Thompson language

The Thompson language, properly known as Nlaka'pamuctsin, also known as the Nlaka'pamux ('Nthlakampx') language, is an Interior Salishan language spoken in the Fraser Canyon, Thompson Canyon, Nicola Country of the Canadian province of British Columbia, and also (historically) in the North Cascades region of Whatcom and Chelan counties of the state of Washington in the United States. A dialect distinctive to the Nicola Valley is called Scw'exmx, which is the name of the subgroup of the Nlaka'pamux who live there.

Thompson
Nłeʔkepmxcín
Native toCanada, United States
RegionBritish Columbia, Washington
Ethnicity3,105 Nlaka'pamux
Native speakers
130 (2014 FPCC)[1]
Salishan
Duployan shorthand (historical)
Language codes
ISO 639-3thp
Glottologthom1243
ELPNłeʔkepmxcín (Thompson)[2]

Phonology

Nlaka'pamuctsin is a consonant-heavy language. The consonants can be divided into two subgroups: obstruents, which restrict airflow, and sonorants or resonants, which do not.[3] The sonorants are often syllabic consonants, which can form syllables on their own without vowels.

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Lateral Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
nor. lab. nor. lab. nor. lab.
Plosive plain p t k kʷ q qʷ ʔ
ejective pʼ tʼ kʼ kʷʼ qʼ qʷʼ
Nasal plain m n
glottalized ˀm ˀn
Affricate plain ts tɬ tʃ
ejective tsʼ
Fricative plain s ɬ ʃ x xʷ χ χʷ ʕ ʕʷ h
voiced z
glottalized ˀz ˀʕ ˀʕʷ
Approximant plain w l j
glottalized ˀw ˀl ˀj

Vowels
Front Central Back
nor. ret. nor. ret.
Close i ~ i̠ u
Mid e ə ~ ə̠ o
Open a

Stress is used with an acute accent; á.[4][5]

Morphology and syntax

Researchers working in the Generative tradition have speculated that Salishan languages lack lexical categories such as nouns and verbs. Evidence for such an absence of contrast between parts of speech in Nlaka'pamuctsin come from a lack of clear morphological markers (e.g. morphemes) that differentiate nouns and verbs.[6][7] Instead, generative linguists discuss morphology and syntax in Salishan based on a framework of predicates and particles.[7] However, more contemporary work suggests a changing understanding of Salishan grammar. Some Salishanists believe that functional categories are not prescriptive of lexical categories. Work in Functional linguistics suggests that other factors beyond morphological evidence code lexical categories in languages. In Salishan, the distinction would be less overt than in some other languages.[8][9]

Lexical suffixes

One morphological feature of Nlaka'pamuctsin is lexical suffixes.[7] These are words that add nuance to predicates and can be affixed to the ends of root words to add their general meaning to that word.[3] Thompson and Thompson assert that as a result of English language influence, speakers are using these more complex predicates less and less in favor of simpler predicates with complements and adjuncts, resulting in “a general decline in the exploitation of the rich synthetic resources of the language.”[3]

SuffixSuffix meaning Root Root meaningSuffixed form
꞊uyəm’xwearth, land, place; in vicinity; (earth) oven; baked goods /q’íx̣-t strong, secure/q’íx̣꞊ym’xwfirm, hard ground
√c’əɬ cold/c’ɬ꞊úym’xwit is a cold country
kw[ʔá]l’ turn green/kwa[ʔ]l’꞊úym’xwthe grass turns green
√c’áp ferment n/c’áp꞊ym’xw sour-dough, yeast bread
꞊ekst hand, arm √kiyèʔ ahead, in front, principal, the eldest s/kiyèʔ꞊qín'꞊kst thumb
꞊qin head
꞊xn foot, leg s/kiyèʔ꞊qín'꞊xn big toe
√k'əm focal area n/k'm꞊énk꞊xn sole of foot
꞊ene(ʔ)k belly, under side

See also

References
  1. Thompson at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Nłeʔkepmxcín (Thompson).
  3. Thompson, Lawrence C.; Thompson, M. Terry (1992). The Thompson Language. University of Montana Press.
  4. Koch, Karsten A. (2011). "A Phonetic Study of Intonation and Focus in Nłeʔkepmxcin (Thompson River Salish)". Prosodic Categories: Production, Perception and Comprehension. Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. pp. 111–143. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-0137-3_6. ISBN 978-94-007-0136-6.
  5. "Nłeʔkepmxcin - Nlha7kápmx Thompson". Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  6. Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 117.
  7. Mithun, Marianne (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 64.
  8. Haag, Marcia (October 1998). "Word-Level Evidence for Lexical Categories in Salishan Languages". International Journal of American Linguistics. 64 (4): 379–393. doi:10.1086/466367.
  9. Koch, Karsten; Matthewson, Lisa (2009). "The Lexical category debate in Salish and its relevance for Tagalog". Theoretical Linguistics. 35 (1): 125–137. doi:10.1515/thli.2009.007.


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