Gitxsan language

The Gitxsan language /ˈɡɪtsæn/,^[2] or Gitxsanimaax (also rendered Gitksan, Giatikshan, Gityskyan, Giklsan and Sim Algyax^[3]), is an endangered Tsimshianic language of northwestern British Columbia, closely related to the neighboring Nisga’a language. The two groups are, however, politically separate and prefer to refer to Gitxsan and Nisga'a as distinct languages. According to the Report on the status of B.C First Nations Languages^[4] there are 523 fluent speakers, 639 that understand or somewhat speak and 344 learning speakers.^[4]

Gitxsan
Gitxsanimaax, Gitxsanimx
Native to	Canada
Region	Skeena region, British Columbia
Ethnicity	5,680 Gitxsan
Native speakers	1,020 (2016 census)[1]
Language family	Tsimshianic Nass–Gitksan Gitxsan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	git
Glottolog	gitx1241
ELP	Gitsenimx̱
Gitxsan
Gitksan is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

People	Gitx̱san
Language	Gitxsanimaax
Country	Gitx̱san Lax̱yip

Gitxsan means "People of the Skeena River" (Ksan being the name of the Skeena in Gitxsan).

Dialects

Gitxsan language is primarily separated into Geenix^[3] or Eastern and Gyeets^[3] or Western Gitxsan, although each village has its own dialect. The Geenix^[3] or Eastern villages include Kispiox (Ansbayaxw), Glen Vowell (Sigit'ox), and Hazelton (Git-an'maaxs). The Gyeets^[3] or Western villages include Kitwanga (Gjtwjngax), Gitanyow (Git-antaaw) and Kitseguecla (Gijigyukwhla). The main differences between dialects include a lexical shift in vowels and stop lenition use present only in the Eastern dialects. The largest differences in language and culture exist between Eastern and Western Gitxsan, rather than between each village.^[5]

History and usage

The University of Northern British Columbia and Siiwiixo'osxwim Wilnataahl Gitksan Society (Gitksan Language Society) set up a Developmental Standard Term Certificate program offered through Northwest Community College, with all courses offered in Hazelton, BC. The program is designed to help revitalize Gitxsan language by allowing those who complete it to teach language and culture courses at the elementary and secondary school level in the community.^[6]

In the spring of 2018, an online dictionary app was released in collaboration with members of Gitksan Nation and researchers at the University of British Columbia. The app includes various dialects of Gitxsan, and includes audio from different villages. Flashcards, stories, and histories are also included in addition to functioning as a dictionary. This app is based on a print dictionary produced in 1973 by Lonnie Hindle and Bruce Rigsby. With its launch, the app briefly held a top spot in Google Play's education category and accumulated around 500 downloads in its first week.^[7]

Phonology

The Gitxsan inventory is as follows:^[5][8]

Gitxsan vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		u uː
Mid	eː	ə	oː
Low		a aː

The mid and high vowels are nearly in complementary distribution, suggesting that Gitxsan once had a three-vowel system. Short mid vowels are emerging. Schwa only occurs in unstressed syllables. /eː/ and /oː/ have short allophones [e] and [o] in certain positions.

Gitxsan consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Palatal	Pre-velar	Labialized velar	Uvular	Glottal
			central	lateral
Stop	plain	p	t			kʲ ⟨k⟩	kʷ ⟨kw⟩	q ⟨ḵ⟩	ʔ ⟨ꞌ⟩
	glottalized	pˀ	tˀ			kʲˀ ⟨kꞌ⟩	kʷˀ ⟨kwꞌ⟩	qˀ ⟨ḵꞌ⟩
Affricate	plain		t͡s ⟨ts⟩
	glottalized		t͡sˀ ⟨tsꞌ⟩	t͡ɬˀ ⟨tlꞌ⟩
Fricative			s	ɬ ⟨hl⟩		xʲ ⟨x⟩	xʷ ⟨xw⟩	χ ⟨x̱⟩	h
Sonorant	plain	m	n	l	j ⟨y⟩		w
	glottalized	mˀ ⟨ꞌm⟩	nˀ ⟨ꞌn⟩	lˀ ⟨ꞌl⟩	jˀ ⟨ꞌy⟩		wˀ ⟨ꞌw⟩

Voiceless stops have voiced allophones [b d d͡z ɡʲ ɡʷ ɢ]. The pre-velar obstruents become velar before /s/ and /l/. The lax glottalized stops "display a creaky voice quality at the margin of the vowel in pretonic (and syllable-final) environments."^[8] The glottalized consonants may be ejective in word-initial position, but otherwise "are characterized by glottal closure preceding the oral closure." The ejective allophones are lenis, and are therefore sometimes perceived as voiced. Lenis ejectives are unusual for the area, but are also found in neighboring Witsuwitʼen. The glottalized sonorants are preglottalized even in word-initial position. Glottalization ranges from a full glottal stop [ʔC] to creaky voice [C̰].^[5]