Kwak'wala language
| Kwak'wala | |
|---|---|
| Kwakiutl | |
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | along the Queen Charlotte Strait |
| Ethnicity | 7,310 Kwakwaka'wakw in 13 of 15 communities (2014, FPCC) |
|
Native speakers
|
170 in 13 of 15 communities (2014, FPCC) |
|
Wakashan
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | kwak1269 |
Kwak'wala (English /kwɑːˈkwɑːlə/), also known as Kwakiutl (English /ˈkwɑːkjʊtəl/), is the indigenous language spoken by the Kwakwaka'wakw (which means "those who speak Kwak'wala"). It belongs to the Wakashan language family. There are fewer than 200 fluent Kwak'wala speakers today, which amounts to 3% of the Kwakwaka'wakw population. Because of the small number of speakers, the fact that very few if any children learn Kwak'wala as a first language, and that most speakers are elders, its long-term viability is in question. However, interest from many Kwakwaka'wakw in preserving their language and a number of revitalization projects are countervailing pressures which may extend the viability of the language.
The ethnonym Kwakwaka'wakw means "speakers of Kwak'wala," effectively defining an ethnic connection between different tribes by reference to a shared language. However, the Kwak'wala spoken by each tribe exhibits dialectal differences, which may be quite significant in some cases. There are four major unambiguous dialects of Kwak'wala: Kwak̓wala, ’Nak̓wala, G̱uc̓ala and T̓łat̓łasik̓wala.
In addition to those dialects, there are also Kwakwaka'wakw tribes that speak Liq'wala. Liq'wala has sometimes been considered to be a dialect of Kwak'wala and sometimes a separate language. The standard orthography for Liq'wala is quite different from the most widely used orthography for Kwak'wala, which tends to widen the apparent differences between Liq'wala and Kwak'wala.
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