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
20 core words in Nuxalk
Water
qla
/qla/
Fire
—
/—/
Sun
snx
/snx/
Moon
tlʼuk
/tɬʼuk/
Mother
—
/—/
Father
—
/—/
Eat
—
/—/
Drink
qāχla
/qaːχla/
Love
—
/—/
Heart
—
/—/
Tree
—
/—/
House
—
/—/
Dog
ƛ̓ikm
/tɬʼikm/
Cat
—
/—/
Hand
—
/—/
Eye
—
/—/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
One
maw
/maw/
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 | Nicaraguan Sign Language | Tartessian | Liburnian | Iberian | Damin (Lardil ceremonial register) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | qla /qla/ | 買 /*mai/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Fire | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | l!ii /lǃiː/ |
| Sun | snx /snx/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Moon | tlʼuk /tɬʼuk/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Father | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | qāχla /qaːχla/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | iltiŕ /iltir̥/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | ƛ̓ikm /tɬʼikm/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | maw /maw/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ban /ban/ | — /—/ |
| Good | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
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