Chemakum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Chemakum language (IPA: /ˈʧɛməkəm/; also written as Chimakum or Chimacum) was spoken by the Chemakum, a Native American group that once lived on western Washington state's Olympic Peninsula. The Chemakum language was very similar to the Quileute language (the only surviving Chimakuan language). In the 1860s, Chief Seattle and the Suquamish people wiped out the Chemakum people, killing the language off with them.

[edit] Phonology

Chemakum had three vowels, long and short, and lexical stress. It had the following consonants. (Note the unusual lack of plain velar consonants.)

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Post- alveolar	Labio- velar	Uvular		Glottal
			central	lateral			plain	labial
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	plain	p	t			kʷ	q	qʷ	ʔ
	ejective	p’	t’			kʷ’	q’	qʷ’
Affricate	plain		ts		tʃ
	ejective		ts’	tɬ’	tʃ’
Fricative			s	ɬ	ʃ	xʷ	χ	χʷ	h
Approximant				l	j	w

[edit] See also

• Quileute
• Chimakuan languages