Introduction

Just as there are dialects in most languages, Secwepemctsín has three: Northern, Western, and Eastern. There are some differences, but not so many that you would not understand a person from a different region. Northern and Western dialects use a reduplication method of speaking in first person. The Eastern dialect does not use reduplication, as well they use more vowels than their counterparts. The Northern speakers follow a more pronounced speech than the others. Western is a mix of both Northern and Eastern in that they reduplicate most of the time but not all the time and are not as pronounced as the Northern speakers. A comparable parallel of these dialects would be the difference between English speakers from England and English speakers from Canada. In this course, we focus on the Northern dialect.

For this topic, your task is to break down a list of words by letter. Then, sound them out to get a feel for speaking Secwepemctsín.

Learning Activities

Activity 1 – Sounding out Words

Here are a list of words by letter. Try to sound out the words given then check the proper pronunciation by clicking the audio beside the word.

Challenge yourself to read the word before listening to the example.

Memorize the sounds of each letter so you can read them. The more you practice, the easier and less frightening it becomes to speak Secwepemctsín.  Try to break each word down by letter so you can sound out each word as you move along.

Example:

Activity 2 – Listening Quiz

Practice identifying Secwépemc alphabet sounds by doing the multiple choice listening quiz below. Read the question and listen for the appropriate letter sound in the option below. Choose the word containing the sound identified in the question.  

Click the blue audio buttons to hear the word.