chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue. 70.6% were located in Saskatchewan and 15.2% were located in Alberta.

7,955 were in Saskatchewan
1,680 were in Alberta (the Dene Tha' First Nation a Dëne/South Slavey group (approximately 1000 people) are included in this total)
1,005 were in Manitoba
450 were in the Northwest Territories
70 were in British Columbia
45 were in the Yukon
20 were in Ontario

Not all were from the historical Chipewyan regions south and east of Great Slave Lake.

Approximately 11,000 of those who chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011 are Dëne/Chipewyan with 7,955 (72%) in Saskatchewan, 1,005 (9%) in Manitoba, 510 plus urban dwellers in Alberta and 260 plus urban dwellers in the Northwest Territories. The communities within the Dëne traditional areas are shown below:

Saskatchewan

The Dënesųłinë́-speaking communities of Saskatchewan are located in the northern half of the province. The area from the upper Churchill River west of Pinehouse Lake all the way north to Lake Athabasca and from Lake Athabasca east to the north end of Reindeer Lake is home to 7410 people who chose Dënesųłinë́ as their mother tongue in 2011.

The unaspirated (plain) plosives and affricates are voiced. This contrasts with certain other Athabaskan languages, such as Navajo, where these consonants are voiceless and unaspirated (tenuis), though written with the voiced letters.

Vowels

Dënesųłinë́ has vowels of six differing qualities.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! Front

! Central

! Back

!Close

!Close-mid

!Open-mid

!Open

Most vowels can be either

oral or nasal. Nasals are marked with an ogonek in the orthography: ⟨ą ę ę̈ į ǫ ų⟩.
short or long

As a result, Dënesųłinë́ has 24 phonemic vowels:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" colspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | Front

! colspan="2" | Central

! colspan="2" | Back

! short !! long

!rowspan=2|Close

!oral

!nasal

! rowspan="2" |Close-mid

!oral

!nasal

!rowspan=2|Open-mid

!oral

!nasal

!rowspan=2|Open

!oral

!nasal

Dënesųłinë́ also has 9 oral and nasal diphthongs of the form vowel + .

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan=2|

! colspan=2|Front

! colspan=2|Central

! colspan=2|Back

!oral!!nasal

!Close

!Mid

!Open

Tone

Dënesųłinë́ has two tones:

high (marked with acute accents in the orthography: ⟨á é ë́ ı́ ó ú⟩)
low

References

Bibliography

(Reprinted 1963, 1965, 1967, & 1971, New York: Johnson Reprint Corp.).

External links

First Voices Dene Community Portal
Our Languages: Dene (Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre)
OLAC resources in and about the Chipewyan language
Kirkby, William West: The New Testament, translated into the Chipewyan language = ᑎᑎ ᗂᒋ ᕞᐢᕞᒣᐣᕠ (Didi gothi testementi). London, 1881 (Peel 986)

Geographic distribution and speakers

Saskatchewan

Vowels

Tone

See also

References

Bibliography

External links