Nuxálk (also Bella Coola) is a Salishan language spoken in the Canadian town Bella Coola, British Columbia by approximately 20-30 elders. Until recently, the language was also called Bella Coola, but the native designation Nuxálk is now preferred.

Sounds

Consonants

The 28 consonants of Nuxálk:

Vowels

Syllables

The notion of syllable is challenged by Nuxálk in that it allows long strings of consonants without any intervening vowel or other sonorant. Salishan languages, and especially Nuxálk, are famous for this. For instance, the following word contains only obstruents:

xłp̓x̣ʷłtłpłłskʷc̓  [xɬp’χʷɬtɬpɬːskʷʦ’]   'he had had in his possession a bunchberry plant.'     (Nater 1984, cited in Bagemihl 1991: 16)

Many words in Nuxálk are similar:

• [ps] 'shape, mold'
• [p’s] 'bend'
• [p’χʷɬt] 'bunchberry'
• [ʦktskʷʦ] 'he arrived'
• [tʦ] 'little boy'
• [skʷp] 'saliva'
• [sps] 'northeast wind'
• [tɬ’p] 'cut with scissors'
• [sʦ’q] 'animal fat'
• [sʦ’qʦtx] 'that's my animal fat over there'
• [tɬ] 'strong'
• [q’t] 'go to shore'
• [qʷt] 'crooked'

Bibliography

• Bagemihl, Bruce. (1991). Syllable structure in Bella Coola. Proceedings of the New England Linguistics Society, 21, 16-30.
• Bagemihl, Bruce. (1991). Syllable structure in Bella Coola. Linguistic Inquiry, 22, 589-646.
• Bagemihl, Bruce. (1998). Maximality in Bella Coola (Nuxalk). In E. Czaykowska-Higgins & M. D. Kinkade (Eds.), Salish languages and linguistics: Theorectical and descriptive perspectives (pp. 71-98). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
• Davis, Philip W.; & Saunders, Ross. (1973). Lexical suffix copying in Bella Coola. Glossa, 7, 231-252.
• Davis, Philip W.; & Saunders, Ross. (1975). Bella Coola nominal deixis. Language, 51, 845-858.
• Davis, Philip W.; & Saunders, Ross. (1976). Bella Coola deictic roots. International Journal of American Linguistics, 42, 319-330.
• Davis, Philip W.; & Saunders, Ross. (1978). Bella Coola syntax. In E.-D. Cook & J. Kaye (Eds.), Linguistic studies of native Canada (pp. 37-66). Vancouver: University of British Columbia.
• Davis, Philip W.; & Saunders, Ross. (1979). Bella Coola phonology. Lingua, 49, 169-187.
• Davis, Philip W.; & Saunders, Ross. (1980). Bella Coola texts. British Columbia Provincial Museum heritage record (No. 10). Victoria: British Columbia Provincial Museum. ISBN 0-7718-8206-8.
• Davis, Philip W.; & Saunders, Ross. (1997). A grammar of Bella Coola. University of Montana occasional papers in linguistics (No. 13). Missoula, MT: University of Montana. ISBN 1-8797-6313-3.
• Forrest, Linda. (1994). The de-transitive clause in Bella Coola: Passive vs inverse. In T. Givón (Ed.), Voice and inversion (pp. 147-168). Amsterdam: Benjamins.
• Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
• Montler, Timothy. (2004-2005). (Handouts on Salishan language family).
• Nater, Hank F. (1977). Stem list of the Bella Coola language. Lisse: Peter de Ridder.
• Nater, Hank F. (1984). The Bella Coola language. Mercury series; Canadian ethonology service (No. 92). Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
• Nater, Hank F. (1990). A concise Nuxalk-English dictionary. Mercury series; Canadian ethonology service (No. 115). Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization. ISBN 0-6601-0798-8.
• Newman, Stanley. (1947). Bella Coola I: Phonology. International Journal of American Linguistics, 13, 129-134.
• Newman, Stanley. (1969). Bella Coola grammatical processes and form classes. International Journal of American Linguistics, 35, 175-179.
• Newman, Stanley. (1969). Bella Coola paradigms. International Journal of American Linguistics, 37, 299-306.
• Newman, Stanley. (1971). Bella Coola reduplication. International Journal of American Linguistics, 37, 34-38.
• Newman, Stanley. (1974). Language retention and diffusion in Bella Coola. Language in Society, 3, 201-214.
• Newman, Stanley. (1976). Salish and Bella Coola prefixes. International Journal of American Linguistics, 42, 228-242.
• Newman, Stanley. (1989). Lexical morphemes in Bella Coola. In M. R. Key & H. Hoenigswald (Eds.), General and Amerindian ethnolinguistics: In remembrance of Stanley Newman (pp. 289-301). Contributions to the sociology of language (No. 55). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 0-8992-5519-1.