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Squamish language

Squamish
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim
Pronunciation[sqʷχʷoʔməʃ snit͡ʃim]
Native toCanada
RegionBritish Columbia
Ethnicity4,700 Squamish people (2022, FPCC)[1]
Native speakers
25 (2021, Statistics Canada)[2]
Revival349 Active Language Learners[1]
Salishan
Latin (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh alphabet)
Official status
Official language in
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw
Language codes
ISO 639-3squ
Glottologsqua1248
ELPSḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim (Squamish)
Squamish territory
Squamish is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
PersonSḵwx̱wú7mesh
PeopleSḵwx̱wú7mesh
LanguageSkwxwú7mesh sníchim
CountrySkwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíxw

Squamish (/ˈskwɔːmɪʃ/ SKWAW-mish;[3] Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim, sníchim meaning "language") is a Coast Salish language spoken by the Squamish people of the Pacific Northwest. It is spoken in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, centred on their reserve communities in Squamish, North Vancouver, and West Vancouver. An archaic historical rendering of the native Sḵwx̱wú7mesh is Sko-ko-mish but this should not be confused with the name of the Skokomish people of Washington state. Squamish is most closely related to the Sechelt, Halkomelem, and Nooksack languages.

The Squamish language was first documented in the 1880s by a German anthropologist; however the grammar of the language was documented by a Dutch linguist in the 1950s. The orthography or spelling system of the language came about in 1960s while the first Squamish dictionary was published only recently, specifically 2011. The language shares certain similarities with languages like Sechelt and Halkomelem which are spoken in similar regions. [4]

  1. ^ a b "Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages, Fourth Edition, 2022" (PDF). fpcc.ca. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  2. ^ "2021 Census of Population". statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  3. ^ Bauer, Laurie (2007). The Linguistics Student's Handbook (PDF). Edinburgh. p. 338.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ "Squamish language and pronunciation". omniglot.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.

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