Sekani language facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sekani
Tse'khene
Native to	Canada
Region	British Columbia
Ethnicity	1,410 Sekani people (2014, FPCC)
Native speakers	200, 14% of ethnic population  (2016 census)
Language family	Dené–Yeniseian? Na-Dené Athabaskan Northern Athabaskan Sekani
Writing system	Latin script Canadian Aboriginal syllabics
Sekani is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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The Sekani language or Tse’khene is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken by the Sekani people of north-central British Columbia, Canada.

Phonology

Consonants

Sekani has 33 consonants:

Vowels

Tone

Sekani has two tones: low and high. High tone is the more common tone. Syllables phonologically marked for tone are low.

Nasalization

Nasalization of vowels is phonemic and so changes the meaning.

Sample words

In the practical writing system used here for the Kwadacha Tsek'ene dialect, u represents the mid-central vowel, and oo represents the high back rounded vowel. An apostrophe represents a glottal stop, and an ogonek under a vowel represents nasalization.

• dune man; person
• tlįį dog
• wudzįįh caribou
• yus snow
• chǫ rain
• k’wus cloud
• kwùn fire
• ’įįbèh summer
• too water
• mun lake
• nun land
• tselh axe
• ʼukèʼ foot
• ’àtse my grandfather
• ’àtsǫǫ my grandmother
• lhìghè’ one
• lhèkwudut’e two
• tadut’e three
• dįįdut’e four
• ǫ yes
• Tlįį duchę̀’ ’ehdasde January
• Dahyusè’ nùkehde wìlę February
• Nùtsʼiide March
• ʼUtʼǫ̀ʼ kùnuyehde May
• Jìje dinììdulh July
• Yhììh nunutsunde wìlę August
• Yhììh ukudeh’àsde September
• ’Udììtl’ǫh ’uwit’į̀į̀h October
• Yus ’ut’į̀į̀h November
• Khuye ’uwììjàh December