Lushootseed

Lushootseed, formerly known as Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, or Skagit-Nisqually, is a Central Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Lushootseed is the general name for the dialect continuum composed of two main dialects, Northern Lushootseed and Southern Lushootseed, which are further separated into smaller sub-dialects.

For a list of all Lushootseed-speaking peoples, see List of Lushootseed-speaking peoples.
Lushootseed
dxʷləšucid, txʷəlšucid, xʷəlšucid
Native toUnited States
RegionNorth Western Washington, around the Puget Sound
EthnicitySkagit, Sauk-Suiattle, Swinomish, Stillaguamish, Snohomish, Suquamish, Sammamish, Snoqualmie, Duwamish, Puyallup, Nisqually, Sahewamish, Squaxin
Extinctno fully fluent native speakers as of 2008, some second-language speakers. Revitalization efforts underway
Salishan
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
lut – Lushootseed
slh – Southern Puget Sound Salish
ska – Skagit (covered by [lut])
sno – Snohomish (covered by [lut])
Glottologlush1251
ELPLushootseed
Lushootseed is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Lushootseed was historically spoken across southern and western Puget Sound roughly between modern-day Bellingham and Olympia by a large number of Indigenous peoples, numbering 12,000 at its peak. Today, however, it is primarily a ceremonial language, spoken for heritage or symbolic purposes. It is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. Despite this, many Lushootseed-speaking tribes are attempting to revitalize their language in daily use, with several language programs and classes offered across the region.

The name comes from ləš, an archaic name for Puget Sound, and dxʷ-...=ucid, meaning 'language,' roughly translating to "Puget Sound language" The affix dxʷ- also means 'filled with' or 'throughout', and is common in Lushootseed names. The southern pronunciation txʷəlsucid is derived from the original by de-voicing d into t and switching the position of l and ə.

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