Site
last updated March 2013.
Welcome to the Sm’algyax Living Legacy Talking Dictionary
Message of
welcome in Sm’algyax from Gitxon, Former President Tsimshian Tribal Council
New users may wish to check the instructions for using the dictionary at the very
bottom of this page, following the acknowledgements. Scroll down and you will
also find advice if you are having display problems.
NEW CONTENT
There are two new resources available
for learning Sm'algyax available from this site: a set of four
PowerPoint Presentations on the use of connectives in Sm'algyax and a
personal practice language helper. These can be downloaded from the links here:
Ts'msyen
Talking Language Helper
To work with the Using Sm'algyax
Connectives PowerPoint resources, just download and "unzip" the
compressed folder. Then watch each of the four PowerPoint shows, which include
information on how connectives are used to "glue together" phrases in
Sm'algyax. The first presentation gives a general introduction, while
the other three provide information and practice with the use of connectives
with words that end in three different types of sounds:
·
"no-change"
sounds where the connective is added to a root with no alteration of the root;
·
"voicing"
sounds where adding the connective causes a minor adjustment of the sound at the
end of the root word; and
·
"a-eater"
sounds, where the initial "a" sound of the connective is absorbed
into the last sound of the root
The sound files for these
presentations were recorded by Velna Nelson, who is a fluent speaker from
Txaƚgiw. Margaret Anderson developed the PowerPoints, with assistance from
Theresa Lowther. There are numerous examples included, and learners can
increase their vocabulary as well as learn about the connective patterns. Here
is what one of the slides in this Powerpoint looks like:
The second new resource, the
Ts'msyen Talking Language Helper, is a copy of much of the data from the Living
Legacy Talking Dictionary set up so that each learner can identify which words
they want to practice and keep track of their success. To use it, first
download the zipped folder (it is large, so this will take quite a while). I
have my copy installed in the Program Files directory of my computer, and this
works well, so you might want to select a similar directory for your
installation. Then "unzip" the folder by double-clicking on it.
Finally, click on the "Ts'msyenTalkingLanguageHelper.exe" file in the
folder. This should open up the program. You may want to right click while you
have it open to create a desktop shortcut. There are different options
available for using this software. You can browse through all the entries, list
all the words so you can identify your own set of practice words, or play a
matching game where the words in your practice set will be shown and you can
select the correct ones when the sound file is played and/or the typed word is
displayed. Here are screen shots of several views of the Ts'msyen Talking
Language Helper.
This is how the program looks when
you first open it up. The photograh here is of Louisa Anderson, who was from Txaƚgiw.
This is the page that lets you
browse through all the entries. You can make choices to show only the Sm'algyax,
or to hide the back of the card.
This is the "List/Find
Cards" page, where you can select as many practice words as you wish. In the
current view the system is set to display all words that have both a sound file
and an image. You just click on a word in the list at the left to move it to
your practice words list on the right.
This is the matching game that you can
play. The game randomly selects images from your set of practice words, and
then asks you to select the correct image as you click the sound button to play
the audio file of each. A correct answer gets you a happy face, while a mistake
gets you a sad face and a second chance to try again.
Additions to Content: The Sm’algyax Living Legacy Talking Dictionary
has been extensively revised and expanded. Note the following features,
many of which have been expanded since the last update:
·
Word Parts are Linked: Words that have more than one meaning unit have been
linked to each component so that users can switch to those entries with a
single click
·
Variants have been linked to each entry – including dialect
variants, spelling variants, free variants, and inflectional variants (plural
forms)
·
Links to Previous Dictionary
Entries: Image clips of all entries from *John
Dunn’s Practical Dictionary of Sm’algyax have been linked to the relevant
entries (with permission from the original publisher, the Canadian Museum of
Civilization) *Works from the John Dunn Practical Dictionary of Sm’algyax are
courtesy ©Canadian Museum of Civilization. Requests for
permission to use Works from John Dunn’s Practical Dictionary of Sm’algyax
should be directed to the Canadian Museum of Civilization at permissions@civilization.ca
·
Links to Comparisons with the
first edition of the draft print dictonary: Image
clips of all entries from the 2000 Draft
Dictionary printed by School District 52 in Prince Rupert have been linked
to the relevant entries for comparison purposes; changes from this earlier
draft have been reviewed by fluent speakers
·
Expanded Definitions: Entries now include separate sense definitions for
related forms that are different parts of speech (e.g. intransitive verbs,
transitive verbs), which allows users to more easily connect example sentences
to the proper usage. The importance of awareness of these categories is
illustrated in the excerpts (see below) from Visible Grammar: Ts’msyen Sm’algyax Grammar Resources, which is a
series of twenty user-friendly modules on key Ts’msyen Sm’algyax structures.
