Nootka language
- noun
- Linguists have worked to document and preserve the Nootka language for future generations.
Examples
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The Nootka language is rich in oral traditions.
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He studied the Nootka language as part of his research on Wakashan languages.
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Few people today speak the Nootka language, which is at risk of disappearing.
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Many young people are learning the Nootka language today.
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Linguists have worked to document and preserve the Nootka language for future generations.
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Few people today speak the Nootka language, which is at risk of disappearing.
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Many young people are learning the Nootka language today.
Synonyms
A language spoken by the Native people of Vancouver Island
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward composition of the proper name 'Nootka' and the noun 'language', so its meaning 'the language spoken by the Nootka people' is directly derivable from the parts. The pattern X + language is cross-linguistically common (e.g., 'Spanish language', 'Japanese language'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would understand it.
Etymology
Nootka language may come from Nootka, a word early European sailors heard for a coastal place and the people who lived there. So Nootka language means 'the language of those people', the native Wakashan language of that coast.