This material is based on work supported by National Science Foundation grants BCS-0651787 and BCS-0853788 to the University of Alaska Southeast with Ljáaḵkʼ Alice Taff as Principal Investigator and by National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship 266286-19 to Ljáaḵkʼ Alice Taff. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or National Endowment for the Humanities.

Some Tips

  • Start and stop continuous playback with the media player's controls.

  • Play a single line by clicking on that line's number. To re-activate continuous play, use the media player's controls.

  • Use Command+F on a Mac, Control+F on windows, to search for words in the conversation.

  • For video conversations, the "picture-in-picture" mode can be useful. This puts the video in a separate window, after which you can shrink the originating video window in your web browser, allowing more text to be seen on-screen.

  • Safari on a Mac laptop, iPhone or iPad sometimes produces odd results in single line mode.

Symobls used in the transcription

  • {false start}
  • (added for clarity)
  • [translator/transcriber's note]
  • ??? = can’t understand
  • «Lingít quotation marks»

Software Used

Time-aligned text for this video was accomplished using ELAN, Versions 6.0 (2020), 6.1 (2021), and 6.3 (2022) Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Language Archive. Retrieved from https://archive.mpi.nl/tla/elan

We use SLEXIL to render ELAN XML output as interactive web pages. Pronounced "sluck-HAIL", SLEXIL means daylight in the Lushootseed language, for which it was originally developed. The name may also be understod as an acronym: Software Linking ELAN XML to Illuminated Language.

SLEXIL is documented here, maintained on github, can be run interactively on the web, and is actively supported by Paul Shannon who welcomes your feedback.

To compare your pronunciation to that of the Tlingit elders, click on the microphone icon located at the right top of the main page. This opens the "RECORD YOURSELF" window in which you can record your own pronunciation of any line of interest.

Begin by clicking on the number of a line of an elder speaking. It may help to do this repeatedly, LISTENING more than reading, absorbing the sounds of their speech. (In English, we donʼt talk the same way a printed word is spelled. The same is true for Tlingít.)

When you're ready to record yourself, click RECORD in the "RECORD YOURSELF" window, then STOP, then PLAY. You can keep recording yourself with the same line and hear your pronunciation improving!

Usage notes from Alice Taff
Using a Macbook Air M4, Sequoia 15.5, the record-self works fine:
  1. with Firefox 140.0.2
  2. with Safari 18.5
  3. with Chrome 138.0.7204.158
Video Size
Tlingit Conversation #19

