#dogrib

Dogrib (Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì)

Basic facts

Number of native speakers: 1,735

Official language: Northwest Territories (Canada)

Script: Latin, 37 letters

Grammatical cases: 0

Linguistic typology: polysynthetic, SOV

Language family: Na-Dené, Athabaskan, Northern Athabaskan

Number of dialects: -

History

1992 - first dictionary

Writing system and pronunciation

These are the letters that make up the alphabet: a ą b ch ch’ d dl dz e ę g gh gw h ı ı̨ j k k’ kw kw’ l ł m mb n nd o ǫ r s sh t t’ tł tł’ ts ts’ w x wh y z zh ’.

A grave accent marks the low tone, but the high tone is never marked. Vowels are doubled to show that they are long.

Grammar

Nouns are inflected for possessor. There are very few adjectives, as most descriptive words are verbs.

Words are modified by prefixes, contrary to what is usually expected for SOV languages. Postpositions are used.

Verbs are conjugated for tense, gender, and number. There are two special types: handling verbs and verbs of motion. In verbs of handling, the stem changes depending on what kind of thing is handled, such as plural or rigid objects. Regarding motion verbs, a distinction in stem is made depending on the method of travel and the number of actors involved.

Dialects

Endangered Languages Challenge 5/7

What’s the language called?

Dogrib or Tłıchǫ Yatıì 

What linguistic family does it belong to?

It’s a Northern Athabaskan language, related to languages such as Dene Suline, Gwich'in, and Slavey.

Where is it spoken?

In the Northwest Territories in Canada, east of the Mackenzie River between Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake, in four primary communities: Gamètì, Behchokǫ̀,, Wekweètì, and Whatì, as well as in Yellowknife and Dettah.

What’s the current situation? As of 2011, StatsCan reported 2,080 speakers, a decrease from earlier years. It’s believed that only 53% of Tlicho aged 15-24 speak the language, compared to 94% of those over 60.

Although the language is much less threatened than many others, there are still significant community efforts to ensure that it will be maintained and passed on to future generations. 

For instance, they’ve established the Dedats'eetsaa, or Tłı̨chǫ Research and Training Institute to “advance the study of Tłı̨chǫ lands, language, culture and way of life through research, training, education and monitoring.”

The Tlicho government is also committed to preserving and promoting their traditional way of life, including the use of the language. One way of doing this is through the Tłı̨chǫ Įmbè program, which matches young community members with elders in order to learn cultural practices alongside Tłıchǫ Yatıì. 

There’s also a multimedia dictionary available online, which includes audio samples, as well as the Tłı̨chǫ Digital Archives, which include audio, video, and text samples of the language, as well as information about the history and the culture of the speakers. 

Does it have any official or legal status?

Indigenous languages, such as Tlicho, are supposed to be legally protected in the Northwest Territories, but in actual fact, not all services are available to speakers. 

Today’s Native/Indigenous Character in Media is Sunny from A Blanket of Butterflies (The Debwe Series) by Richard Van Camp!

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