Tsuutʼina language

Tsuutʼina
Sarcee
Tsúùtʼínà Gūnáhà
Native to	Canada
Region	Alberta
Ethnicity	Tsuutʼina
Native speakers	80 (2016 census)
Language family	Dené–Yeniseian ? Na-Dené Athabaskan–Eyak Athabaskan Northern Athabaskan Tsuutʼina
Language codes
ISO 639-3	srs
Glottolog	sars1236
ELP
File:Tsuutʼina map.svg
File:Lang Status 20-CR.svg Tsuut'ina is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

People	Tsúùtʼínà
Language	Tsúùtʼínà Gūnáhà
Country	Tsúùtʼínà Nìsk’ā      Nitawahsin'nanni (ᖹᒣᖷᑊᓱᐡ ᖻᐡᖹ)

Tsuutʼina, (endonym: Tsúùtʼínà Gūnáhà) formerly known as Sarcee or Sarsi, is an Athabaskan language spoken by the people of the Tsuutʼina Nation, whose reserve and community is near Calgary, Alberta. It is related to other Athabaskan languages, such as Navajo and Chiricahua to the south, and the Dene Suline and Tłı̨chǫ to the north.

Nomenclature

The name Tsuutʼina comes from the Tsuutʼina self designation Tsúùtʼínà, meaning "many people", "nation tribe", or "people among the beavers". Sarcee is a deprecated exonym from Siksiká.

Language revitalization

Tsuutʼina is a critically endangered language, with only 150 speakers, 80 of whom speak it as their mother tongue, according to the 2016 Canadian census. The Tsuutʼina Nation has created the Tsuutʼina Gunaha Institute with the intention of creating new fluent speakers. This includes full K–4 immersion education at schools on the Nation and placing stop signs in the Tsuutʼina language at intersections in the Tsuutʼina Nation.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonants of Tsuutʼina are listed below, with symbols from the standard orthography in brackets:

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar			Post- alveolar	Velar		Glottal
			plain	sibilant	lateral		plain	rounded
Stop	plain	p ⟨b⟩	t ⟨d⟩	ts ⟨dz⟩	tɬ ⟨dl⟩	tʃ ⟨j⟩	k ⟨g⟩	kʷ ⟨gw⟩	ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩
	aspirated		tʰ ⟨t⟩	tsʰ ⟨ts⟩	tɬʰ ⟨tł⟩	tʃʰ ⟨ch⟩	kʰ ⟨k⟩	kʷʰ ⟨kw⟩
	ejective		tʼ ⟨tʼ⟩	tsʼ ⟨tsʼ⟩	tɬʼ ⟨tłʼ⟩	tʃʼ ⟨chʼ⟩	kʼ ⟨kʼ⟩	kʷʼ ⟨kwʼ⟩
Fricative	voiceless			s ⟨s⟩	ɬ ⟨ł⟩	ʃ ⟨sh⟩	x ⟨x⟩		h ⟨h⟩
	voiced			z ⟨z⟩		ʒ ⟨zh⟩	ɣ ⟨gh⟩
Nasal		m ⟨m⟩	n ⟨n⟩
Approximant					l ⟨l⟩	j ⟨y⟩		w ⟨w⟩

Vowels

There are four phonemically distinct vowel qualities in Tsuutʼina: /i a ɒ u/, represented〈i a o u〉. While /a/ and /ɒ/ are fairly constant, /i u/ can vary considerably.

	Front	Back
Close	i ~ e ⟨i⟩	u ~ o ⟨u⟩
Open	a ⟨a⟩	ɒ ⟨o⟩

Vowels are also distinguished by length and tone, similar to other Athabaskan languages, so that Tsuutʼina, taking the total number of vowel phonemes to 24 (i.e. / ī í ì īː íː ìː ā á à āː áː àː ɒ̄ ɒ́ ɒ̀ ū ú ù ūː úː ùː ɒ̄ː ɒ́ː ɒ̀ː /).

• long vowels are written doubled, e.g., aa [aː]
• high tone is marked with an acute accent, e.g., á
• low tone is marked with a grave accent, e.g., à
• mid tone is marked with a macron, e.g., ā

Nouns

File:2023-12-06 tsuut'ina bilingual stop sign.jpg

A bilingual stop sign seen at a commercial centre

Nouns in Tsuutʼina are not declined, and most plural nouns are not distinguished from singular nouns. However, kinship terms are distinguished between singular and plural form by adding the suffix -ká (or -kúwá) to the end of the noun or by using the word yìná.

List of nouns

People

• husband - kòlà
• man, human - dìná
• wife - tsʼòyá
• woman - tsʼìkā
• grandmother - is’su
• grandfather - is’sa
• mother - in’na
• father - it’ta

Nature

• Buffalo, cow - xāní
• Cloud - nàkʼús
• Dog - tłí(chʼà)
• Fire - kù
• Mud, dirt - gútłʼìs
• Snow - zòs
• Water - tú

Words and phrases

• my name is (..) - sizi

Noun possession

Nouns can exist in free form or possessed form. When in possessed form, the prefixes listed below can be attached to nouns to show possession. For example, más, "knife", can be affixed with the 1st person prefix to become sìmázàʼ or "my knife". Note that -mázàʼ is the possessed form of the noun.

Some nouns, like más, as shown above, can alternate between free form and possessed form. A few nouns, like zòs, "snow", are never possessed and exist only in free form. Other nouns, such as -tsìʼ, "head", have no free form and must always be possessed.

Typical possession prefixes

• 1st person - si-
• 2nd person - ni-
• 3rd person - mi-
• 4th person (Athabaskan) - ɣi-

Bibliography

• Cook, Eung-Do. (1973b). "Complementation in Sarcee". [Unpublished?]
• Hofer, E. (1973). "Phonological Change in Sarcee". [Unpublished?]
• Hoijer, H. and Joël, J.. (1963). "Sarcee Nouns", in Studies in the Athabaskan Languages, eds. Hoijer, H. et al., 62–75.
• Sapir, E. (1924). "Personal Names Among the Sarcee Indians", American Anthropologist n.s. 26, 108–199.
• Sarcee Culture Program. 1979. Tsu Tʼina and the Buffalo. Calgary.

See also

• Tsuutʼina Nation

External links

• The Verb «Be» in Sarcee
• The Tsuut'ina Gunaha Institute