Chipewyan language

Chipewyan or DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ (ethnonym: or ), often simply called DÃÂ«ne, is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of northwestern Canada. It is categorized as part of the Northern Athabaskan language family. It has nearly 12,000 speakers in Canada, mostly in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. It has official status only in the Northwest Territories, alongside eight other aboriginal languages: Cree, Tlicho, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey and South Slavey.

Most Chipewyan people now use DÃÂ«ne and DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ to refer to themselves as a people and to their language, respectively. The Saskatchewan communities of Fond-du-Lac, Black Lake, Wollaston Lake and La Loche are among these.

Geographic distribution and speakers

In the 2011 Canada Census 11,860 people chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue. 70.6% were located in Saskatchewan and 15.2% were located in Alberta.

7,955 were in Saskatchewan
1,680 were in Alberta (the Dene Tha' First Nation a DÃÂ«ne/South Slavey group (approximately 1000 people) are included in this total)
1,005 were in Manitoba
450 were in the Northwest Territories
70 were in British Columbia
45 were in the Yukon
20 were in Ontario

Not all were from the historical Chipewyan regions south and east of Great Slave Lake. Approximately 11,000 of those who chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011 are DÃÂ«ne/Chipewyan with 7,955 (72%) in Saskatchewan, 1,005 (9%) in Manitoba, 510 plus urban dwellers in Alberta and 260 plus urban dwellers in the Northwest Territories. The communities within the DÃÂ«ne traditional areas are shown below:

Saskatchewan

The DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ-speaking communities of Saskatchewan are located in the northern half of the province. The area from the upper Churchill River west of Pinehouse Lake all the way north to Lake Athabasca and from Lake Athabasca east to the north end of Reindeer Lake is home to 7410 people who chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.

Prince Albert had 265 residents who chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011, Saskatoon had 165, the La Ronge Population Centre had 55 and Meadow Lake had 30.

3,050 were in the Lake Athabasca-Fond du Lac River area including Black Lake and Wollaston Lake in the communities of:

Fond-du-Lac 705 out of 874 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Stony Rapids 140 out of 243 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Black Lake (Chicken 224) 1040 out of 1070 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Uranium City (hamlet)
Camsell Portage (hamlet)
Wollaston Lake
Wollaston Post (Lac La Hache 220) 1165 out of 1251 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.

3,920 were in the upper Churchill River area including Peter Pond Lake, Churchill Lake, Lac La Loche, Descharme Lake, Garson Lake and Turnor Lake in the communities of:

La Loche 2,300 out 2,611 chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Clearwater River 720 out of 778 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Black Point (hamlet)
Bear Creek (hamlet)
Garson Lake (hamlet)
Descharme Lake (hamlet)
Turnor Lake
Turnor Lake (Birch Narrows First Nation) 70 out of 419 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Dillon (Buffalo River Dene Nation) 330 out of 764 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
St. George's Hill, Saskatchewan 85 out of 100 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Michel Village 55 out of 66 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Buffalo Narrows 35 out of 1153 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Patuanak 35 out of 64 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Patuanak (Wapachewunak 1920) 265 out of 482 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Beauval (La Plonge 192) 25 out of 115 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.

Manitoba

Two isolated communities are in northern Manitoba. The two Manitoban communities use DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ syllabics to write their language.

Lac Brochet (197 A) 720 out of 816 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Tadoule Lake (Churchill 1) 170 out of 321 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.

Alberta

The Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake Economic Region in the north eastern portion of Alberta from Fort Chipewyan to the Cold Lake area has the following communities. 510 residents of this region chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.

Fort Chipewyan 45 out of 847 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Fort McKay 30 out of 562 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Janvier (Janvier 194) 145 out of 295 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Janvier South 35 out of 104 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Cold Lake 149 105 out of 594 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Cold Lake 149 B, Alberta 25 out of 149 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.

Northwest Territories

Three communities are located south of Great Slave Lake in Region 5. 260 residents of Region 5 chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.

Fort Smith 30 out of 2093 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Fort Resolution 95 out of 474 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.
Lutselk'e 120 out of 295 residents chose DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ as their mother tongue in 2011.

Phonology

Consonants

The 39 consonants of DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ:

The interdental series of , , , , and corresponds to s-like sibilants in other Na-DenÃÂ© languages.

The unaspirated (plain) plosives and affricates are voiced. This contrasts with certain other Athabaskan languages, such as Navajo, where these consonants are voiceless and unaspirated (tenuis), though written with the voiced letters.

Vowels

DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ has vowels of six differing qualities.

Most vowels can be either

short or long

As a result, DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ has 24 phonemic vowels:

DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ also has 9 oral and nasal diphthongs of the form vowel + .

Tone

DÃÂ«nesÃÂ³ÃÂinÃÂ«ÃÂ has two tones:

low

References

Bibliography

(Reprinted 1963, 1965, 1967, & 1971, New York: Johnson Reprint Corp.).

External links

First Voices Dene Community Portal
Our Languages: Dene (Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre)
OLAC resources in and about the Chipewyan language
Kirkby, William West: The New Testament, translated into the Chipewyan language = Ã¡ÂÂÃ¡ÂÂ Ã¡ÂÂÃ¡ÂÂ Ã¡ÂÂÃ¡ÂÂ¢Ã¡ÂÂÃ¡ÂÂ£Ã¡ÂÂ£Ã¡ÂÂ (Didi gothi testementi). London, 1881 (Peel 986)