Kathlamet language facts for kids

Kathlamet was a language spoken by the Kathlamet people in the United States. It belonged to the Chinookan language family. People spoke Kathlamet near the border of Washington and Oregon.

A famous expert named Franz Boas wrote down a lot about this language. Sadly, the Kathlamet language died out in the 1930s. This happened when the last known speaker, Charles Cultee, passed away. Today, there are only a few writings left of it.

Kathlamet was spoken in northwestern Oregon. It was used along the south bank of the lower Columbia River. Some people thought it was a type of Upper Chinook or Lower Chinook. However, people who spoke Kathlamet could not easily understand those other languages.

Sounds of Kathlamet

Languages from the Northwest coast, like Kathlamet, often have many different consonant sounds. They also have special ways of putting sounds together.

Kathlamet had sounds like 'm' and 'n' (nasal sounds). It also had 'p', 't', and 'k' sounds (plosive sounds). Some sounds were made with a quick burst of air, like 'p or 't. These are called ejective sounds.

The language had vowel sounds like 'i', 'e', 'a', and 'u'. These could be short or long.

Kathlamet was different from other Upper Chinook languages. For example, it did not use a lot of "sound symbolism." This is when sounds in a word make you think of its meaning. It also had different ways of starting words for nouns.

How Kathlamet Words Work

Kathlamet words fit into four main groups: pronouns, nouns, verbs, and articles.

• Pronouns are words like "he," "she," or "you."
• Nouns are words for people, places, or things.
• Verbs are action words, like "run" or "eat."
• Articles are words like "the" or "a."

Words in Kathlamet are built using three parts:

• Stems: These are the main parts of words.
• Prefixes: These are small parts added to the beginning of a stem.
• Suffixes: These are small parts added to the end of a stem.

Prefixes can change a word's meaning or its grammar.

People, Numbers, and Gender

Kathlamet nouns changed based on who owned something and how many there were. They also changed based on gender.

The language had different ways to show if something was:

• Singular: meaning one.
• Plural: meaning more than one.
• Dual: meaning exactly two.

Kathlamet also had different ways to show who owned something:

How Nouns are Built

Kathlamet nouns could have prefixes at the start and suffixes at the end. The simplest noun word had a prefix and a single main part (stem).

For example, a noun might start with a prefix that tells you what kind of thing it is. Then it might have a prefix that shows who owns it. Finally, it would have the main noun stem.

Talking About Time and Place

Kathlamet used special parts of words to show when something happened or where it was.

• To talk about time, like "a little while only" or "several times," they used suffixes like -tiX.
• To talk about space or place, like "there," they used suffixes like -pa.

Here are some examples of how they used these:

• núLʔ-ka-tiX meant "a little while only."
• kú-pa meant "there."

Efforts to Save Languages

Many Chinookan languages, including Kathlamet, have disappeared. This happened because of diseases in the past that greatly reduced the number of people who spoke them.

Today, only one branch of the Chinookan language family still exists: Wasco-Wishram. It is spoken by some people in the Warm Springs Indian reservation. Wasco and Wishram are very similar, almost like different ways of speaking the same language.

In 1990, there were only 69 people who spoke Wasco-Wishram. The last person who spoke Wasco as their first language, Gladys Thompson, died in 2012. However, she helped teach the language to others before she passed away.

Some people, like Deanie Johnson and Val Switzler, are now teaching Wasco-Wishram to their tribe members. They started teaching in 2006. While they are not fully fluent, they are working hard to keep the language alive.

The last people who spoke the Wishram language died between 2000 and 2013. They lived on the Yakima reservation in Washington State.

Even though many Chinookan languages are no longer spoken, experts have saved some writings and grammar rules for them. This includes Kathlamet, Shoalwater, and Clackamas. These records help us learn about these important languages.

See also

In Spanish: Idioma kathlamet para niños