North Straits Salish language facts for kids

Quick facts for kids North Straits Salish
SENĆOŦEN / Malchosen / Siʔneməš / Lekwungen / Semiahmoo / T’Sou-ke
Region	Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada; Washington, United States
Native speakers	105  (2016 census)
Language family	Salishan Coast Central Straits Salish North Straits Salish
Dialects	Lummi Saanich Samish Semiahmoo Sooke Songhees
Coast Salish linguistic distribution in the early to mid 1800s. The Northern Straits area is in the center in light red
Northern Straits Salish is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger ■.

North Straits Salish is a Salish language which includes the dialects of

• Lummi (also known as W̱lemi,Ćosen, Xwlemiʼchosen, xʷləmiʔčósən)
• Saanich (also known as Senćoten, sənčáθən, sénəčqən)
• Samish (also known as Si, Námeś, Siʔneməš)
• Semiahmoo (Semyome) (also known as Tah-tu-lo) (†)
• T'sou-ke or Sooke (also known as Z̓owc, Tʼsou-ke, c̓awk) (†)
• Songhees (also known as Leqeṉi, Neṉ, Lək̓ʷəŋín̓əŋ or Lekwungen or Songish), three speakers (2011)

Although they are mutually intelligible, each dialect is traditionally referred to as if it were a separate language, and there is no native term to encompass them all.

North Straits, along with Klallam, forms the Straits Salish branch of the Central Coast Salish languages. Klallam and North Straits are very closely related, but not mutually intelligible.

See Saanich dialect for the phonology.