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 10,000 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 taan, or sea lion. Listen to the audio below to learn how to say taan.
The following transcript is meant to help illustrate the words and sentences.
Kaxwaan Éesh George Davis: Taan.
That means sea lion.
Here are some sentences:
Kaxwaan Éesh George Davis: Taan eech kut.áa.
The sea lion sits on the submerged boulder.
Keihéenák’w John Martin: Haa tuwaaxʼ kalitéesʼshán taan.
We think sea lions are interesting to look at.
Keiyishí Bessie Cooley: Taan dax̱dligéixʼ.
Sea lions are big.
Kooshdáakʼu Bill Fawcett: Taan xʼáatʼi áyá.
This is a sea lion island.
Ḵaakal.áat Florence Marks Sheakley: Yá taan yá has du x̱ʼadaadzaayí áyú yá shakee.át daa yéi too.úx̱xʼun.
We always used to put sea lion whiskers on our shakee.át.
You can hear each installment of Lingít Word of the Week on the radio throughout the week.
Additional language resources:
Find biographies for the master speakers included in this lesson here.
Learn more about why we use Lingít instead of Tlingit here.
Watch a video introducing Lingít sounds here.