Further down on this page you will find a colour-coded summary of the basic
sentence templaces.
·
Scientific Names Included: Scientific names have been included for plants, along
with additional pictures of plants, both of these provided by ethnobotanist Dr.
Nancy Turner
Work on the database continues, and
future additions will include more images, additional sound files, and more
examples drawn from additional texts being added to the database.
Acknowledgements
List of contributors
A large
number of people have made contributions to the development of the database
from which this Sm’algyax Living Legacy talking dictionary has
been developed. The following list provides brief details on many of these
contributions. Sincere regrets if any individuals have been inadvertently
omitted below.
Lexical Database and
Software Development
The
original database for this dictionary was developed through a process led by
the Ts’msyen Sm’algyax Authority and the Sm’algyax
Committee of School District 52. A graduate student in linguistics at the
time, Tonya Stebbins was hired to establish the initial lexical
database, which was based on data from John Dunn’s Practical
Dictionary*, entered in SIL’s Shoebox software by Stebbins. Some data from Franz
Boas’ publications on the Tsimshian was also referenced. The Sm’algyax
committee then met regularly to add entries and to provide examples and details
on meaning and usage for the entries. Members of the Sm’algyax committee
include: Tammy Blumhagen, Doug Brown, Marjorie Brown, Alex Campbell, Sandra Carlick,
Sampson Collinson, Pauline Dudoward, Stephanie Fisher, Verna Helin, Ernie Hill,
Isabel Hill, Nadine Leighton, Sylvia Leighton, Theresa Lowther, Velna Nelson,
Beatrice Robinson, Debbie Leighton-Stephens, Darlene Wilson and Mildred Wilson.
After the printing of a draft of the initial database, Stebbins was hired to
import the data to SIL’s LinguaLinks Software so that Margaret Anderson
could use it as the basis for her research project, which provided funding to
expand the dictionary, record and link sound files and images, and link lexical
entries to texts that were transcribed and entered into a separate component of
the database linked to the lexicon, including transcriptions of recordings made
by John Dunn and Margaret Anderson and re-writings of texts by William
Beynon from the collection that he sent to Boas in the 1930s. This work was
a component of a project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada, called The Spoken Land. Some data was added in
the latter stages of this project from recordings and transcriptions by Fumiko
Sasama, a linguist from Japan who has worked in Hartley Bay for the past
twenty years. The content of the Sm’algyax curriculum taught in School
District 52 is included in the database as well; this was developed by the
Sm’algyax Committee, with Dr. Marianne Ignace. The exported
dictionary has been available on the web as the Sm’algyax Living
Legacy Talking Dictionary since 2003 at the following website: http://smalgyax.unbc.ca
Recording and Data
Review/Confirmation
The
following individuals have contributed enormously to the work on the Living
Legacy database. Some of them made sound recordings, some assisted with
confirmation of transcriptions and translations, while others entered data,
edited sound files, and collected and prepared image files. Some made multiple
contributions. Each of these individuals is a hero in the effort to retain and
revitalize Sm’algyax: Clarence Anderson, Txałgiw; Tammy Blumhagen,
Txałgiw; Alvin Bolton, Txałgiw; Bernice Bolton, Txałgiw; Arnold Booth, New
Metlakatla, Alaska; Mary Booth, New Metlakatla, Alaska; Albert Brooks, Lax
Kw’alaams; Doug Brown, Gitxaała; Marjorie Brown, Gitxaała; Bea Bryant, Lax
Kw’alaams; Bert Bryant, Lax Kw’alaams; Alex Campbell, Lax Kw’alaams; Sampson
Collinson, Gitxaała; Alfred Eaton, New Metlakatla, Alaska; George Eaton,
Txałgiw; Lorraine Green, Lax Kw’alaams; Percy Green, Lax Kw’alaams; Isobel
Hill, Gitxaała, Robert Hill, Txałgiw; Sylvia Leighton, Metlakatla; Darlene
Leland, Txałgiw; Delores Lewis, Gitxaała; John Lewis, who was then a
student of Sm’algyax provided one sound recording facilitated by his
teacher, Tammy Blumhagen; Theresa Lowther, Txałgiw; Elinor Mason, Txałgiw;
Morris Mason, Kitselas; Violet McKay, Lax Kw’alaams; Velna Nelson, Txałgiw;
Perry Reece, Txałgiw; Fred Ridley, Txałgiw; Herbert (Sonny) Ridley, Jr.,
Txałgiw; Beatrice Robinson, Gitxaała; Delores Robinson, Txałgiw; Everett
Robinson, Gitxaała; Violet (Tina) Robinson, Txałgiw; and Mildred Wilson,
Txałgiw. Please note that village identifications in this list
reference the home community of the speaker, not their current residence. All
of the recordings were made by fluent speakers who grew up speaking the
language except one file made by a student, as indicated above. When listening
to a sound file it is generally possible for users of this talking dictionary
to identify the speaker, since the file names for the sound recordings include
the initials of the speaker and an abbreviation of their village home.
