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.

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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 #47

Speakers are Kax̱lige Norman James, Dagé Winnie Atlin, Tánk Smith Katzeek, Kaséix̱̱ Selina Everson, Keiyishí Bessie Cooley, and Naakil.aan Mark Hans Chester. Recorded August 14, 2010, in Carcross, YT, Canada, by Naakil.aan Mark Hans Chester.
This material is based on work supported by National Science Foundation grant 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.
Tlingit transcription by X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell. English translation by Ḵaakal.aat Florence Sheakley, and by Shakʼsháani Margaret Dutson with Ljáaḵkʼ Alice Taff. Edited by Nakil.aan Mark Hans Chester, then by Yeiltʼoochʼ Tláa Collyne Bunn. We used , using ELAN (Version 6.7, 6.8) [Computer software], (2023, 2024). Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. 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.
Góok, x̱'anawóos'!
Go ahead and ask him!
Ḵáa x̱’anawóos’!
Ask anyone!
OK, now I want, uh...
Daaḵu.aa...
What, [which]
Norman, how do you say wood?
Huh?
How you say wood, Tlingit?
Gán. Gán.
Wood. Wood.
Daaḵw.aa gán sé [sá] aadéi ilayéix̱ wé
What kind of wood do you use to make
i x̱áadi, s’eig̱í?
your smoked fish?
Dúḵ.
Cottonwood.
Dúḵ, dúḵ láax̱.
Cottonwood, dead (still standing) cottonwood tree.
Dúḵ láax̱?
Dead (still standing) cottonwood tree.
Aaá.
Yes.
Ḵúnáx̱ áwé uwaxúgu aa.
The very dry ones.
Uháan ḵu.aa,
Us though,
tsu yóo gán áwé yéi daatoonéi. Aahá.
we make [use of] even that firewood over there.
Wéit’aa, wéit,
That one over there, over there,
Juneau héi aas,
those trees in Juneau,
Haines heidáx̱.
from Haines.
Ḵáa jeet {would} he would, ah, áwé
People have, that is,
jar tóot dus.éeyi aa. Aaá.
they cook some of it (smoked fish) in jars. Yes.
Tlax̱ x’éig̱aa aayí i eenx̱ haa tuwáa sigóo.
We really want to know the true things with you.
Ách áwé {ax̱} ax̱ tuwáa sigóo ax̱ see hás ax̱ jeet.
That is why I want [some] for my daughters.
Tléix’ ḵóok ax̱ jeeyís. Aaá.
One box for me.
Aaá.
Yes.
G̱óot aa ax̱ séek’ aadé has ḵukg̱watéen.
Another one of my daughters will be coming. [traveling towards here]
Wuháan ḵu.aa,
Us though,
daleiýi yéi tuwaśaakw, aa huh, x̱áat.
we call the fish lake trout.
Dleit ḵaa x̱’éináx̱, "trout."
Itʼs "trout" in English.
Haaw.
Oh.
Aaá, ḵa x̱áat yádi tsú, yéi,
Yeah, and whitefish too,
yéi dax̱ kuligéi, hm?
this big, right?
X̱áat yádi.
Whitefish.
Aaá. Át tsú,
Yeah. It too,
yak’éi {wu} uxoogú.
it's good when it's dried.
Aaá.
Yes.
Uháan ḵu.aa g̱aat.
Us however, [we have] sockeye salmon.
G̱aat. Aaá, sockeye.
Sockeye. Yes, sockeye. [red salmon]
Ḵa t’á.
And king salmon.
T’á. Aaá. King salmon? King salmon.
King salmon. Yes. King salmon.
Ḵa {lʼ duk,} l’ook.
And silver salmon. [coho]
G̱aat, in June.
Sockeye in June.
Tleidahéen yóo eil’ a kaadé haa wuduwa.éex’.
One time we were invited to down to the coast.
Yáadáx̱.
From here.
Aaá.
Yes.
Wé Juneau daak áwé {haa} áa haa uwax̱ée. Aa haa.
We stayed there in Juneau. Yes.
Aadáx̱ áwé Juneau tsú {tu} daax’oon, áa haa uwax̱ée.
After that, in Juneau also, we slept [stayed] for four nights.
Aadáx̱ áwé haa yéi wduwax̱áa, dei yóot’aa.
And after they took us by boat, somewhere else.
I think Aangoon shákdé yé. Aangoon. Huh? Aangoon.
I think Angoon maybe there. Aangoon. Huh? Aangoon.
Aangoon.
Angoon.
Aangoon tsú á, tsú daaxʼoon.
In Angoon also, [we stayed] also four days.
Aadáx̱ áwé,
After,
aadáx̱, tsu haa wdudli.aat {yú}
after, again they took us
yú Juneaudéi tsu daax’oon áa haa oowax̱ée.
to Juneau and again we overnighted for four days there.
Aadáx̱ áwé, haandé,
And from there to here,
neildé.
homeward.
Yak’éi aadé {haa}
It was good, the way
haa een yéi daa has jeewanéiyi áa yé.
they worked with us there.
Áwé, éeḵ yaax̱déi {has wuduwa{ah} x̱waag̱út.
And so I arrived along the shoreline.???
K’isáani has haa een.
Young men were with us.
Go ahead.
'Sams' yóo duwaságu aa.
The one called Sam.
