Ethnicity Chimakum ISO 639-3 xch | Language family Chimakuan
Chemakum Linguist list xch | |
Native to Olympic Peninsula, Washington Extinct 3 imperfect speakers in 1890 | ||
The Chemakum language (/ˈtʃɛməkʌm/; also written as Chimakum or Chimacum) was spoken by the Chemakum, a Native American group that once lived on western Washington state's Olympic Peninsula. It was very similar to the Quileute language, the only surviving Chimakuan language. In the 1860s, Chief Seattle and the Suquamish people killed many of the Chimakum people. In 1890, Franz Boas found only three speakers, and they spoke it imperfectly. A few semi-speakers continued until the 1940s on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula, between Port Townsend and Hood Canal.
The name Chemakum is an anglicization of the Salishan name for the Chimakum people, perhaps old Twana čə́mqəm (currently čə́bqəb [t͡ʃə́bqəb]).
Phonology
Chemakum had three vowels, long and short, and lexical stress. It had the following consonants. (Note the unusual lack of plain velar consonants.)