Dialects Heiltsuk
Oowekyala | ISO 639-3 hei | |
Region Northern Central Coast Regional District, British Columbia, Canada Ethnicity 2,530 Heiltsuk and Oowekyala people (2014, FPCC) Native speakers 60 Heiltsuk and 6 Oowekyala (2014, FPCC) Language family Wakashan
Northern
Heiltsuk-Oowekyala | ||
Heiltsuk-Oowekyala is a Northern Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language spoken in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv (Oweekeno) and Heiltsuk peoples. It has two dialects, Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) and Oowekyala (Wuikyala), which unlike other Wakashan languages are tonal. It has no traditional name, so the hyphenated construction Heiltsuk-Oowekyala is used by linguists. Ethnologue calls this language "Heiltsuk", with the Bella Bella dialect (Heiltsuk) labelled "Northern Heiltsuk" and the Oowekyala dialect labeled "Southern Heiltsuk".
Heiltsuk [ɦiɬtsʰaqʷ] is spoken by the Bella Bella [pʰəlbálá] and Haihais [xíxís] peoples; Oowekyala [ʔuwíkʼala] by the Wuikinuxv [ʔuwikʼinuxʷ].
Phonology
Heiltsuk-Oowekyala, like Nuxálk (Bella Coola), allows long sequences of obstruents, as in the following 7-obstruent word from the Oowekyala variety:
[t͡sʼkʷʼχtʰt͡ɬkʰt͡sʰ] 'the invisible one here-with-me will be short' (Howe 2000: 5)