Sound Clips from Archival
Recordings
While many
of the sound recordings linked in the lexical database were recorded
specifically for this project, support from the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada allowed Margaret Anderson to
hire several individuals who catalogued a number of archival recordings made
from 1968 to 1987. These were selected from recordings made by Dr John Dunn
during his research in Kitkatla, and by Dr. Margaret Seguin Anderson during
her research in Hartley Bay. Tammy Blumhagen and Theresa Lowther
did a great deal of work in locating appropriate clips and cleaning them up
with sound editing software. Archival Recordings included are from: Alfred
Anderson, Txałgiw, Clarence Robinson, Txałgiw, Louisa Anderson, Txałgiw,
Dorothy Brown, Gitxaała, Elizabeth (Betty Lou) Dundas, Txałgiw, Alfred Eaton,
New Metlakatla, Alaska, Flora (Lola) Eaton, Txałgiw, Belle Eaton, Txałgiw, Cora
Robinson, Txałgiw, Violet Robinson, Txałgiw, and Kathleen Vickers,
Gitxaała.
Images Provided
Dr. Nancy Turner
provided a large collection of photographs of plants, all with their Latin
nomenclature – much appreciated! Several photographs were provided by the
following: Nadine Leighton, Txałgiw and Donald Reece, Txałgiw, Edward
Bryant, Lax Kw’alaams and Michael Dangeli, Vancouver. The artwork used at
the top of this site is a collage of images from Bryant and Dangeli.
One
PowerPoint image was provided by each of the following, who were then students
of Sm’algyax at Charles Hayes Secondary School in Prince Rupert: Brianne
Gladstone, Vance Leask, Vanessa Leighton, Graham Lindsay, William Nelson,
Kiesha Pahl, and Alana Russell.
Recording and Editing
Sound Clips, & Image Acquisition
Tammy Blumhagen,
Txałgiw, Lorraine Green, Lax Kw’alaams, Theresa Lowther, Txałgiw and Morris
Mason, Kitselas.
Scanning and editing of
image clips from previous dictionaries and
archival materials from Franz Boas, William Beynon and Marius Barbeau
Janice
Astawa, Karla
Booth, Charanda McLean, Keisha Pahl, and Alana Nelson.
Debbie
Ridley, Txałgiw
and Erin Seguin, Tracy, California.
Financial
Support
First
Peoples Heritage, Language and Culture Council/First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation
facilitated several grants to for expansion of the original lexical database,
and especially for the recording and editing of sound files now linked to most
entries in the database. Support and
accounting of these grants was provided at various points by the former
Tsimshian Tribal Council (Pansy Blackmon) and the Hartley Bay Band Council
office staff (Ann Clifton).
School District 52 has supported this project and other initiatives for the revitalization of the Sm’algyax language in numerous ways. The Aboriginal Education Council and the Aboriginal Education Department of School District 52 have supported the development of this and other resources. The district’s contributions have included substantial time and energy from Debbie Leighton-Stephens, as well as defraying expenses and facilitating meetings of the Sm’algyax Committee and the Ts’msyen Sm’algyax Authority. The Ts’mysen Sm’algyax Authority wasestablished under the auspices of the Tsimshian Tribal Council, and has been facilitated by the Aboriginal Education Council of the school district since the tribal council was disbanded.
The Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada
awarded a research grant to The Spoken Land project, for which Margaret
Anderson was the primary researcher. The funds from this grant facilitated much
of the work on this database.
