Moses-Columbia, or Columbia-Wenatchi (in Moses-Columbia: Nxaʔamxcín), is an extinct Southern Interior Salish language, also known as Nxaảmxcín. Speakers traditionally lived in the Colville Indian Reservation.
Classification Nxaʔamxcín is classified as a member of the Salishan languages, a family of languages spoken throughout the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, Nxaʔamxcín is part of the Southern subgroup of Interior Salish, along with the Okanagan, Salish–Spokane–Kalispel, and Coeur d'Alene languages.
Dialects There were four dialects, Moses-Columbia (Sinkiuse, Columbian), Chelan, Entiat, and Wenatchi (Wenatchee). Wenatchi was the heritage language of the Wenatchi, Chelan, and Entiat tribes, Columbian of the Sinkiuse-Columbia.
History The language was extensively documented beginning in the 1960s, when there were about 22 speakers left. A language revitalization program began in the 1990s.https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/fb226a7a-88ed-4b41-a5e1-85ef2d199682/content Pauline Stensgar, who died on May 2, 2023, at age 96, is reported to have been the last known fully fluent speaker. She helped develop dictionaries and textbooks in the language.
Phonology Phonological inventory of the Columbia-Wenatchi dialect:
Consonants Nxaʔamxcín has 41 consonants, as shown below. +Consonants Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal plain lat. sib. plain lab. plain lab. plain lab. Plosive/Affricate tenuis ~ ejective Fricative ~ Sonorant plain glottalic Trill plain glottalic and are "pronounced with tongue blade articluation and resemble and , respectively", although this does not apply for the glottalized affricate .
Vowels The three vowels in Moses-Columbia are /i/, /a/, /u/. They are sometimes transcribed as [e]; /i/, [o]; /u/, and [æ]; /a/, and could also tend to sound unstressed, almost as a schwa sound, /ə/.
Vocabulary Here is a Nxaʔamxcín sample word
snkɬxwpáw’stn ‘clothesline’
References
Further reading Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa and Paul Proulx. 2000. "REVIEWS - What's in a Word? Structure in Moses-Columbia Salish". International Journal of American Linguistics. 66, no. 3: 410. Kinkade, M. Dale. Dictionary of the Moses-Columbia Language (Nxaʔamxcín). Nespelem, Wash: Colville Confederated Tribes, 1981. Mattina, Nancy. 2006. "Determiner Phrases in Moses-Columbia Salish". International Journal of American Linguistics. 72, no. 1: 97.