Heiltsuk–Oowekyala language

Heiltsuk–Oowekyala is a Northern Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language spoken in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv (Oweekeno) and Heiltsuk peoples. It has two dialects, Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) and Oowekyala (Wuikyala), which unlike other Wakashan languages are tonal. It has no traditional name, so the hyphenated construction Heiltsuk–Oowekyala is used by linguists. Ethnologue calls this language "Heiltsuk", with the Bella Bella dialect (Heiltsuk) labelled "Northern Heiltsuk" and the Oowekyala dialect labeled "Southern Heiltsuk".

Heiltsuk–Oowekyala
Region	Northern Central Coast Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
Ethnicity	2,530 Heiltsuk and Oowekyala people (2014, FPCC)[1]
Native speakers	66[a] (2014, FPCC)[1]
Language family	Wakashan Northern Heiltsuk–Oowekyala
Dialects	Heiltsuk Oowekyala
Language codes
ISO 639-3	hei
Glottolog	heil1246
ELP	Hailhzaqvla (Heiltsuk)
Map of Wakashan languages
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Heiltsuk [ɦiɬtsʰaqʷ] is spoken by the Bella Bella [pʰəlbálá] and Haihais [xíxís] peoples; Oowekyala [ʔuwíkʼala] by the Wuikinuxv [ʔuwikʼinuxʷ].

Phonology

Heiltsuk–Oowekyala, like Nuxalk (Bella Coola), allows long sequences of obstruents, as in the following 7-obstruent and 8-obstruent words from the Oowekyala variety: c̓k̓ʷx̌tƛkc [t͡sʼkʷʼχtʰt͡ɬkʰt͡sʰ] 'the invisible one here-with-me will be short'^[2] or tpxʷpsƛkc 'the invisible one-here-with-me will be squeezed pleasantly'^[3] like the Nuxalk kxlqsłcxʷ 'you struck a match for me'^[3].

Writing system

The spelling adopted by the Heiltsuk Education Cultural Center was designed by John C. Rath, linguistic consultant Heiltsuk Cultural Center in the 1970s and 1980s.^[4]

Heiltsuk alphabet^[5]

b

p

p̓

m

ṃ́

ṃ

m̓

ṃ̓

d

t

t̓

n

ṇ́

ṇ

n̓

ṇ̓

z

c

c̓

ꟛ (λ)

ƛ

ƛ̓

ɫ

l

ḷ́

ḷ

l̓

ḷ̓

g

k

k̓

x

y

í

i

y̓

i̓

gv

kv

k̓v

xv

w

u

ú

w̓

u̓

ǧv

qv

q̓v

x̌v

ǧ

q

q̓

x̌

h

á

a

h̓

a̓

In Rath's spelling, the lambda letters ꟛ (λ), ƛ, ƛ̓ can be replaced by dh, th, t̓h if they are not accessible on the keyboard. The same is true of ɫ, which can be replaced by lh.^[5]

Oowekyala alphabet^[6]

a

b

c

c̓

d

dh

g

h

i

k

kv

k̓

k̓v

l

lh

l̓

m

m̓

n

n̓

p

p̓

q

qv

q̓

q̓v

s

t

th

t̓

t̓h

u

w

w̓

x

xv

x̌

x̌v

y

y̓

z

ǎ

ǧ

ǧv

əl

əm

ən

Notes

1. 60 Heiltsuk and 6 Oowekyala