Coast Tsimshian dialect
| Coast Tsimshian | |
|---|---|
| Sm'algya̱x | |
| Native to | Canada, United States |
| Region | northwest British Columbia, southeast Alaska |
| Ethnicity | 8,162 Tsimshian |
Native speakers | 275 in Canada, 3 in the United States (2016 census, 2020) |
Tsimshianic
| |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Alaska |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | tsi |
| ISO 639-3 | tsi (with Sgüüx̣s) |
| Glottolog | coas1300 |
| ELP | Sm̓algya̱x (Coast Tsimshian) |
Coast Tsimshian | |
Tsimshian is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
| People | Ts’msyan |
|---|---|
| Language | Sm'álgya̱x |
| Country | La̱xyuubm Ts’msyen |
Tsimshian, known by its speakers as Sm'algya̱x, is a dialect of the Tsimshian language spoken in northwestern British Columbia and southeastern Alaska. Sm'algya̱x means literally 'real or true language'.
The linguist Tonya Stebbins estimated the number of speakers of Tsimshian in 2001 as around 400 and in 2003 as 200 or fewer (see references below). Whichever figure is more accurate, she added in 2003 that most speakers are over 70 in age and very few are under 50. About 50 of an ethnic population of 1,300 Tsimshian in Alaska speak the language.