Nuxalk
Salishan
Nuxalk (also Bella Coola) is the sole surviving Salishan language of the central British Columbia coast, spoken by the Nuxalkmc of the Bella Coola valley. It is critically endangered with roughly 17 fluent first-language speakers; the Nuxalk Nation, Acwsalcta School, and FirstVoices archive sustain an active revitalization program. Nuxalk is famous in phonological typology for tolerating ENTIRE WORDS without phonemic vowels — the canonical example xłp̓x̣ʷłtłpłłskʷc̓ "then he had had in his possession a bunchberry plant" contains no vowels; obstruents (fricatives, stops) themselves serve as syllabic nuclei. Bruce Bagemihl's 1991 Linguistic Inquiry paper "Syllable structure in Bella Coola" used Nuxalk as a key test case for theories of the sonority hierarchy, arguing that any segment can in principle be a syllable peak.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Nuxalk
Water
qla
/qla/
Fire
—
/—/
Sun
snx
/snx/
Moon
tlʼuk
/tɬʼuk/
Star
snx
/snəx/
Mother
—
/—/
Father
—
/—/
I
ʔinu
/ʔinu/
You
ʔanu
/ʔanu/
Name
sunix
/sunixʷ/
Eye
—
/—/
Hand
—
/—/
Heart
—
/—/
Love
—
/—/
Tree
—
/—/
House
—
/—/
Dog
ƛ̓ikm
/tɬʼikm/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
—
/—/
Drink
qāχla
/qaːχla/
One
maw
/maw/
Two
lhnús
/ɬnus/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
Good
—
/—/
Sources
- Nater, H.F. (1984) The Bella Coola Language (Canadian Museum of Civilization, Mercury Series 92)
- Bagemihl, Bruce (1991) "Syllable structure in Bella Coola" Linguistic Inquiry 22:589-646
- FirstVoices Nuxalk archive
- Glottolog: Bella Coola
- Ethnologue: blc
Words compared
Compared with related Salishan languages
| Meaning | Nuxalk | Goguryeo | Proto-Hmong-Mien | Nicaraguan Sign Language | Meroitic | Tartessian | Liburnian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | qla /qla/ | 買 /*mai/ | *ʔuwm /ʔuwm/ | — /—/ | 𐦠𐦶 /ato/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Fire | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | snx /snx/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𐦨𐦯 /ˈmasa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Moon | tlʼuk /tɬʼuk/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Star | snx /snəx/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Father | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| I | ʔinu /ʔinu/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| You | ʔanu /ʔanu/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Name | sunix /sunixʷ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | ƛ̓ikm /tɬʼikm/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | qāχla /qaːχla/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | maw /maw/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Two | lhnús /ɬnus/ | — /—/ | *ʔwei /ʔwei/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
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