Sekani language
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:
| | Front | Central | Back |
| High | | | |
| Mid | | | |
| Low | | | |
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.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
Articles
- Hargus, Sharon Effects on consonant duration in Fort Ware Tsek'ene. Presented at Athabaskan/Dene Languages Conference, Eugene, OR. , .
- Hargus, Sharon "Causatives and transitionals in Kwadacha Tsek'ene." Presented at the Athabaskan Languages Conference, Berkeley, CA.
- Hargus, Sharon "Phonetic vs. phonological rounding in Athabaskan languages." , . Presented at LabPhon 12, Albuquerque, NM.. The article will appear in Journal of Laboratory Phonology 3:163-193.