The University of Northern British Columbia has provided support
through Dr. Anderson’s research time, by providing research accounting services
for the three-year SSHRCC grant that
facilitated much of the work on this project, by hosting the online version of
the Living Legacy Sm’algyax Talking Dictionary and generous assistance by
computer support personnel.
Software and Support
The lexical database for the Sm’algyax
Living Legacy Talking Dictionary was developed initially using SIL’s
Shoebox software. It was subsequently shifted to SIL’s LinguaLinks
software in order to facilitate inclusion of sound and image files. In 2009 the
project was migrated to SIL’s FieldWorks software. The process of setting up
the initial database was managed by Tonya Stebbins, and the shift to
LinguaLinks was initially handled by Stebbins. Margaret Anderson then
took over management of the database, and took a training course in the use of
LinguaLinks taught by Peggy Griffin, and later contracted for some
training and support by two SIL linguists, first Verna Stutzman and
later Larry Hayashi. Hayashi has continued to provide support
through the migration to SIL’s FieldWorks software, and has also provided
excellent software tools to export the data in a format suitable for uploading
to the web. He has also developed a software solution to export the entire
database to a vocabulary manager tool that lets each learner set up an
individual practice set, and to access entries as sound, image, text or a
combination of all three; that vocabulary practice tool also includes a game
that tests users’ mastery of the content. Though there is no partnership or
affiliation whatsoever between the Ts’msyen and the SIL, the
availability of their free software, fonts, and the generous support of several
SIL linguists who contracted to provide training and consultation are much
appreciated. I wish to express particular thanks to Larry Hayashi, who has done
far more for this project than he ever contracted to do.
Font
This project uses the Segoe UI font
for words and examples in Sm’algyax. This is a "unicode" font
that facilitates display of characters such as ü (dotted u) and Ł (barred-ell)
which are needed to represent the sounds of Sm'algyax accurately. This
font should be standard on your computer, but if you don't have it please email
Margaret Anderson and she'll send it as an email attachment: anderson@unbc.ca
Keyboard
Work on this project was
facilitated by the use of software to adapt the normal keyboard of a computer
for the special characters used in Sm’algyax. This software may be
downloaded free by going to the following website: www.languagegeek.com and searching
for the Sm’algyax keyboard.
Copyright and Use Restrictions
This website, its format and all
component files are the property of the Ts’msyen Sm’algyax
Authority, and are protected by copyright. No part may be copied, distributed
or sold by any other individual or group. Permission to download files for
educational purposes may be requested from the Ts’msyen Sm’algyax
Authority, c/o Debbie Leighton-Stephens, Wap Sigatgyet, School
District 52, Prince Rupert, British Columbia. If permission is granted for use
of any material from this website, it is expressly
agreed that the writing system will not be altered without written permission
from the Ts’msyen Sm’algyax Authority.
Errors and
Omissions
This is a living legacy, and it
will never be ‘finished’ – there are inevitably errors and omissions in the
present version as there were in previous ones. Users will note that many
entries include analysis of words into several components. Some of these
analyses are clear and will be readily accepted by fluent speakers, while
others are quite tentative and should be understood as suggestions and
questions to be resolved through continuing work on the database. Similarly,
many words are listed as derivations, contractions, dialect variants, spelling
variants, or free variants of other words, and these assignments of various
types of variation should be considered tentative as only a small proportion
have yet been reviewed by fluent speakers. The meaning and use of the proposed
derivational suffixes should also be considered highly tentative until further
work clarifies these; meanwhile, numerous examples have been provided for many
of the forms still requiring analysis, and this may assist users in grasping
their meanings and functions. Another component that should be considered
tentative is the list of thesaurus categories or semantic domains connected
with each entry; the process of assigning and confirming these remains to be
completed, and entries may include semantic domains that are incongruent with
their use. Further work based on the texts that have been and will be
added to the database may assist in clarifying some of these questions.
While many people have contributed
to this project, maintaining and editing the database for the Sm’algyax Living
Legacy has for the past ten years been done by Margaret Anderson, and all
errors and omissions are her responsibility. Please feel free to contact her
with comments and corrections at anderson@unbc.ca.
