Ditidaht language facts for kids

The Ditidaht language (also called Nitinaht) is spoken by the Ditidaht First Nation. They live on the southern part of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The Ditidaht language is part of the Wakashan language family. It is closely related to the Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth languages. The Ditidaht people call their language diitiidʔaaʔtx̣.

Saving the Ditidaht Language

Sadly, the number of people who speak Ditidaht has become very small. In the 1990s, about 30 people spoke it. By 2006, only eight people were fluent.

To help save their language, the Ditidaht community took action. In 2003, they built a new school on their reserve. This school teaches Ditidaht language and culture to students. It goes from kindergarten all the way to Grade 12.

The school program has been very successful. In 2005, it had its first high school graduate. By 2014, there were 7 fluent speakers. Also, 6 people had a good understanding of the language. Best of all, 55 people were actively learning Ditidaht.

Many experts have studied the Ditidaht language. They have published books and lessons about it. This helps more people learn and understand this special language.

Why the Name Changed: Nitinaht to Ditidaht

The Ditidaht language has an interesting story about its name. When Europeans first met the Ditidaht people, they heard the name Nitinaht. This was because the language used certain sounds called "nasal consonants." These are sounds like 'm' and 'n'.

Over time, the sounds in the language changed. The 'm' and 'n' sounds became 'b' and 'd' sounds. This is why the people started calling themselves Ditidaht.

This change is quite rare for a language. Ditidaht is one of the few languages in the world that does not use nasal consonant sounds.

See also

• Ditidaht First Nation