Tillamook language

Summary

Tillamook is an extinct Salishan language, formerly spoken by the Tillamook people in northwestern Oregon, United States. The last fluent speaker was Minnie Scovell who died in 1972.[1] In an effort to prevent the language from being lost, a group of researchers from the University of Hawaii interviewed the few remaining Tillamook-speakers and created a 120-page dictionary.[3]

Tillamook
Hutyáyu, Hutyéyu
Native toUnited States
RegionNorthwestern Oregon
EthnicityTillamook, Siletz
Extinct1972, with the death of Minnie Scovell[1]
Dialects
  • Tillamook
  • Siletz
Language codes
ISO 639-3til
Glottologtill1254
Tillamook is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
[2]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Phonology

edit

Vowels

edit
Vowels in Tillamook
Front Back
High i ə
Low æ ɑ

Consonants

edit
Consonants in Tillamook
Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Velar Uvular Glottal
central sibilant lateral unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
Stop plain t t͡s t͡ʃ k kᵓ q qᵓ ʔ
ejective t͡sʼ t͡ɬʼ t͡ʃʼ kᵓʼ qᵓʼ
Fricative s ɬ ʃ x xᵓ χ χᵓ h
Sonorant n l j ɰᵓ

Internal rounding

edit

The so-called "rounded" consonants (traditionally marked with the diacritic ⟨ʷ⟩, but here indicated with ⟨⟩), including rounded vowels and ⟨w⟩ (/ɰᵓ/), are not actually labialized. The acoustic effect of labialization is created entirely inside the mouth by cupping the tongue (sulcalization). Uvulars with this distinctive internal rounding have "a kind of ɔ timbre" while "rounded" front velars have ɯ coloring. These contrast and oppose otherwise very similar segments having ɛ or ɪ coloring—the "unrounded" consonants.

/w/ is also formed with this internal rounding instead of true labialization, making it akin to [ɰ]. So are vowel sounds formerly written as /o/ or /u/, which are best characterized as the diphthong /əɰ/ with increasing internal rounding.[4]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ a b "A language all but lost". Tilamook Headlight Herald. May 19, 2009. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
  2. ^ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 11.
  3. ^ "Speaking Tillamook". Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011.
  4. ^ Thompson & Thompson 1966, p. 316.

Bibliography

edit
  • Edel, May M (1939). The Tillamook language. New York: J.J. Augustin. LCCN 40001628. OCLC 10272025.
  • "May M. Edel papers". Archives West. April 13, 2018 [2007]. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  • Thompson, Lawrence C.; Thompson, M. Terry (1966). "A Fresh Look at Tillamook Phonology". International Journal of American Linguistics. 32 (4): 313–319. doi:10.1086/464920. JSTOR 1264085. S2CID 145658086.
edit
  • University of Oregon: The Tillamook
  • Tillamook Language
  • "Tillamook Vocabulary". California Language Archive. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  • OLAC resources in and about the Tillamook language