This Dictionary is a true Living
Legacy of Sm’algyax. We have tried to avoid errors, but we know that
inevitably there will be some that we missed. We are continuing to make revisions,
and would appreciate it if users let us know about errors that they encounter
so that the next version of the dictionary can be even better. Email comments
to anderson@unbc.ca. We intend to
continue to work on the database and to release updated versions from time to
time, with additional data and enhancements. If you are a fluent speaker, we
hope that you will add your own voice to this Sm’algyax Living Legacy --
call Margaret Anderson at (250) 624-4569 to book a time to do a recording, or
drop off photographs at the UNBC office in Prince Rupert for scanning.
We hope that you will enjoy using
the talking dictionary.
Beyond
the Dictionary - Grammar
Knowledge
of vocabulary as represented in a dictionary, even a talking dictionary with
lots of examples, is only the beginning for mastering a language. Many
Sm’algyax learners find themselves unable to move past words to conversation
because they are not familiar with how sentences are put together in Sm’algyax,
which differs greatly from English grammar. The Visible Grammar: Ts’msyen Sm’algyax Grammar Resources modules were
developed in order to assist learners and teachers with achieving success in
putting words together in ways that are acceptable and understandable to fluent
speakers. Sm’algyax sentences are usually built with a stable ‘core’ with a
predictable word order (time word-verb-subject-object). Components are linked
by ‘connectives’ that are selected according to what type of word is following
(e.g. a common noun or a proper noun, etc.). There are 24 basic sentence
patterns, depending on what time word is selected, what type of verb is used,
and what type of nouns or pronouns are used in the sentence. These are
described in detail in the grammar modules, but for convenience, here is a
short summary using the system of colour-coding word categories that is used in
the grammar modules to assist learners by making the grammar visible. To obtain the full set of grammar modules,
including a CD with sound files for each example sentence, contact the
Aboriginal Education office of School District 52 at the Wap Sigatgyet,
Aboriginal Education, 317 Ninth Avenue West, Prince Rupert, BC V8J 2S6,
Phone: 250 627-1536.
NOTE THAT IN THE FOLLOWING
TEMPLATES, THE –A BEGINNING A CONNECTIVE MAY NOT BE PRONOUNCED IF IT FOLLOWS
CERTAIN SOUNDS SUCH AS OTHER VOWELS. TO LEARN THE USE RULES FOR CONNECTIVES SEE
MODULE 2 OF THE VISIBLE GRAMMAR SERIES.
Yagwa/ła Templates
(patterns for sentences when the time word begins with yagwa (-ing) or ła (just
before or after another action)
Intransitive Sentence with Common Noun Subject, -a CN
All Tenses:
|
Start |
Intransitive
verb |
-a
CN |
Ncm |
End |
|
Dm |
yaga baa |
-a |
hana’a. |
The
woman will run down. |
Transitive
Template 1A: Comm Noun Subj/Comm Noun Obj with Yagwa/ɬa
Start |
ERGative particle –t (indicates a noun
SUBJect to follow) |
Transitive Verb |
CN-da before Ncm SUBJect |
Ncm SUBJect |
CN-a before Ncm
OBJect |
Ncm OBJect |
End |
|
Yagwa |
-t |
huumts’ax |
-da |
‘yuuta |
-a |
hana’a |
The
man is kissing the woman. |
Transitive Template 2A: Common Noun Subj/Proper Noun
Obj with Yagwa/ła
|
Start |
Ergative particle -t: noun SUBJect |
Transitive Verb |
CN-da |
Ncm SUBJect |
CN-at |
Npr OBJect |
End |
|
Yagwa |
-t |
huumts’ax |
-da |
‘yuuta |
-(a)t |
Meli |
The man is kissing M. |
Template 3A: CN-a
Subject, Pronoun Object, yagwa/ɬa (dm), with Yagwa:
|
Start |
Ergative Particle -t shows Noun SUBJect to follow |
Transitive verb |
Absolutive Pronoun OBJect |
CN-a |
Ncm SUBJ |
End |
|
Yagwa |
-t |
ɬimoom |
-u |
(-a) |
‘yuuta |
The man is helping me. |
|
Ła |
-t |
T’uus |
-t |
-a |
‘yuuta |
The man pushed it. |
Transitive
Template 4A: proper noun subjects and common noun objects, with
yagwa or ɬa time words
|
Start |
Ergative Particle –t signals Noun
SUBJect follows |
Transitive Verb |
CN-dat before Npr SUBJect |
Npr SUBJect |
CN-a to Ncm
OBJ |
Ncm OBJect |
End |
