Tutchone language
| Tutchone | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | Yukon |
| Ethnicity | 2,500 (1,100 Northern Tutchone, 1,400 Southern Tutchone; 2007)[1] |
|
Native speakers
|
350 (2011 census)[1] |
|
Dené–Yeniseian?
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: tce – Southern ttm – Northern |
| Glottolog | tutc1236[2] |
Tutchone is a threatened Athabaskan language spoken in the Yukon Territory in Canada. It has two varieties that are sometimes considered separate languages, Southern Tutchone and Northern Tutchone.
Southern Tutchone is spoken in the Yukon communities of Aishihik, Burwash Landing, Champagne, Haines Junction, Kloo Lake, Klukshu, Lake Laberge, and Whitehorse.
Northern Tutchone is spoken in the Yukon communities of Mayo, Pelly Crossing, Stewart Crossing, Carmacks, and Beaver Creek.
Contents
Dialects
Southern (Dän kʼè)
- Aishihik dialect
- Tàaʼan dialect
- Klukshu dialect
- Kluane dialect
Northern (Dän kʼí)
- Big Salmon dialect
- Pelly Crossing dialect
- Mayo dialect
- White River dialect
Vocabulary comparison
The comparison of some words in the two languages.[3]
| Northern | Southern | meaning |
| łu ¹ ~ łyok ² | łu | fish |
| łígī | łä̀chʼi | one |
| łä́ki | łä̀ki | two |
| tadechʼi | tayke | three |
| łénínchʼi | dùkʼwän | four |
| hulákʼo | kä̀jän | five |
| èkúm | ä́kų̀ | my house |
| ninkúm | nkų̀ | your (sg.) house |
| ukúm | ukų̀ | his/her house |
| dàkúm | dákų̀ | our house |
| dàkúm | dákų̀ | your (pl.) house |
| huukúm | kwäkų̀ / kukų̀ | their house |
¹ Big Salmon dialect ² Pelly Crossing dialect
Use and revitalization efforts
Jerry Alfred's "Etsi Shon" (Grandfather song), sung in Northern Tuchone, won a Juno Award in the Best Aboriginal Album category in 1996.[4][5]
Southern Tutchone language classes have been offered in Yukon schools since the early 1980ʼs and is now taught in 8 schools in Whitehorse, Haines Junction, and at Kluane Lake.
In 2009, kindergarten classes in Haines Junction began learning Southern Tuchone in a bi-cultural program.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Southern at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Northern at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) - ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Southern-Tutchone
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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