Speakers are Kaaxwaan Éesh George Davis, Ḵaachkoo.aaḵw Helen Sarabia, and Naakil.aan Mark Hans Chester. Recorded June, 2009 at Egan Library, University of Alaska Southeast, in Juneau, Alaska, by Ljáaḵkʼ Alice Taff. This recording documents conversational use of the verb √x̱aa, 'eat'.
Tlingit transcription by Naakil.aan Mark Hans Chester. English translation by Shákwsháani Margaret Dutson and LjáaḵkʼAlice Taff. Edited by X̱ʼaagi Sháawu Keri Edwards and Ḵaachkoo.aaḵw Helen Sarabia.
Decaf áwé ax̱diná, ách áyú.
That's why I drink decaf.
Oh. Ax̱ téix̱' áwé ootsínch. Aaá.
My heart comes alive. [speeds up]
Yéi daak yéi x̱at yawsiḵaa
The doctor said to me
decaf áwé kg̱eedanáa.
you are going to drink decaf.
['At shooḵ']
['Laughter']
Yéi á!
This is the way it is!
Dawóotl áwé yaa ndashán.
It's difficult getting old.
[At shooḵ] Ha.é!
Laughter] Too much!
Yéi s x̱'ax̱a.áx̱jin nujéen,
I used to hear them say that,
ax̱ léelk'w hás,
my grandparents,
«Yaa indashán óosh dei chx̱ánk'.»
"If only you are getting old, grandchild."
Aaá.
Yeah.
Yeedát áwé haa éet ḵuwaháa!
And now it's our turn now!
Aaá. [At shooḵ]
Yes. [Laughter]
Eesháan yaa ndashán!
It's tough getting old!
Eesháan!
Poor thing!
Goodéi sáyá kax̱wlitsaaḵ?
Where did I stuff it?
Laaḵ'ásk gé eex̱á George?
George, do you eat black seaweed?
Aaá.
Yes.
I x̱'éit gé yak'éi?
Does it taste good to you?
Éisk'! Linúkwts!
It's delicious! It's sweet to me!
Aaá.
Yes.
Kḵwax̱áa.
I'll eat some.
A g̱áa yóo tooḵóox̱'gun. Boy!
We used to go after them. Boy!
Laaḵ'ásk gé?
Is this black seaweed?
Aaá.
Yes.
Way outside.
Ax̱ tláach áwé
My mother
yéi awsinéi wé laaḵ'ásk
picked the black seaweed
ḵa ḵ'áach', Yaakwdaatx'.
and ribbon seaweed too, in Yakutat.
Uháan tsú.
Us too.
K'idéin awax̱áa,
She ate it well
wé du dachx̱ánk',
her little granddaughter,
{tléil} tléil uwaxúk dei! [Tlél uxóokch yeisú]
and it wasn't dry yet!
Ch'a yéi áwé du tuwáa sigóo aawax̱áa. [or: ax̱aayí]
That's just how much she likes to eat it! (She eats it anyway!
Ch'a tlákw atx̱á [or: ax̱áa] nooch wé laaḵ'ásk.
She always eats black seaweed.
Tléil, wáa sá duwasáakw?
It's not, what is that called?
X̱at tsú ax̱ dachx̱ánx'i yán ax̱ {ax̱ x̱ánt} x̱ánt has woo.aadí
Me too, when my grandchildren come by me
fridgedei (analg̱éin) fridge é, ch'u tlei.
then they looked in the fridge.
Has du tuwáa sigóowu át.
What they really like.
Ch'a x̱at ax̱ aayí áwé ch'a g̱oot yéix'.
My food is in a separate place.
Ax̱ tuwáa sigóo {s} has du tuwáa sigoowú wé Lingít at x̱aayí ax̱ dachx̱ánx'i yán.
I'm glad that my grandchildren like Tlingit foods.
Starting with 1, of course.
Tléik'.
No.
Daa sáwé eex̱á, yaa yeedát?
What are you eating now?
Sakwnéin áwé yax̱ x̱ax̱á.
I'm eating like, bread.
Éis'k'! Gax̱toosáa.
Delicious! We will name it??
Dleit ḵáa sakwnéin.
White man's bread.
Aaá.
Yes.
X̱'ég̱aa yak'éi.
It's truly good.
Linúkdzi sakwnéin.
Sweet bread.
Linúkts! ???
Real sweet!
Mmm.
Wuditláx̱ áwé Lingít atx̱aayí tléil eex̱áaḵ.
Don't eat the Tlingit food that is moldy.
Mmm.
Kei ikg̱wanéekw!
You will get sick!
Ha.é!
Too much!
Ha.é!
Too much!
Wé chatl x̱'éeshi gé i x̱'éit yak'éi?
Do you like dried halibut?
Ḵúnáx̱!
Very much!
Ch'a tlákw áwé wutoox̱áa nooch, at yátx'i [or: At yátx'i yáx̱ áwé toox̱áa nooch].
As children we always would eat it.
{wé} Kei nx̱wawaadí [kei ax̱ nawádi] wé at x̱éeshi ax̱ tláach awa.óo.
And growing up my mother bought dry fish.
Éis'k'!
Delicious!
Yaakwdaatdáx̱.
From Yakutat.
Back seat, Back seatx' {yéi x̱waa} yéi x̱waanóok.
I sat in the back seat.
Ch'a ldakát át áwé x̱waax̱áa!
I ate different things!
«Ha.éi! Ilí, ilí ,» yéi yawaḵáa ax̱ tláa.
"Too much! Stop, stop it," my mother said.
«Haa x̱'éis aa yéi na.oo!»
"I'm buying it for us to eat!" [Kaachkoo.aaḵw speaking as the mother.]
«Haa at x̱aayí áwé!
That's our food!
Wáanáx̱ sáwé
Why are you
ch'a ldakát át eex̱á wé at x̱'éeshi?»
always eating everything, and the dry fish?"
«Ch'a ax̱ tuwáa sigóo,» yéi yax̱waakáa.
I just like it, I said.
['At shooḵ']
['Laughter']
Laaḵ'ásk tsú
Also black seaweed,
ch'a ldakát haa Lingít at x̱aayí áwé
just all kinds of our Tlingit foods
Yaakwdaatdáx̱.
were from Yakutat.
Éitsk!
Yum!
Haa x̱oonx'í yán
Our relatives
haa jeet has kawdiháa wé [or: haa jeet has aawawóo]
sent us
at x̱aayí.
food.
Yix̱ á gé Lingít at x̱aayí?
Do you eat Tlingit foods?
Next one.
Yix̱á,
You eat,
Yix̱á gé Lingít at x̱aayí?
Do you eat Tlingit foods?
X̱'ax̱waanáḵ Lingít at x̱aayí.
I stopped eating Tlingit foods.
['At shooḵ] [He just said that to get the verb form on the recording.']
['Laughter']
Yeedát áwé recordx̱ haa doolyéx̱ tle ax̱ toowú kútx̱ x̱waag̱éex'.
Now that we are being recorded I've lost my mind.
Yáa atx̱á gé wé yéi x̱at ya.óo.
Maybe it's this food that makes me that way.
Kḵwax̱áa x̱á.
I'll surely eat it.