|
Yagwa |
-t |
ɬimoom |
-dat |
Dzon |
-a |
‘yuuta |
John is helping the man. |
Transitive
Template 5A: Proper Noun Subj / Proper Noun Obj with yagwa/ɬa:
|
Start |
-t Ergative Particle indicating
following noun SUBJect |
Transitive Verb |
CN-dat |
Npr SUBJect |
CN-(a)t |
Npr OBJect |
End |
|
Ła dm |
-t |
huumts’ax |
-dat |
Terry |
-(a)t |
Cowboy |
T is about to kiss C. |
Intransitive Sentence with ABS Pronoun, no CN with
Pronoun (Yagwa/Ła)
|
Start |
Intransitive
verb |
-absolutive
pronoun suffix |
End |
Transitive
Template 6A: Proper Noun Subject/ABS Pronoun Object, yagwa/ɬa
|
Start |
Ergative Particle –t signalling N
SUBJect |
Transitive verb |
Abs Pronoun OBJect |
CN-(a)t |
Npr SUBJect |
End |
|
Yagwa |
-t |
Niits |
-u |
-(a)t |
Dick |
D is looking at me. |
|
Ła |
-t |
Güüdax |
-m |
-(a)t |
Jezebel |
J asked us. |
Transitive Template 7A: Yagwa/ɬa Ergative Pronoun
Subject/Common N Object
|
Start |
ERG Pronoun SUBJect Suffix |
Transitive Verb |
CN-a (heard only
with –t pronoun) |
Ncm OBJect |
End |
|
Yagwa / Ła |
-m |
t’uus |
-a |
‘yuuta |
We are pushing the man. |
Transitive
Template 8A: ERG Pronoun Subj/ Proper Noun Obj with Yagwa /ɬa
|
Start |
ERG Pronoun SUBJect Suffix |
Transitive Verb |
Proper noun CN–(a)s |
Proper Noun OBJect |
End |
|
Yagwa |
-n |
huumts'ax |
-(a)s |
Katie |
I’m kissing Katie. |
Transitive
Template 9A: Ergative Pronoun Subj/ABS Pronoun Obj – yagwa / ɬa
|
Start Yagwa /Ła |
Ergative Pronoun Suffix SUBJect |
Transitive Verb |
ABS Pronoun Suffix OBJect |
End. |
|
Yagwa |
-m |
ɬimoom |
-u |
You are helping me. |
|
Yagwa |
-t |
ɬimoom |
-u |
S/he is helping me. |
Nah/dm Templates (patterns for sentences when the
time word begins with dm (future) or nah (past or completed action)
Transitive
template 1B: Comm Noun SUBJect / Comm Noun OBJect with dm/nah
|
Start |
Transitive Verb |
-a CN to Ncm
SUBJect |
Ncm SUBJect |
-a CN to Ncm
OBJect |
Ncm OBJect |
End |
|
Nah |
huumts’ax |
-a |
‘yuuta |
-a |
hana’ax |
The man kissed the woman. |
Transitive
Template 2B: Common Noun Subj / Proper Noun OBJ with nah/dm
|
Start |
Transitive Verb |
CN-a |
Ncm SUBJect |
CN-at |
Npr OBJect |
End |
|
Nah |
huumts’ax |
-a |
‘yuuta |
-(a)t |
Meli |
The man kissed M. |
Transitive
template 3B: Common Noun Subjects / Pronoun Objects Nah/dm
|
Start |
Ergative Particle –t indicating N SUBJect |
Transitive verb |
Marked Absolutive Pronoun OBJect |
CN-a |
Ncm SUBJect |
End |
|
The following template applies only to
sentences with 1st and 2nd person objects: |
||||||
|
Nah |
-t |
ɬimoom |
-‘nm |
-a |
‘yuuta |
The man helped us. |
|
The template is different for sentences
where the object is a 3rd person: |
||||||
|
Dm |
Dzem |
∅ |
-a |
hana’a |
The woman will boil it. |
|
|
Nah |
Gyiik |
∅ |
-a |
‘yuuta |
The man will buy it. |
|
Intransitive Sentences, Proper Noun Subject, -(a)s CN
(Yagwa/Ła)
|
Start |
Intransitive
verb |
-(a)s
cn |
Proper noun |
End |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Transitive
Template 4B: Proper Noun
Subj / Common Noun Obj with nah/dm:
|
Start |
Transitive Verb |
CN-as to Npr SUBJ |
Npr SUBJect |
CN-a |
Ncm OBJect |
End |
|
Dm |
Gap |
-(a)s |
Clarence |
-a |
suubm wan |
C will eat deer soup. |
Transitive
Template 5B: Proper N Subject / Proper N Object with nah/dm
|
Start |
Transitive Verb |
CN-(a)s |
Npr SUBJect |
CN-(a)t |
Npr OBJect |
End |
|
Nah |
huumts’ax |
-(a)s |
Terry |
-(a)t |
Cowboy |
Terry kissed Cowboy. |
Transitive
Template 6B: Proper Noun Subj Marked ABS Pronoun Obj – nah/dm
|
Start |
Ergative particle –t |
Transitive verb |
Marked Abs Pronoun OBJect |
can(t) |
Npr SUBJect |
End |
|
This is the template for sentences when
the object is a 1st or 2nd person pronoun |
||||||
|
Dm |
-t |
güüdax |
-‘nm |
-(a)t |
Jezebel |
J will ask us. |
|
This is the template for sentences when
the object is a 3rd person pronoun |
||||||
|
Nah |
ksisityaawt[1] |
∅ |
-as |
Jerry |
J traded it. |
|
|
Nah |
lugats |
∅ |
-as |
Dzak |
Jack poured it in. |
|
Notice that there are
two distinct patterns; one when the object is a first or second person pronoun,
and a different pattern when the object is third person.
