Cowlitz Salish

E480583

Cowlitz Salish is an Indigenous Salishan language historically spoken by the Cowlitz people of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

All labels observed (3)

Label Occurrences
Cowlitz 5
Cowlitz Salish canonical 2
Upper Cowlitz (Cowlitz Sahaptin) 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Indigenous language
Native American language
Salishan language
associatedRiver Cowlitz River
associatedWith Cowlitz Indian Tribe (federally recognized)
belongsTo North American Pacific Northwest linguistic area
closelyRelatedTo Chinookan area contact languages
Lower Chehalis
linked to: Chehalis

Upper Chehalis
linked to: Chehalis
country United States
culturalSignificance carrier of Cowlitz oral traditions
marker of Cowlitz identity
documentedBy Franz Boas (comparative Salishan work)
Melville Jacobs (regional language materials)
documentedIn field notes by early 20th‑century linguists
endonymOf Cowlitz language
ethnicGroup Cowlitz people
glottocode cowl1242
hasAlternativeName Cowlitz
linked to: Cowlitz Salish

Cowlitz Coast Salish
hasLinguisticFeature complex consonant system
polysynthetic morphology
predicate‑initial word order tendencies
rich verbal morphology
hasMorphologicalType head‑marking
hasPhonologicalFeature contrastive glottalization
rich consonant clusters
historicalRegion Lower Cowlitz River valley
linked to: Cowlitz River

Southwestern Washington
ISO639-3Code cow
languageFamily Salishan languages
languageShiftTo Chinook Jargon
English
partOf Coast Salish branch of Salishan
region Pacific Northwest
revitalizationEffortBy Cowlitz Indian Tribe
spokenBy Cowlitz people
status extinct or nearly extinct
subclassOf Coast Salish language
timeDepthOfDocumentation late 19th century to 20th century
UNESCOStatus critically endangered
usedFor ceremonial speech
place names
traditional stories
writingSystem Latin script (in modern documentation)

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Cowlitz people traditionalLanguage Cowlitz Salish
Lower Columbia River region historicallyInhabitedBy Cowlitz
linked to: Cowlitz Salish
Cathlamet relatedEthnicGroup Cowlitz
linked to: Cowlitz Salish
Cowlitz language glottologName Cowlitz
linked to: Cowlitz Salish
Cowlitz language hasAlternativeName Cowlitz Salish
Cowlitz Salish hasAlternativeName Cowlitz
linked to: Cowlitz Salish
Cowlitz Coast Salish neighboringLanguages Upper Cowlitz (Cowlitz Sahaptin)
linked to: Cowlitz Salish
Cowlitz Indian Tribe hasEthnonym Cowlitz
linked to: Cowlitz Salish