Sekani
Tse'khene
Native to	Canada
Region	British Columbia
Ethnicity	1,410 Sekani people (2014, FPCC)[1]
Native speakers	200, 14% of ethnic population (2016 census)[2]
Language family	Dené–Yeniseian? Na-Dené Athabaskan Northern Athabaskan Sekani
Writing system	Latin script Canadian Aboriginal syllabics
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sek
Glottolog	seka1250
ELP	Tse'khene (Sekani)
Sekani is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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The Sekani language or Tse’khene is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken by the Sekani people of north-central British Columbia, Canada.

Phonology

Consonants

Sekani has 33 consonants:

Vowels

Tone

Sekani has two tones: low and high. High tone is the more common tone. Syllables phonologically marked for tone are low.

Nasalization

Nasalization of vowels is phonemic and so changes the meaning.

Sample words

^[3] In the practical writing system used here for the Kwadacha Tsek'ene dialect, u represents the mid-central vowel, and oo represents the high back rounded vowel. An apostrophe represents a glottal stop, and an ogonek under a vowel represents nasalization.

• dune man; person
• tlįį dog
• wudzįįh caribou
• yus snow
• chǫ rain
• k’wus cloud
• kwùn fire
• ’įįbèh summer
• too water
• mun lake
• nun land
• tselh axe
• ʼukèʼ foot
• ’àtse my grandfather
• ’àtsǫǫ my grandmother
• lhìghè’ one
• lhèkwudut’e two
• tadut’e three
• dįįdut’e four
• ǫ yes
• Tlįį duchę̀’ ’ehdasde January
• Dahyusè’ nùkehde wìlę February
• Nùtsʼiide March
• ʼUtʼǫ̀ʼ kùnuyehde May
• Jìje dinììdulh July
• Yhììh nunutsunde wìlę August
• Yhììh ukudeh’àsde September
• ’Udììtl’ǫh ’uwit’į̀į̀h October
• Yus ’ut’į̀į̀h November
• Khuye ’uwììjàh December