Dictionary of Alaskan Haida - Sealaska Heritage Institute - Alaska

735 Pages·2012·4.2 MB·English

Dictionary of Alaskan Haida

Dictionary of Alaskan Haida
Dr. Jordan Lachler

Sealaska Heritage Institute
Juneau, Alaska
© 2010 by Sealaska Heritage Institute
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-9825786-5-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008939134
Sealaska Heritage Institute
One Sealaska Plaza, Suite 301
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-4844
www.sealaskaheritage.org
Printing History: First Edition, April 2010
Printing: Create Space, Scotts Valley, CA, U.S.A.
Front Cover Design: Kathy Dye
Front Cover Artwork: Robert Hoffmann
Book design and computational lexicography: Sean M. Burke
Copy editing: Suzanne G. Fox, Red Bird Publishing, Inc., Bozeman, MT
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments…………………………………………….. 7
Introduction…………………………………………………… 8
Dictionary of Haida
Haida to English……………………………………….. 23
English to Haida……………………………………….. 481

Dictionary of Alaskan Haida - Acknowledgments - 7

Acknowledgments

It is important to recognize the elders who contributed to the creation of
this dictionary—Erma Lawrence, originally from Kasaan and now living
in Ketchikan; Claude Morrison of Hydaburg; the late Woodrow Morrison
of Hydaburg; and the late Anna Peele of Hydaburg, all devoted hundreds
of hours to this project. Their remarkable knowledge of the Haida
language and dedication to seeing the language live on inspired us all.
Without all their steadfast efforts, this dictionary would not have been
possible. Daláng 'wáadluwaan an Hl kíl 'láa áwyaagang!

Thanks are also due to our intrepid group of intermediate Haida language
students—Skíl Jáadei (Linda Schrack), 'Wáahlaal Gíidaak (Starla
Agoney), Patrick Garza, Eliasica Timmerman, and Cara Wallace—for the
hard work they have invested in learning the language. I look forward to
the day when we all will know every word in this dictionary.

Thanks to Sean M. Burke for his many hours of technical assistance in
creating the database and writing the custom rendering engines for the
dictionary.

Thanks are also due to the Administration for Native Americans for
funding this project, and to the Sealaska Corporation for their ongoing
support of all the efforts of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

Jordan Lachler, Ph.D.
Ketchikan, Alaska
April 10, 2010
Sealaska Heritage Institute
8 - Introduction - Dictionary of Alaskan Haida

Introduction

This dictionary has been written primarily for beginning and
intermediate students of Alaskan Haida. In this first edition, we have
included approximately 5,500 main entries, covering many of the most
frequently used words in the language. This represents, however, only a
fraction of all Haida words. In future editions, we aim to include more
words for intermediate and advanced language students.

Xaad Kíl
The Haida language, or Ýaad Kíl, is the traditional language of the Haida
people. In earlier times, Ýaad Kíl was spoken in villages throughout
Ýaadláa Gwáayaay, the islands we now call Haida Gwaii. Over time,
some people from the northern areas of Ýaadláa Gwáayaay migrated
across the fifty-mile-wide Dixon Entrance, and settled in villages on the
southern shores of Prince of Wales Island. These people were known as
Ñ'íis Ýaat'áay, and their descendants are the Haida people of Alaska.

Today, Ýaad Kíl is one of the world’s most endangered languages—only
about 50 speakers remain in all of the Haida communities. None of these
speakers is younger than sixty, and most of the very best speakers are in
their eighties and nineties.

As with most languages spoken over such a wide territory, the way that
Ýaad Kíl is spoken varies from community to community. We can divide
the language into two main dialects: Southern Haida and Northern
Haida. Southern Haida is currently spoken in Skidegate, where the
language is known as Ýaayda Kil. Northern Haida is spoken in Old
Massett, as well as in Hydaburg, Kasaan, and other communities in
Alaska.

Even within each dialect area, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar
sometimes vary from community to community. In fact, it’s possible to
find differences between individual speakers living in the same
community, but none of the differences have much effect on speakers’
ability to understand one another. All speakers of Southern Haida can
understand other speakers of Southern Haida, and all speakers of
Northern Haida can understand other speakers of Northern Haida.

When speakers of Northern Haida and Southern Haida talk with one
another, however, the situation is more complex. Some elders report that
they understand the other dialect just fine. Others say that they can
follow the general flow of a conversation in the other dialect, but they
don’t necessarily catch every word. Still other elders tell us that they find
it very difficult to understand much of the other dialect.

Sealaska Heritage Institute