Transitive template 7B: Nah/dm ABS Pronoun Subject /
Common Noun Object
|
Start |
Transitive Verb |
Absolutive Pronoun SUBJect Suffix |
CN-a (heard only
with –t pronoun) |
Ncm OBJect |
End |
|
Nah / Dm |
gap |
-u |
-a |
hoon |
I ate the fish. |
Intransitive Sentences with Proper Noun Subject, -(a)t
CN (Nah/Dm)
|
Start |
Intransitive
verb |
-(a)t
cn |
Proper noun |
End |
|
Dm |
Bax yaa |
-(a)t |
Meli |
Mary
will run up. |
Intransitive Sentence with 1st or 2nd
Person Marked ABS Pronoun (Nah); no CN
|
Start |
Ergative |
Intransitive
verb |
-marked
absolutive pronoun suffix[2] |
End |
|
Nah |
-n |
yaga baa |
-‘nu |
I
ran down. |
Intransitive Sentence with 3rd Person
Marked ABS Pronoun (Nah); or 1st, 2nd or 3rd
Person Marked ABS Pronoun (DM); no CN
|
Start |
Intransitive
verb |
-marked
absolutive pronoun suffix |
End |
|
Dm |
hadiks |
-‘nu |
I am
going to swim. |
Transitive Template 9B: Ergative Pronoun Subject/ABS
Pronoun Object – nah/dm
|
Start Nah/Dm TEMPoral |
1st or 2nd Person
ERG PRON Subj Suffix |
Trans Verb |
ABS PRON OBJ suffix |
End |
|
|
Nah |
-m |
ɬimoom |
-u |
You helped me. |
|
|
When the subject is a 3rd
person, the pattern is different |
|||||
|
TEMPoral |
-t Ergative 3rd pers.
particle |
Trans Verb |
Marked ABS Pron. |
END |
|
|
Nah |
-t |
ɬimoom |
-‘nu |
He helped me. |
|
|
When the object is a 3rd person,
the pattern is again different. Such
sentences would only be used in conversations when it is very clear who the
object pronoun refers to; many speakers try to insert a name after the
pronoun object to ensure that this is clear in examples. |
|||||
|
TEMPoral |
Transitive Verb |
ABS SUBJect Pron. Suffix |
∅ Marked ABS PRON |
END |
|
|
Nah |
ɬimoom |
-u |
∅ Marked ABS PRON |
I helped him. |
|
Instructions for using the Talking Dictionary
If you know the Sm’algyax word
you want to look up then do the following:
Select the first letter of the word
from the top left hand corner.
Scroll to the word from the list on
the left-hand side.
Click on the word. The entry will
appear in the middle.
If you want to find Sm’algyax
words by their English equivalents, do the following:
Try typing the English word in the
top right hand corner. If the English word exists in the list, it will
automatically scroll to it.
Click on the Tsimshian equivalent
found underneath the English word. The Tsimshian entry will appear in the
middle.
To hear Sm’algyax:
Many of the entries have
recordings. Look for 
button
and click on it. Please note that not all words have associated sound files
yet, but we will keep adding sound files over the coming years.
