Salish–Spokane–Kalispel language
The Salish or Séliš language /ˈseɪlɪʃ/, also known as Kalispel–Pend d'oreille, Kalispel–Spokane–Flathead, or Montana Salish to distinguish it from other Salishan languages, is a Salishan language spoken (as of 2005) by about 64 elders of the Flathead Nation in north central Montana and of the Kalispel Indian Reservation in northeastern Washington state, and by another 50 elders (as of 2000) of the Spokane Indian Reservation of Washington. As of 2012, Salish is "critically endangered" in Montana and Idaho according to UNESCO.
| Salish | |
|---|---|
| Séliš (fla) Npoqínišcn (spo) | |
| Region | Northwest, United States |
| Ethnicity | 8,000 Pend d'Oreilles (Kalispel), Flathead, Spokane peoples (1977–1997) |
Native speakers | 70 (2009-2013) |
Salishan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:fla – Flatheadspo – Spokane |
| Glottolog | kali1307 |
| ELP | Kalispel-Spokane-Pend d'Oreille-Salish |
Kalispel is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Dialects are spoken by the Spokane (Npoqínišcn), Kalispel (Qalispé), Pend d'Oreilles, and Bitterroot Salish (Séliš). The total ethnic population was 8,000 in 1977, but most have switched to English.
As is the case of many other languages of northern North America, Salish is polysynthetic; like other languages of the Mosan language area, it does not make a clear distinction between nouns and verbs. Salish is famous for native translations that treat all lexical Salish words as verbs or clauses in English—for instance, translating a two-word Salish clause that would appear to mean "I-killed a-deer" into English as I killed it. It was a deer.