Oowekyala
’Wuik̓ala
Region	Northern Central Coast Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
Ethnicity	Wuikinuxv people
Native speakers	6 (2014, FPCC)^[1]
Language family	Wakashan Northern Heiltsuk–Oowekyala Oowekyala
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	`oowe1239`

Oowekyala /uːˈwiːkjələ/,^[2] also Ooweekeeno and ’Wuik̓ala in the language itself, is a dialect (or a sublanguage) of Heiltsuk–Oowekyala, a Northern Wakashan language spoken around Rivers Inlet and Owikeno Lake in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv, whose government is the Wuikinuxv Nation.

The name is also spelled Wuikala, Wuikenukv, Oweekeno, Wikeno, Owikeno, Oowekeeno, Oweekano, Awikenox, Oowek'yala, Oweek'ala.

Sounds

Consonants

The 45 consonants of Oowekyala:

		Labial	Alveolar			Velar		Uvular		Glottal
		Labial	central	lateral	sibilant	plain	labial	plain	labial	Glottal
Plosive	voiced	b	d	d͡l^[3]	d͡z	ɡ	ɡʷ	ɢ	ɢʷ
	voiceless	p	t	t͡ɬ	t͡s	k	kʷ	q	qʷ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	t͡ɬʼ	t͡sʼ	kʼ	kʷʼ	qʼ	qʷʼ
Fricative				ɬ	s	x	xʷ	χ	χʷ
Sonorant	short	m	n	l		j	w			ɦ
	long	mː	nː	lː
	glottalized	mˀ	nˀ	lˀ		jˀ	wˀ			ʔ

Phonologically, affricates are treated as stops, and nasals and approximants are treated as sonorants. Additionally, /ɦ/ and /ʔ/ are treated as sonorants.

Vowels

Oowekyala has phonemic short, long, and glottalized vowels:

	Front			Central			Back
	short	long	glottalized	short	long	glottalized	short	long	glottalized
Close	i	iː	iˀ				u	uː	uˀ
Mid				ə
Open				a	aː	aˀ

Phonotactics

Oowekyala, like Nuxálk (Bella Coola), allows long sequences of obstruents, as in the following 7-obstruent word:

[t͡sʼkʷʼχtʰt͡ɬʰkʰt͡sʰ] 'the invisible one here-with-me will be short' (Howe 2000: 5)

[kxlqsɬt͡sxʷ] kxlqsłcxv - you struck a match for me ^[4]

References

External links

Bibliography

Boas, Franz. (1928). Bella Bella texts. Columbia University contributions to anthropology (No. 5).
Boas, Franz. (1932). Bella Bella tales. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society (No. 25).
Hanuse, R., Sr.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (Eds.) (1983?). The Adjee and the Little Girl. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
Hilton, Suzanne; & Rath, John C. (1982). Oowekeeno oral traditions. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
Howe, Darin. (1998). Aspects of Heiltsuk laryngeal phonology. Ms., University of British Columbia.
Howe, Darin M. (2000). Oowekyala segmental phonology. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Ottawa). [1]^{[permanent dead link]}
Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). What time is it? Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). Fishing at Rivers Inlet. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). Qaquthanugva uikala. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). Sisa'kvimas. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1983?). ’Katemxvs ’Wuik’ala. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
Johnson, S.; Smith, H.; & Stevenson, D. (1984?). Oowekyala words. Rivers Inlet, BC: Oowekyala Language Project.
Lincoln, Neville J.; & Rath, John C. (1980). North Wakashan comparative root list. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
Poser, William J. (2003). The status of documentation for British Columbia native languages. Yinka Dene Language Institute Technical Report (No. 2). Vanderhoof, British Columbia: Yinka Dene Language Institute.
Rath, John C. (1981). A practical Heiltsuk-English dictionary. Canadian Ethnology Service, Mercury Series paper (No. 75). Ottawa: National Museum of Man.
Stevenson, David. (1980). The Oowekeeno people: A cultural history. Ottawa, Ontario: National Museum of Man (now Hull, Quebec: Museum of Civilization). (Unpublished).
Stevenson, David. (1982). The ceremonial names of the Oowekeeno people of Rivers Inlet. Ottawa, Ontario: National Museum of Man (now Hull, Quebec: Museum of Civilization). (Unpublished).
Storie, Susanne. (Ed.). (1973). Oweekano Stories. (Special Collections: E99). Victoria: British Columbia Indian Advisory Committee.
Windsor, Evelyn W. (1982). Oowekeeno oral traditions as told by the late chief Simon Walkus, Sr. Hilton, S.; & Rath, J. C. (Eds.). Mercury series (No. 84). Ottawa: National Museum of Man.

Languages of British Columbia

Official language

English

Oral Indigenous
languages

Algonquian	Plains Cree
Dené–Yeniseian	Carrier Dane-zaa Kaska Babine-Witsuwitʼen Tahltan Tlingit Sekani Chilcotin Nicola Tsetsaut
Salishan	Comox Halkomelem Thompson Scw'exmx Okanagan Sinixt North Straits Salish Saanich Nuxalk Shuswap Sechelt Squamish Lillooet
Tsimshianic	Gitxsan Nisga'a Southern Tsimshian Coast Tsimshian
Wakashan	Ditidaht Heiltsuk-Oowekyala Heiltsuk Oowekyala Kwakʼwala Liqʼwala Nuu-chah-nulth Haisla
other/isolates	Kutenai Haida

Sign languages

Pidgins, creoles and mixed

Chinook Jargon

Immigrant languages

Languages of Canada

Official languages

Indigenous languages

Algonquian	Abenaki Algonquin Blackfoot Cree Innu Malecite-Passamaquoddy Miꞌkmaq Munsee Naskapi Ojibwe Ottawa Potawatomi
Athabaskan	Babine-Witsuwitʼen Carrier Chilcotin Chipewyan Dogrib Gwichʼin Hän Kaska Nicola Sekani Slavey Tagish Tahltan Tsuutʼina Tutchone
Inuit	Inuinnaqtun Inuktitut Inupiaq Inuvialuktun
Iroquoian	Cayuga Mohawk Oneida Onondaga Seneca Tuscarora Wyandot
Salishan	Bella Coola Comox Halkomelem Lillooet Okanagan Saanich Sechelt Shuswap Squamish Thompson
Wakashan	Ditidaht Haisla Heiltsuk-Oowekyala Kwakʼwala Nuu-chah-nulth
Siouan	Stoney Sioux Assiniboine
other	Beothuk Haida Kutenai Tlingit Coast Tsimshian

Pidgins, creoles and mixed

Minority languages

Sign languages