The Upper Kuskokwim language (also called Kolchan or Goltsan or Dinak'i) is an Athabaskan language of the Na-Dené language family. It is spoken by the Upper Kuskokwim people in the Upper Kuskokwim River villages of Nikolai, Telida, and McGrath, Alaska. About 40 of a total of 160 Upper Kuskokwim people (Dichinanek’ Hwt’ana) still speak the language.
Nouns are divided into two classes: those which can be possessed, but do not have to be (such as clothing, animals and lake names) and those which are always possessed (such as body parts).
For the former group, some nouns that are possessed have a change in spelling and pronunciation when they are possessed. For example, the prefix "si-" indicates "my".[6]
However, other nouns that may be possessed do not undergo any sound changes, and instead the possession is indicated either by the separate possessive word sich'i, or by the prefix si-. For example, k'esh (birch tree) becomes sich'i k'esh (my birch tree) and tin (trail) becomes sitin (my trail).[6]
Verbs can be changed into nouns with the suffix -e. This also causes sound changes in some verbs.[6]
Adjectivesedit
There are few adjectives that modify nouns in Upper Kuskokwim. Adjectives are added after nouns, e.g. "nilane gwṉ" ("dried meat").[6]
Alaska Native Language Center. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
Collins, Raymond and Sally Jo Collins. 2004. Dichinanek' Hwt'ana: A History of the people of the Upper Kuskokwim who live in Nikolai and Telida, Alaska. (Online: Alaska Native Language Archive item UK964C2004)
Referencesedit
^Upper Kuskokwim language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^Report to the Government and Legislature alaska.gov
^"Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official : The Two-Way : NPR". NPR.
upper, kuskokwim, language, also, called, kolchan, goltsan, dinak, athabaskan, language, dené, language, family, spoken, upper, kuskokwim, people, upper, kuskokwim, river, villages, nikolai, telida, mcgrath, alaska, about, total, upper, kuskokwim, people, dich. The Upper Kuskokwim language also called Kolchan or Goltsan or Dinak i is an Athabaskan language of the Na Dene language family It is spoken by the Upper Kuskokwim people in the Upper Kuskokwim River villages of Nikolai Telida and McGrath Alaska About 40 of a total of 160 Upper Kuskokwim people Dichinanek Hwt ana still speak the language Upper KuskokwimDinakʼiNative toUnited StatesRegionAlaska middle Yukon River Koyukuk River Ethnicity160 Upper Kuskokwim 2007 1 Native speakers lt 5 2020 2 Language familyDene Yeniseian Na DeneAthabaskanNorthern AthabaskanUpper KuskokwimWriting systemLatin Northern Athabaskan alphabet Official statusOfficial language in Alaska 3 Language codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code kuu class extiw title iso639 3 kuu kuu a Glottologuppe1438ELPUpper KuskokwimUpper Kuskokwim is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World s Languages in DangerA practical orthography of the language was established by Raymond Collins who in 1964 began linguistic work at Nikolai Since 1990s the language has also been documented by a Russian linguist Andrej Kibrik 4 5 Contents 1 Morphology 1 1 Nouns 1 2 Adjectives 2 Syntax 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 Links Morphology edit Nouns edit Nouns are divided into two classes those which can be possessed but do not have to be such as clothing animals and lake names and those which are always possessed such as body parts For the former group some nouns that are possessed have a change in spelling and pronunciation when they are possessed For example the prefix si indicates my 6 Possessive Noun Changes 6 Upper Kuskokwim Englishtamel fishnetsitamela my fishnetnitamela your fishnetmitamela his her fishnetHowever other nouns that may be possessed do not undergo any sound changes and instead the possession is indicated either by the separate possessive word sich i or by the prefix si For example k esh birch tree becomes sich i k esh my birch tree and tin trail becomes sitin my trail 6 Verbs can be changed into nouns with the suffix e This also causes sound changes in some verbs 6 Adjectives edit There are few adjectives that modify nouns in Upper Kuskokwim Adjectives are added after nouns e g nilane gwṉ dried meat 6 Upper Kuskokwim Englishchwh biggoya smallgwṉ driedhwts aka narrowSyntax edit Upper Kuskokwim uses SOV word order It is a partially inflectional and partially agglutinative language and a pro drop language 6 ex Dinamandinejemooseizdlan he she caughtDina dineje izdlan man moose he she caught The man caught a moose ex Dinejemooseizdlan he she caughtDineje izdlan moose he she caught He caught a moose ex Yizdlan it he she caughtYizdlan it he she caught He caught it Bibliography editAlaska Native Language Center Retrieved on 2007 03 14 Collins Raymond and Sally Jo Collins 2004 Dichinanek Hwt ana A History of the people of the Upper Kuskokwim who live in Nikolai and Telida Alaska Online Alaska Native Language Archive item UK964C2004 References edit Upper Kuskokwim language at Ethnologue 18th ed 2015 subscription required Report to the Government and Legislature alaska gov Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official The Two Way NPR NPR Kibrik Papers Archived from the original on 2013 12 10 result xml Alaska Native Language Archive Archived from the original on 2015 04 23 a b c d e f Petruska Betty Esai Collins Raymond 1979 Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan Junior Dictionary Alaska Native Language Archive Retrieved 18 December 2023 Links editUpper Kuskokwim Language and Culture Preservation website in development Dinak i Upper Kuskokwim Dictionary iOS app nbsp This article related to the Indigenous languages of the Americas is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This Alaska related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Upper Kuskokwim language amp oldid 1190577719, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
