This is Lingít Word of the Week. Each week, we feature a Lingít word voiced by master speakers. Lingít has been spoken throughout present-day Southeast Alaska and parts of Canada for over ten thousand years.
Gunalchéesh to X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation and the University of Alaska Southeast for sharing the recorded audio for this series.
This week’s word is g̱aat, or sockeye salmon. Listen to the audio below to learn how to say g̱aat.
The following transcript is meant to help illustrate the words and sentences.
Keihéenák’w John Martin: G̱aat.
That means sockeye salmon.
And here are some sentences:
Keihéenák’w John Martin: G̱aat at x̱’éeshi tlél wáa sá yak’éi.
Dried sockeye salmon is pretty good.
Keiyishí Bessie Cooley: G̱aat kei uwa.xʼák.
The sockeye swam up.
Ḵaakal.áat Florence Marks Sheakley: Ḵúnáx̱ ldakát át yís yakʼéi wé g̱aat.
Sockeye is truly good for everything.
Find biographies for the master speakers included in this lesson here.
Learn more about why we use Lingít instead of Tlingit here.
