Chemakum language

The Chemakum language (/ˈtʃɛməkʌm/; 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. It was very similar to the Quileute language, the only surviving Chimakuan language. In the 1860s, Chief Seattle and the Suquamish people killed many of the Chimakum people. In 1890, Franz Boas found only three speakers, and they spoke it imperfectly.[1] A few semi-speakers continued until the 1940s on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula, between Port Townsend and Hood Canal.

Chemakum
ʔaχʷókʷolo
Native to	Olympic Peninsula, Washington
Ethnicity	Chimakum
Extinct	3 imperfect speakers in 1890[1]
Language family	Chimakuan Chemakum
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xch
Linguist List	xch
Glottolog	chim1310

The name Chemakum is an anglicization of the Salishan name for the Chimakum people, perhaps old Twana čə́mqəm (currently čə́bqəb [t͡ʃə́bqəb]).

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	pʼ	tʼ			kʷʼ	qʼ	qʷʼ
Affricate	plain		t͡s		t͡ʃ
	ejective		t͡sʼ	t͡ɬʼ	t͡ʃʼ
Fricative			s	ɬ	ʃ	xʷ	χ	χʷ	h
Approximant				l	j	w

Vowels are noted as /i a o/ and lengthened as /iː aː oː/. Stress is noted as /v́/.[2]

See also

• Quileute language
• Chimakuan languages

References

1. Ruby, Robert H.; John Arthur Brown (1992). A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 22–23, 28. ISBN 9780806124797.
2. Elmendorf, William W. (1990). Chemakum. Wayne Suttles (ed.), Northwest Coast: Washington: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 438–440.