Bella Coola > LINGUIST List Language Search
Name:
Bella Coola
Type:
Language
Alternate Names:
Nuxalk; Bellacoola; nuxalk
Spoken in:
Canada
Number of speakers:
20 (2002 W. Poser). Ethnic population: 700 (Kinkade 1991)
(Ethnologue)
Number of speakers:
50
(UNESCO)
Number of speakers:
20
(World Oral Literature Project)
Code:
blc
Code Standard:
ISO 639-3
Documentation:
SIL
Families:
Salishan (Salish)
Parent Subgroup:
Salish; Salishan; Salishan Family; Mosan (sali)
Child Dialects:
Kimsquit (blc-kim)
Kwatna (blc-kwa)
Tallheo; Tallio; Talio (blc-tal)
Bella Coola (blc-blc)
Brief Description:
"Bella Coola is a Salishan language spoken by members of the Bella Coola Band in a single community (Bella Coola) on the north-central coast of British Columbia. The term Nuxalk (derived from the native name for Bella Coola Valley) was adopted by the Band around 1980 to designate the language and its speakers. Isolated geographically from other Salishan languages, Bella Coola has been heavily influenced by the Wakashan languages that adjoin it (Haisla, Heiltsuk-Oowekyala). There are about 20 native speakers, the youngest in their sixties." Victor Golla, Atlas of the World's Languages 2007 pg. 11
UNESCO Status: Critically endangered Ethnologue Status: Not listed Sutherland's Red List: Critically Endangered
Endangerment Status
UNESCO Status: Critically endangered Ethnologue Status: Not listed Sutherland's Red List: Critically Endangered
Map of Bella Coola
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