Tagish language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tagish |
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|---|---|
| Tā̀gish | |
| Native to | Canada |
| Ethnicity | Tagish people |
| Extinct | 2008, with the death of Lucy Wrene18 |
| Language family |
Dené–Yeniseian?
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Tagish was a language spoken by the Tagish people. They are a First Nations group who historically lived in the Northwest Territories and Yukon in Canada. The name Tagish comes from /ta:gizi dene/, meaning "Tagish people". The word /ta:gizi/ describes spring ice breaking up.
Tagish is a Northern Athabaskan language. It is very similar to Tahltan and Kaska. Some people even think these three are different ways of speaking the same language. Sadly, by 2004, only one person, Lucy Wren, spoke Tagish fluently. She passed away in 2008.
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What Kind of Language Was Tagish?
Tagish belongs to a large group of languages called Na-Dene languages. This group also includes the Athabaskan languages. Northern Athabaskan languages, like Tagish, are often seen as part of a group with Tahltan and Kaska. These languages have very similar words and grammar.
Tagish is also known as Dene K'e. It is closely related to nearby languages like Tahltan, Kaska, and Southern Tutchone.
The History of the Tagish Language
The Tagish people's culture mixed ideas from both coastal and inland Indigenous groups. This happened because of trade and travel through the Chilkoot Pass. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Tlingit-speaking people moved in from the coast. They married into the Tagish-speaking families.
By the 1880s, most Tagish people spoke two languages. Tlingit became the main language for many. Tagish became less common partly because Indigenous traditions were stopped by the government. A big reason for the decline of many Indigenous languages in Canada was residential schools. Children were forced to go to these schools and were not allowed to speak their own languages.
After the Yukon Gold Rush in 1898, English became the main language. Most children went to English-only schools, so they stopped learning their native languages. In the 1970s, language classes for Indigenous languages started again. However, they did not have much money or support.
More recently, people have worked hard to protect these languages. They want to include them in laws and create more school programs. They also hold language conferences and raise public awareness. For example, since 2004, the Southern Tutchone and Tagish languages have been helped by an online program called FirstVoices.
The government signed an agreement to give money to help Indigenous languages. But Tagish was not one of the languages offered in these programs. Experts believe the language will likely disappear after the last fluent speaker is gone.
Tagish on FirstVoices
FirstVoices is a special computer program and website. It helps teach and save Indigenous languages. Tagish was one of the first languages added to this digital collection. It helps save endangered Indigenous languages.
On the FirstVoices website, you can find sound files of how names are said. There are also lists of words and some children's books in the Tagish language. This website helps connect language with identity, old stories, and the wisdom of elders. The Tagish FirstVoices page has 36 words and 442 phrases. It also has sound recordings of the alphabet.
To help people understand the culture, there is also a slideshow and an art gallery. The website includes greetings from many elders. It also gives contact information for those who helped create the site.
Important People Who Spoke Tagish
Angela Sidney was a well-known person who worked to save her Tagish language and heritage. She was born in 1902. Her father was Tagish, and her mother was Tlingit. Angela Sidney worked with Julie Cruikshank to write down traditional stories. She also became a member of the Order of Canada in 1986. Sidney passed away in 1991.
Lucy Wren was the last person known to speak Tagish fluently. She helped record stories and sounds for the FirstVoices website. She passed away in 2008. Her son, Norman James, continues her work. He records more language and culture of the Tagish and Tlingit people. He works with the Yukon Native Language Centre and the FirstVoices website.
Where the Tagish Language Was Spoken
The Tagish people live in southern Yukon Territory and northern British Columbia in Canada. Specifically, they are found in Tagish, between Marsh Lake and Tagish Lake. They also live in Carcross, which is between Bennett and Nares Lake. The Tagish language was used most often in the Lewes and Teslin plateaus.
How Tagish Sounds Were Made
The Tagish language had special sounds. These included sounds made with a puff of air (aspiration) or a catch in the throat (glottalization). It also had nasal sounds, clear sounds (resonance), and different tones.
Tagish had a simple system for the first sounds in words. It also kept its vowel sounds and the last sounds in words. The language used the Latin alphabet for writing.
Consonants
Tagish had different types of consonant sounds. These included sounds made by stopping air, like 't' or 'k'. It also had sounds made by pushing air through a narrow space, like 's' or 'sh'.
Vowels
The Tagish language had short vowels, like 'i', 'e', 'a', 'o', 'u'. It also had longer versions of these vowels. Long vowels were shown with a line over them, like ā. Some vowels were nasal, meaning air came out of the nose when they were spoken.
Tone
Tagish used different tones, or pitches, when speaking. A high tone was marked with a special symbol over the vowel. Low tones were not marked.
Tagish Words
Some women's names in Tagish included the word Maa. This word directly means "mother of."
See also
In Spanish: Idioma tagish para niños
