Pronunciation [ʃaʃiʃaɬ] Region British Columbia | Native to Canada Native speakers 4 (2014, FPCC) | |
Ethnicity 1,200 Sechelt people (2014, FPCC) Language family Salishan
Coast Salish
Central
Sechelt | ||
The Sechelt language, Sháshíshálh or Shashishalhem (/ʃáʃíʃáɬəm/), is a Coast Salish language spoken by the Shishalh (Sechelt) people of southwestern British Columbia, Canada, centred on their reserve communities in the Sechelt Peninsula area of the Sunshine Coast.
In 1999, the language was spoken by fewer than 40 elderly people. A grammar of the language by linguist Ron Beaumont was published in 1985.
In 2014, the Coastal Corridor Consortium, "an entity made up of board members from First Nations and educational partners to improve aboriginal access to and performance in postsecondary education and training", created a Sechelt Nation language certificate.
Sechelt is most closely related to Squamish, Halkomelem, and the Nooksack.
References
Sechelt language Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA