Columbia-Moses language

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. The Columbia people were followers of Chief Moses.

There were two dialects, Columbia (Sinkiuse, Columbian) and Wenatchi (Wenatchee, Entiat, Chelan). Wenatchi was the heritage language of the Wenatchi, Chelan, and Entiat tribes, Columbian of the Sinkiuse-Columbia.

Pauline Stensgar, who died on May 2, 2023 at age 96, is reported to have been the last known fully fluent speaker.

Phonological inventory of the Columbia-Wenatchi dialect:

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/.

Here is a Nxaʔamxcín sample word

• Snkɬxwpáw’stn = ‘clothesline’ ^{(Czaykowska-Higgins & Willett 1997)}

• 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.
• Willet, Marie Louise. 2003." A Grammatical Sketch of Nxa'amxcin" PhD Thesis, University of Victoria.