Witsuwit'en
[aka Witsuwit'en-Nedut'en, Witsuwit'en-Babine, Witsuwit'en]Classification: Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit
·severely endangered
Classification: Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit
·severely endangered
Witsuwit'en-Nedut'en, Witsuwit'en-Babine, Witsuwit'en, Wet'suwet'en, Northern Carrier, Babine-Witsuwit'en, Babine, Babine Carrier, Bulkley Valley Language, Lakes District Language, Nedut'en (variety), Nadot'en, Nat'oot'en, Lake Babine |
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Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit, Athabaskan, |
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ISO 639-3 |
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bcr |
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Information from: “First Peoples' Language Map of British Columbia” .
8,440
749
Native speakers: Witsuwit'en 271; Nedut’en (Babine) 526;
Semi-speakers: Witsuwit'en 94; Nedut’en 655;
ethnic population: Witsuwit'en 4,355; Nedut’en4,085
English
British Columbia
Information from: “Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)” . M. Paul Lewis · SIL International
2,200
Data for the number of native speakers comes from S. Hargus (1997). "[The] Canada Census does not separate Babine [bcr], Central Carrier [crx], and Southern Carrier L1 speakers in Canada 20,090 (1998 Statistics Canada)." Data for the ethnic population comes from SIL (1982) and S. Hargus (1997).
200 (Golla 2007). 100 fluent speakers and 100 passive speakers of Wetsuwet’en. 200 speakers of all degrees of fluency of Babine Proper (Golla 2007). Ethnic population: 250. In Babine Proper (2013).
Wetsuwet’en dialect: no children are fluent speakers, some children are passive speakers. Babine Proper: few speakers under 25. No children are active speakers. Also use English [eng].
English
Center north, British Columbia, scatted populations; Wetsuset’en dialect: Bulkley River communities and bands at Burns Lake; Babine Proper dialect: Lake Babine and Takla Lake communities; some at Burns Lake.
Information from: “ Report on the status of B.C. First Nations Languages” . Britt Dunlop, Suzanne Gessner, Tracey Herbert & Aliana Parker (2018) First People's Cultural Council
9.7% fluent speakers, 5.4% semispeakers, 7.3% active learners
Information from: “Report on the status of B.C. First Nations Languages (2nd Edition) 2014 ” . First Peoples' Cultural Council (FPCC) (2014) First Peoples' Cultural Council (FPCC)
12.7% fluent speakers, 8.7% semi-speakers, 11.9% learners.
British Columbia: central interior B.C., in 9 communities:
Cheslatta Carrier Nation
Lake Babine Nation
Takla Lake First Nation
Hagwilget Village Council
Moricetown Indian Band
Nee-Tahi-Buhn Indian Band
Skin Tyee Nation
Tsil Kaz Koh (Burns Lake)
Wet'suwet'en Nation
Information from: “North America” (7-41) . Victor Golla and Ives Goddard and Lyle Campbell and Marianne Mithun and Mauricio Mixco (2008) , Chris Moseley and Ron Asher · Routledge
100+
The western dialect (Wetsuwet’en) has about 100 fluent speakers, none of them children. An additional 100 or more are passive speakers, including a few children. The eastern dialect (“Babine proper”) has up to 200 speakers of all degrees of fluency out of a total population of 250. However, there are few speakers under 25, though some children have a passive knowledge none are active speakers.
English
British Columbia. Bulkley River and in the Lake Babine area of central British Columbia, to the north and west of theCarrier dialect complex.
The western dialect (Wetsuwet’en) includes the Bulkley River communities (Hagwilget, Moricetown, Smithers, Houston, and Broman Lake) and the Nee-Tahi-Buhn and Skin Tayi bands at Burns Lake. The eastern dialect (“Babine proper”) includes the Lake Babine and Takla Lake communities as well as former residents from Lake Babine who have settled in Burns Lake.
Information from: “Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages (Fourth Edition)” . Gessner, Suzanne, Tracey Herbertn and Aliana Parker (2022)
5,605
207
Information from: “Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages” . Christopher Moseley (2007) Routledge
English
Central British Columbia. Spoken on the Bulkley River and in the Lake Babine areas.