Heiltsuk dialect

Heiltsuk (/ˈheɪltsək/, Híɫzaqv), also known as Bella Bella and Haihais, is a dialect of the North Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language Heiltsuk-Oowekyala that is spoken by the Haihai (Xai'xais) and Bella Bella First Nations peoples of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, around the communities of Bella Bella and Klemtu, British Columbia. Bella Bella is the headquarters of the Heiltsuk Nation government. There are only seven fluent speakers left of Heiltsuk.

Heiltsuk is spoken in the villages of Bella Bella and Klemtu, both located on coastal islands in British Columbia not far from Bella Coola and Ocean Falls. It is one of the four Northern Wakashan languages, the others being Haisla (spoken in Kitimaat), Oowekyala (in Rivers Inlet), and Kwakwala (in Alert Bay, Port Hardy, and various settlements).

Heiltsuk is considered to be a dialect of Heiltsuk–Oowekyala, which, like neighbouring Haisla and Kwak'wala, are part of the Northern Wakashan language group. Heiltsuk has both conversational and ceremonial forms.

The following is a chart of the consonants in Heiltsuk.

The resonants in intervocalic forms function similarly to vowels, and so will be charted below.

Heiltsuk has phonemic short, long, and glottalized vowels. There are mainly three vowel sounds in the Heiltsuk dialect /i, a, u/ which are written as ⟨i, a, u⟩, although nine other sounds are heard as allophones [ɨ, ɪ, ʊ, ɛ, ə, ɔ, æ, ʌ, ɑ].

Vowels and the syllabic resonants /m n l/ can take either high or low tone. High tone is written with an acute. Syllabic resonants are marked with a dot underneath (⟨ṃ ṇ ḷ⟩). Glottalized resonants may also be syllabic (⟨ṃ̓ ṇ̓ ḷ̓⟩), but may only take low tone.

The velar and glottal resonants are sometimes preaspirated.