Difference between revisions of "Haida Language"
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Revision as of 17:01, April 4, 2012
The Haida Language, or X̲aadas Kíl is a non-romantic language used primarily within the Haida People of Western Canada and coastal Alaska. It contains 7 vowels and more than 30 consonants. It is related to the Yenisien languages of Siberia.
Mechanics
There are nouns, verbs, postpositions, demonstratives, quantifiers, adverbs, clitics, exclamations, replies, classifiers, and instrumentals in the Haida language. Words for people, that would be considered nouns in English, are expressed by verbs in Haida. Jaada, Haida for Woman, is actually to be a woman. Morphology in Haida is mostly suffixing. Definitive articles in Haida have the suffix "aay". Haida also uses relational nouns, to define temporal-spatial coordinates. Syntax in Haida is always verb final.
Status
Haida is a severely threatened language, with fewer than 40 fluent speakers worldwide.