Нухалк тілі: Канаданың Британдық Колумбиясының мұрасы

Salishan language of British Columbia, Canada

Though the number of truly fluent speakers has not increased, the language is now taught in both the provincial school system and the Nuxalk Nation's own school, Acwsalcta, which means "a place of learning". Nuxalk language classes, if taken to at least the Grade 11 level, are considered adequate second language qualifications for entry to the major B. C. universities. CKNN FM Nuxalk Radio is also working to promote the language.

The name "Nuxalk" for the language comes from the native nuxalk (or nuχalk), referring to the "Bella Coola Valley". "Bella Coola" is a rendering of the Heiltsuk bḷ́xʷlá, meaning "stranger".

Nowadays, Nuxalk is spoken only in Bella Coola, British Columbia, surrounded by Wakashan and Athabascan speaking tribes. It was once spoken in over 100 settlements, with varying dialects, but in the present day most of these settlements have been abandoned and dialectal differences have largely disappeared.

Nuxalk forms its own subgroup of the Salish language family. Its lexicon is equidistant from Coast and Interior Salish, but it shares phonological and morphological features with Coast Salish (e. g., the absence of pharyngeals and the presence of marked gender). Nuxalk also borrows many words from contiguous North Wakashan languages (especially Heiltsuk), as well as some from neighbouring Athabascan languages and Tsimshian.

+ Particles Particle Label Gloss kʷ Quotative 'he said' ma Dubitative 'maybe' ʔalu Attemptive 'try' ck Inferential Dubitative 'I figure' cakʷ Optative 'I wish/hope' su Expectable 'again' tu Confirmative 'really' ku Surprisative 'so' lu Expective 'expected' a Interrogative [yes/no questions] c̓ Perfective 'now' c̓n Imperfective 'now' k̓ʷ Usitative 'usually' mas Absolutive 'always' ks Individuative 'the one' łū Persistive 'still, yet' tū Non contrastiveconjunction 'and' ʔi k Contrastiveconjunction 'but'