Sechelt language facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sechelt
Sháshíshálh
Pronunciation	IPA: [ʃáʃíʃáɬ]
Native to	Canada
Region	British Columbia
Ethnicity	1,200 Sechelt people (2014, FPCC)
Native speakers	4  (2014, FPCC)e18
Language family	Salishan Coast Salish Central Sechelt
Sechelt is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The Sechelt language, Sháshíshálh or Shashishalhem (IPA: [ʃáʃíʃáɬəm]), is a Coast Salish language spoken by the Shishalh (Sechelt) people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. It is spoken in the area now called southwestern British Columbia, Canada, centred on their reserve communities in the Sechelt Peninsula area of the Sunshine Coast.

In 1999, the language was spoken by fewer than 40 elderly people. A grammar of the language by linguist Ron Beaumont was published in 1985.

They now only have 7 elderly/fluent speakers, but have many teachers that teach children from preschool all the way through till high school. UBC, Vancouver and Okanagan offers language courses, that give students the opportunity to learn various languages, Shashishalhem being one of the few

In 2014, the Coastal Corridor Consortium, "an entity made up of board members from First Nations and educational partners to improve aboriginal access to and performance in postsecondary education and training", created a Sechelt Nation language certificate.

Sechelt is most closely related to Squamish, Halkomelem, and the Nooksack.

Although critically endangered, the Sechelt people, with help from others, have reclaimed 603 phrases and 5659 words in total.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

The four vowel sounds may also have the allophones [æ, ɪ~ʊ~ʌ, e, o].