Lower Chehalis language

Summary

Lower Chehalis (Łəw̓ál̕məš) is a member of the Tsamosan (or Olympic Peninsula) branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages. In some classifications, Lower Chehalis is placed closer to Quinault than it is to Upper Chehalis.

Lower Chehalis
Łəw̓ál̕məš
Native toUnited States
Regionsouth of Olympic Peninsula, Washington
EthnicityChehalis people
Extinct1990s[1]
Salishan
  • Coast
    • Tsamosan
      • Maritime
        • Lower Chehalis
Language codes
ISO 639-3cea
Glottologlowe1427

Phonology edit

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
central sibilant lateral plain lab. plain lab.
Plosive/
Affricate
plain p t ts k q ʔ
ejective tsʼ tɬʼ tʃʼ kʷʼ qʷʼ
Fricative s ɬ ʃ χ χʷ h
Sonorant plain m n l j w
glottalized ˀm ˀn ˀl ˀj ˀw

Vowels are represented as /i ə u a/ and /iː aː/.[2] Allophones are also noted. Instead of the high /i/ and /u/, Kinkade claims the vowels are /e ə o a aː/, based on the most common allophones.[3]

Sound Allophone
/i/ [i], [e], [ɛ]
/a/ [aˤ], [a], [ɐ]
/ə/ [ɨ], [ə], [ʌ], [ɪ], [ʊ]
/u/ [u], [o], [ɔ]

References edit

  1. ^ Lower Chehalis at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Snow, Charles T. (June 1969). A Lower Chehalis Phonology (Master of Arts thesis). University of Kansas. hdl:1808/26715. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
  3. ^ Kinkade, M. Dale (July 1963). "Phonology and Morphology of Upper Chehalis: I". International Journal of American Linguistics. 29 (3): 181–195. doi:10.1086/464734.