The Spokane Dialect of Spokane (spo) Flathead (fla) > LINGUIST List Language Search
Name:
Spokane
Alternate Names:
Spokan; Montana Salish-Kalispel-Spokane; Flathead-Kalispel-Spokane; Flathead-Pend d'Oreille-Spokane; Montana Salish-Pend d'Oreille-Spokane; Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead; Npoqínišcn; Spokane (in French); Espokane (in Spanish)
Spoken in:
USA
Number of speakers:
50 (2000 census). Ethnic population: 1,000 (1977 SIL)
(Ethnologue)
Number of speakers:
2
(UNESCO)
Number of speakers:
50
(World Oral Literature Project)
Code:
spo
Code Authority:
ISO 639-3
Code Standard:
SIL
Families:
Salishan (Salish)
Parent Dialects:
Spokane; Spokan; Montana Salish-Kalispel-Spokane; Flathead-Kalispel-Spokane; Flathead-Pend d'Oreille-Spokane; Montana Salish-Pend d'Oreille-Spokane; Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead; Npoqínišcn; Spokane (fra); Espokane (spa) (spo)
Flathead; Kalispel; Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille; Kalispel-Pend D'oreille; Kalispel-Flathead; "Flathead"-Kalispel; Salish; Montana Salish-Kalispel-Spokane; Flathead-Kalispel-Spokane; Flathead-Pend d'Oreille-Spokane; Montana Salish-Pend d'Oreille-Spokane; Séliš; Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead; Qalispé; Kalispel (fra); Salish du Montana (fra); Salish de Montana (spa) (fla)
Brief Description:
"Spokane-Kalispel is an Interior Salish language, spoken in Washington, Idaho, and Montana in three major dialects. (1) The Spokane dialect is spoken on the Spokane Reservation in northeastern Washington. It has only two fluent first-language speakers, a married couple in the 70s. (2) The Flathead dialect (also known as Montana Salish, in this context referring to a specific language and not the entire language family) is spoken on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana by members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenay Tribes. There are about 60 fluent first-language speakers of Flathead, one in his 40s, another about 55, all others 65 or older. A sub-dialect is said to characterise Flathead speakers of Pend d'Oreille descent, but no separate statistics are available. (3) The Kalispel dialect primarily survives on the Kalispel Reservation in northeastern Washington, where a handful of fluent speakers remain. There are also a few speakers living on the Spokane Reservation and in the nearby community of Chewelah, but information on them is scant." Victor Golla, Atlas of the World's Languages 2007 pg. 23
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 Spokane
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