Tahltan language

Tahltan, Tāłtān, also called Tałtan ẕāke ("Tahltan people language"), dah dẕāhge ("our language") or didene keh ("this people’s way") is a poorly documented and endangered Northern Athabaskan language spoken by 235^[2] of the Tahltan people (also "Nahanni") who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. Tahltan is a critically endangered language.^[3] Several linguists classify Tahltan as a dialect of the same language as Tagish and Kaska (Krauss and Golla 1981, Mithun 1999).

Tahltan
Tałtan ẕāke, dah dẕāhge, didene keh
Native to	Canada
Region	Northern British Columbia
Ethnicity	2,460 Tahltan people (2014, FPCC)[1]
Native speakers	235 (2021)[2]
Language family	Dené–Yeniseian? Na-Dené Athabaskan Northern Athabaskan Central Cordillera Tahltan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	tht
Glottolog	tahl1239
ELP	Tāłtān (Tahltan)
Tahltan is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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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.^[4]

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."^[5] 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.'"^[5]

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.^[5]

Phonology

Consonants

There are 47 consonant sounds:^[6]

		Labial	Dental			Inter- dental	Post- alveolar	Velar		Uvular	Glottal
			plain	sibilant	lateral			plain	labial
Nasal	plain	m	n
	voiceless		n̥
	glottalized		nʼ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiced	b
	unaspirated		t	ts	tɬ	tθ	tʃ	k	kʷ	q	ʔ
	aspirated		tʰ	tsʰ	tɬʰ	tθʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ	kʷʰ	qʰ
	ejective		tʼ	tsʼ	tɬʼ	tθʼ	tʃʼ	kʼ	kʼʷ	qʼ
Fricative	voiceless			s	ɬ	θ	ʃ[a]	x	xʷ	χ	h
	voiced			z	ɮ	ð	ʒ[a]	ɣ	ɣʷ	ʁ
Approximant							j		w

1. Phonemes /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are very limited in use and may or may not be phonemes.

Vowels

^[6]

	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