Tahltan (also Nahanni) refers to a Northern Athabaskan people that live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut.
Language
Tahltan is a poorly documented Northern Athabaskan language. Some linguists consider Tahltan to be a language with 3 divergent but mutually intelligible dialects (Mithun 1999). The numbers below are according to Poser (2003):
- Tahltan (approximately 35 speakers)
- Kaska (approximately 400 speakers)
- Tagish (approximately 2 speakers)
Other linguists consider these to be separate languages.
Sounds
Consonants
The 45 consonants of Tahltan:
|
| Bilabial
| Interdental
| Dental
| Post-alveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Uvular
| Glottal
|
| central
| lateral
| plain
| labial
|
| Stop
| unaspirated
|
|
| t
|
|
|
| k
| kʷ
| q
|
|
| aspirated
|
|
|
|
|
|
| kʰ
| kʷʰ
| qʰ
|
|
| ejective
|
|
|
|
|
|
| k’
| k’ʷ
| q’
| ʔ
|
| Affricate
| unaspirated
|
| tθ
| ʦ
| tɬ
| ʧ
|
|
|
|
|
|
| aspirated
|
| tθʰ
| ʦʰ
| tɬʰ
| ʧʰ
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ejective
|
| tθ’
| ʦ’
| tɬ’
| ʧ’
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Nasal
| plain
| m
|
| n
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| glottalized
|
|
| n’
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Fricative
| voiceless
|
| θ
| s
| ɬ
| ʃ
| ç
| x
| xʷ
| χ
| h
|
| voiced
|
| ð
| z
| ɮ
| ʒ
|
| ɣ
| ɣʷ
| ʁ
|
|
| Approximant
|
|
|
|
|
|
| j
|
| w
|
|
|
Vowels
Phonological processes
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