Sekani language (original) (raw)

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Athabaskan language of British Columbia, Canada

Sekani
Tse'khene
Native to Canada
Region British Columbia
Ethnicity 1,410 Sekani people (2014, FPCC)[1]
Native speakers 35 (2021 census)135 with knowledge (2021)[2]
Language family Na-Dené AthabaskanNorthern AthabaskanSekani
Writing system Latin scriptCanadian Aboriginal syllabics
Language codes
ISO 639-3 sek
Glottolog seka1250
ELP Tse'khene (Sekani)
Sekani is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
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Sekani or Tse’khene is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken by 135 of the Sekani people of north-central British Columbia, Canada. Most of them are only semispeakers, and it is considered critically endangered.[3]

Sekani has 33 consonants:

| | Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | plain | sibilant | lateral | plain | labial | | | | | | | Stop | voiceless | p | t | ts | tɬ | tʃ | k | kʷ | | | aspirated | (pʰ) | tʰ | tsʰ | tɬʰ | tʃʰ | kʰ | kʷʰ | | | | ejective | | tʼ | tsʼ | tɬʼ | tʃʼ | kʼ | kʼʷ | ʔ | | | Nasal | m | n | | | | | | | | | Fricative-Approximant[a] | voiceless | | | s | ɬ | ç | x | xʷ | h | | voiced | | | z | l | j | ɣ | w | | |

  1. ^ Sekani, like other Athabaskan languages, does not contrast fricatives with approximants.

| | Front | Central | Back | | | --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | High | i | | u | | Mid | e | ə | o | | Low | | a | |

Sekani has two tones: low and high. High tone is the more common tone. Syllables phonologically marked for tone are low. For example, tsun means 'dirt', while tsùn means 'meat'.[4]

Nasalization of vowels is phonemic. The root *ghèl means 'scrape', while the root *ghę̀l means 'roll'.[4] Nasal vowels also contrast with vowels followed by /n/.

The orthography of the Kwadcha Tsek'ene dictionary uses the following letters.[5][6]

Kwadacha Tsek'ene alphabet

Letter IPA
Syll. init. Syll. final
’ ʔ
a ɑ
à ɑ˩
ą ɑ̃
ą̀ ɑ̃˩
b p -
ch t͡ʃʰ -
ch’ t͡ʃ’ -
d d -
dl tɬ -
dz ts -
e e
ę ẽ
è e˩
ę̀ ẽ˩
g k -
gw kʷ -
h h
i ɪ -
į ɪ̃ -
ì ɪ˩ -
į̀ ɪ̃˩ -
j tʃ -
ii i
įį ĩ
ìì i˩
į̀į̀ ĩ˩
k kʰ k
k’ k’ -
kh x
gh ɣ
kw kʷ -
kw’ kʷ’ -
l l
lh ɬ
m m
n n
o o
ǫ õ
ò o˩
ǫ̀ õ˩
oo u
ǫǫ ũ
òò u˩
ǫ̀ǫ̀ ũ˩
p pʰ p
s s
z z
sh ʃ
t tʰ t
t’ t’ -
tl tɬ
tl’ tɬ’ -
ts tsʰ ts
ts’ ts’ -
u ɐ -
ų ɐ̃ -
ù ɐ˩ -
ų̀ ɐ̃˩ -
w w
yh ç -
y j
zh ʒ -

In addition, ⟨wu⟩ represents /ʊ/, ⟨iii⟩ represents /iː/, ⟨ee⟩ represents /eː/, and ⟨aa⟩ represents /ɑː/.

These words are from the FirstVoices dictionary for Kwadacha Tsek'ene dialect.[5]

Kwadacha Tsek'ene English
dune man, person
tlįį dog
wudzįįh caribou
yus snow
chǫ rain
k’wus cloud
kwùn fire (n)
’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
’Iihts’ii nùtsudawit’į̀į̀h March
Nùts’iide March
Dasè’ April
’Ut’ǫ̀’ kùlhaghnukehde wìlę May
’Ut’ǫ̀’ 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
  1. ^ Sekani language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (29 March 2023). "Indigenous languages in Canada, 2021". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Did you know Tse'khene (Sekani) is critically endangered?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b Hargus, Sharon (21 April 2000). "Ft. Ware (Kwadacha) Sekani Dictionary". Alaska Native Language Archive. University of Alaska Fairbanks. CN990H2000.
  5. ^ a b "Kwadacha Tsek'ene alphabet". FirstVoices. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  6. ^ Hargus, Sharon (26 September 2016). "Sounds and writing systems of Deg Xinag, Tsek'ene and Witsuwit'en" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2022.