Haisla language

The Haisla language is a First Nations language spoken by the Haisla people of the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, who are based in the village of Kitaamat 10 km from the town of Kitimat at the head of the Douglas Channel, a 120km fjord that serves as a waterway for the Haisla as well as for the aluminum smelter and accompanying port of the town of Kitimat. The Haisla and their language, along with that of the neighbouring Heiltsuk and Wuikinuxv peoples, were in the past incorrectly called "Northern Kwakiutl".

The name "Haisla" is derived from the Haisla word "xàʔisla" or "xàʔisəla" " '(those) living at the rivermouth, living downriver'".

Haisla is a North Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language spoken by several hundred people. Haisla is geographically the northernmost Wakashan language. Its nearest Wakashan neighbor is Oowekyala. Haisla is related to the other North Wakashan languages, Oowekyala, Heiltsuk, and Kwak'wala. The Haisla language consists of two dialects, sometimes defined as sublanguages - Kitamaat and Kitlope (also known as Xenaksialak’ala).

External links

* [http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~ebach/haisla.htm The Haisla Languages] (Emmon Bach's page)
** [http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~ebach/dye.htm Haisla text: Dyeing (as told by Jeffrey L. Legaic)] (includes .WAV sound file)
* [http://www.languagegeek.com/wakashan/xaislakala.html X̄a’islak̕ala / X̌àʔislak̕ala / X̄a’islak’ala (Haisla)] (Chris Harvey’s Native Language, Font, & Keyboard)
** [http://www.languagegeek.com/wakashan/haislatext.html X̄a’islak̕ala / X̌àʔislak̕ala / X̄a’islak’ala (Haisla) Example Text]
* [http://www.ydli.org/biblios/haisbib.htm Bibliography of Materials on the Haisla Language] (YDLI)

Bibliography

* Mithun, Marianne. (1999). "The languages of Native North America". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN (hbk); ISBN-X.