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Glite Dictionary
🗣️ A language family 🧑‍🦱 Native American group
Salishan

Salishan

1 9.9
A group of native languages spoken in the Pacific Northwest of North America
  • noun
  • /ˈseɪlɪʃən/
: salish
  • Researchers are studying the Salishan language family to preserve its unique grammatical structures.

Examples

  • When there are no longer any Salishan speakers who remember how their grandparents and great-grandparents spoke,

    Academic text (2007)

  • Many children in the community are learning Salishan to connect with their ancestral roots and traditions.

  • The Salishan languages are integral to the cultural heritage of many indigenous tribes in the Pacific Northwest.

Synonyms

Salish
vsSalishan
1 9.9

A group of related Native languages from the Pacific Northwest, or a person who speaks one

refers only to the family of languages not to individuals

Surface Forms

Salishan singular
Salishans plural

Morphology

Salishan = Salish (transparent) = Salish + an

The suffix '-an' is a regular, productive formation meaning 'of or relating to' a people or place, so the meaning is directly derived from 'Salish'.

Etymology

Salishan comes from Salish, the English form of a native name for tribes of the Pacific Northwest, and the ending -an means 'belonging to', as in American. So Salishan means the languages 'belonging to' the Salish people, which is why it names their language family.