|
|speakers=1,020
|date=2016 census
|ref=<ref name="census">{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=41&Geo=01 |title=Language Highlight Tables, 2016 Census - Aboriginal mother tongue, Aboriginal language spoken most often at home and Other Aboriginal language(s) spoken regularly at home for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census – 100% Data|publisher=Government of Canada, Statistics|websiteurl=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca|language/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Table.cfm?Lang=enE&T=41&Geo=01 |access-date=2017-11-23 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca |publisher=Government of Canada, Statistics |language=en}}</ref>
|familycolor=American
|fam1=[[Tsimshianic languages|Tsimshianic]]
}}
The '''Gitxsan language''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|ɪ|t|s|æ|n}},<ref>{{citeCite web |title=Pronunciation Guide to First Nations in British Columbia |url=http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100022848/1100100022849 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-01-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123044647/http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100022848/1100100022849 |archive-date=2014-01-23 |access-date=2014-01-07 |website=Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada |language=en}}</ref> or '''''Gitxsanimaax''''' (also rendered ''Gitksan, Giatikshan, Gityskyan, Giklsan''), is an endangered [[Tsimshianic languages|Tsimshianic language]] of northwestern [[British Columbia]], closely related to the neighboring [[Nisga’a language]]. The two groups are, however, politically separate and prefer to refer to Gitxsan and Nisga'a as distinct languages. According to the 2016 census there were 1,020 native speakers.<ref name="census" />
[[Gitxsan]] means "People of the [[Skeena River]]" ("''Ksan''" being the name of the Skeena in Gitxsan).
== Dialects ==
Gitxsan language is primarily separated into Eastern and Western Gitxsan, although each village has its own dialect. The Eastern villages include Kispiox (Ansbayaxw), Glen Vowell (Sigit'ox), and Hazelton (Git-an'maaxs). The Western villages include Kitwanga (Gjtwjngax), Gitanyow (Git-antaaw) and Kitseguecla (Gijigyukwhla). The main differences between dialects include a lexical shift in vowels and stop lenition use present only in the Eastern dialects. The largest differences in language and culture exist between Eastern and Western Gitxsan, rather than between each village.<ref name="IPA">{{Cite journal |last=Brown, |first=Jason; |last2=Davis, |first2=Henry; |last3=Schwan, |first3=Michael; |last4=Sennott, |first4=Barbara (|date=2016). "|title=Gitksan". ''|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association''. '''|language=en |volume=46''' (|issue=3): |pages=367–378. {{|doi|=10.1017/S0025100315000432}}</ref>
== History and Usage ==
=== Revitalization Efforts ===
The University of Northern British Columbia and Siiwiixo'osxwim Wilnataahl Gitksan Society (Gitksan Language Society) set up a Developmental Standard Term Certificate program offered through Northwest Community College, with all courses offered in Hazelton, BC. The program is designed to help revitalize Gitxsan language by allowing those who complete it to teach language and culture courses at the elementary and secondary school level in the community. <ref>{{Cite newsweb |date=August 10, 2005 |title=Gitksan Students Complete Coursework |url=https://www.unbc.ca/releases/2005/08-10gitksan|title=Gitksan Students Complete Coursework|date=August 10, 2005|access-date=December 14, 2019 |website=University of Northern British Columbia |language=en}}</ref>
In the spring of 2018, an online dictionary app was released in collaboration with members of Gitksan Nation and researchers at the University of British Columbia. The app includes various dialects of Gitxsan, and includes audio from different villages. Flashcards, stories, and histories are also included in addition to functioning as a dictionary. This app is based on a print dictionary produced in 1973 by Lonnie Hindle and Bruce Rigsby. With its launch, the app briefly held a top spot in Google Play's education category and accumulated around 500 downloads in its first week.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.interior-news.com/news/gitksan-dictionary-goes-mobile/|title=Gitksan Dictionary Goes Mobile|last=Muir |first=Cassidy |date=May 22, 2019 |title=Gitksan Dictionary Goes Mobile |work=The Interior News |url=https://www.interior-news.com/news/gitksan-dictionary-goes-mobile/ |access-date=November 12, 2019}}</ref>
==Phonology==
The Gitxsan inventory is as follows:<ref name=IPA/><ref>Bruce{{Cite journal |last=Rigsby & John|first=Bruce |last2=Ingram (|first2=John |date=1990) "|title=Obstruent Voicing and Glottalic Obstruents in Gitksan". ''|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics'', vol.|language=en |volume=56, no. |issue=2, pp.|pages=251–263 251–263|doi=10.1086/466152 {{|jstor|=1265131}}.</ref>
{|class="wikitable IPA"
==Further reading==
* {{citeCite book |last1last=Bicevskis |first1first=Katie |title=Handbook of Quantifiers in Natural Language |last2=Davis |first2=Henry |last3=Matthewson |first3=Lisa |editor1-lastdate=Paperno2017 |editor1-firstpublisher=DenisSpringer |editor2isbn=978-3-319-44328-7 |editor-last=KeenanPaperno |editor2editor-first=EdwardDenis L.|titleseries=HandbookStudies ofin QuantifiersLinguistics inand NaturalPhilosophy Language|datevolume=2017|publisher=SpringerII |pages=281–382 |chapter=Quantification in Gitksan|series=Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-44330-0_6 |volumeeditor-last2=IIKeenan |isbneditor-first2=978-3-319-44328-7Edward L.}}
* {{citeCite journal |last1last=Brown |first1first=Jason |last2=Davis |first2=Henry |last3=Schwan |first3=Michael |last4=Sennott |first4=Barbara |date=2016 |title=Gitksan |department=Illustrations of the IPA |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |datelanguage=2016en |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=367–378 |doi=10.1017/S0025100315000432|department=Illustrations of the IPA.|doi-access=free}}
* [[Marjorie Halpin|Halpin, Marjorie]], and Margaret Seguin (1990) "Tsimshian Peoples: Southern Tsimshian, Coast Tsimshian, Nishga, and Gitksan." In ''Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 7: Northwest Coast,'' ed. by Wayne Suttles, pp. 267–284. Washington: Smithsonian Institution).
* Hindle, Lonnie and Bruce Rigsby (1973) ''A Short Practical Dictionary of the Gitksan language,'' Northwest Anthropological Research Notes 1:1-60.
* {{citeCite journal |last1last=Matthewson |first1first=Lisa |date=2013 |title=Gitksan Modals |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |datelanguage=2013en |volume=79 |issue=3 |pages=349–394 |doi=10.1086/670751 |s2cid=224806943}}
==External links==
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