Lummi dialect explained

Lummi (Xwlemi Chosen, in Salishan languages pronounced as /xʷləmi tʃɔsən/) is a dialect of the North Straits Salish language traditionally spoken by the Lummi people of northwest Washington, in the United States. Although traditionally referred to as a language, it is mutually intelligible with the other dialects of North Straits.

Lummi language is still spoken on the Lummi reservation and is taught at Ferndale High School,^[1] Lummi Nation School, Vista Middle School, Horizon Middle School, Skyline and Eagleridge Elementary Schools,^[2] and the Northwest Indian College.

Phonology

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Bilabial	Alveolar			Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Glottal
central	sibilant	lateral	plain		lab.	plain	lab.
Plosive/ Affricate	plain	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	ejective	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Fricative				pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Sonorant	plain	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	glottalized	pronounced as /ˀm/	pronounced as /ˀn/			pronounced as /ˀj/	pronounced as /ˀŋ/	pronounced as /ˀw/

• pronounced as //ts// phonemically occurs only rarely within vocabulary.^[3]

Vowels!!Front!Central!Back

Close	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Mid/Open	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/

• Vowel sounds pronounced as //æ, ɔ// may also be heard as more mid or open as pronounced as /[ɛ, ɒ]/.^[4]

Further reading

• Book: Gibbs, George. George Gibbs (ethnologist). Alphabetical Vocabularies of the Clallam and Lummi. Cramoisy Press. 1863. Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection or at Internet Archive

Notes and References

1. http://www.ferndalesd.org/student-services/native-american-services Ferndale Native American Education
2. Web site: Native American Education - Ferndale School District . https://web.archive.org/web/20210729083433/https://www.ferndalesd.org/deptprograms/teaching-learning/student-services/native-american-education . 2021-07-29.
3. Book: Charles. Al. Introduction to the Lummi language. Demers. Richard A.. Bowman. Elizabeth. 1978.
4. Book: Montler, Timothy. Language and Dialect Variation in Straits Salishan. Indiana University. 1999. Anthropological Linguistics Vol. 41, No. 4 (Winter, 1999). 462–502.