{ma} Áaa.
Yes.
A ḵá.
On it.
Aaá. Góok, Norman.
Go ahead, Norman.
Ch’a daa sá haa een kananeek.
Tell us anything.
Ax̱ toowú shuwaxéex. [At shooḵ]
My inside ran out. [I have nothing to say.] [Laughter]
That where when you get home: "I should of tell them that, I should have said this, I should have ask them this." [At shooḵ]
['Laughter']
X̱at tsú dáx̱ tóotx̱ ḵut shuwaxeex.
Me too, my insides are done.
Ḵúdáx̱ ḵuyat’áa.
It's way too warm.
Daax’oon gaaw x̱á á shax̱wdinúk, yá ts’ootaat.
I woke up at four a.m. this morning, you see.
X̱át tsu.
Me too.
{Goodéi} Goodáx̱ sá {ee} áxʼ ee uwax̱ée?
Where did you spend the night?
With uh,
Norma? No.
Emma.
Emma? Emma tin. Emma hídi.
Emma? With Emma. Emma's house.
Marsh Lake.
Emma neilí. Nice place, huh? Yaa.
Emmaʼs house.
When, when we went to Atlin we must have ate, we must have ate five times in one day!
Oh, my goodness!
Every time I turned around they were giving us food. [At shooḵ]
['Laughter']
After I sleep I'll think of some more.
Not too many people in Atlin, huh?
There were a, there was a few, yeah, they, not, not that many. Not that many attended when we were there. But there, they sure fed us good and treated us real good.
Those kids you ask for?
Huh?
Kids?
Yeah!
I think they were out culture camp.
Oh, uh yeah?
Yeah they brought, they brought in what, nine, eight or nine, kids that came and danced for us.
Way down, way down, they walk down to, take them three days to walk there.
Oh, wow.
Nakina River.
Oh.
Just, just little ways this side Taku River.
Xóots tsú, aan kát has woo.aat, Haines.
Brown bear too, they're walking around town, in Haines.
Tle town kát has woo.aat. Huh.
Then walking right around downtown. Huh.
Too much garbage. People leave their garbage outside.
Yeah.
S’eek ágé?
Black bear?
Hah?
What?
S’eek ágé?
Black bear?
Xóots.
Brown bear.
Oh, xóots.
Oh, brown bear. [Grizzly]
Aaá.
Yes.
Tle town kát has na.átch. Huh!
They are always walking right around town.
Aanká yáade has woo.aat. Aaá.
They walked towards here downtown. Yes.
{tlél has tél} Tlél sh du toowú áwé tudatí.
They arenʼt concerned about it. [They donʼt care/worry about being downtown.]
Haa yáaxʼ tsú yéi at nanein yáat. Aaá.
It's happening right here at us also. Yes.
Tourists ch’a tlákw ḵuya.óo.
Tourists are always living [visiting] there.
Lḵóot yéi duwasáakw áyá.
The area is called Chilkoot.
Héen yík g̱a.átch, shayadihéin nooch,
They always walk in the water, always lots of them,
yá xóots x̱á.
those brown bears, you see.
Aaá.
Yes.
Tle a x̱ánxʼ has .aat, has akshaxeet.
They [tourists] walk very close [beside them], and they take pictures.
Déi.aa jé! [At shooḵ]
My goodness! [Iʼm scared!] [Laughter]
They try to be brave.
No! Stupid.
['At shooḵ']
['Laughter']
That's right. Theyʼre dumb, stupid.
Yáat ḵu.aa áwé ch’as tóode x̱ʼéidei yéi has adaanéi neech á.
Here however, just for its food they are always doing that.
Ch’a tlákw áwé
All the time
aan sh wudlig̱eiḵ. ???
they're swinging themselves with it. [A metaphor?]
Aan yú chush gux̱lag̱éiḵ. Tíxʼ??? ḵáx̱ has gayḵee.???. [At shooḵ]
They will swing themselves with it. On a rope they ???. [Metaphor???]
Á áwé ḵu.aa áa akux̱dlix̱éitl’, {tlél a}
However Iʼm scared of it, [bears]
ách áwé tlél has du x̱ánt wáanáx̱ [yáanáx̱]x̱wagootch.
and so I havenʼt gone closely among them.
Aaá.
Yes.
Dei hóoch’ shákdéi ágé,
Now perhaps itʼs done,
a shkalneegí.
its story.
Aaá, shákdéi.
Yes, maybe.
Déi ákwé?
Is that enough? [Done now?]
Aaá.
Yes.
Naxáash!
Cut it! [stop the recording]
[At shooḵ] Tlél áyú, gooshát? ???
[Laughter] He can't catch it? ???.
Tlél áyú gooshát? ???.
He can't catch it? ???
Aaá.
Yes.
Uháan tsú. Yeah. X̱át tsú. Me too, mmhm.
Us too. Me too.
Wéit. I ???
Over there. [inaudible]
Wéidáx̱ ḵwa, tlél a yáx̱ utí.
From there however, it isnʼt like that.
Dé ch’áakw gíwé tlél a yáx̱ utí.
For a long time, I guess [perhaps] it isnʼt like that.
Aaá.
Yes.
Ch’a tlákw aadé yaa tooḵoox̱jin, Haines.
We always used to drive to Haines.
Aaá.
Yes.
We stay in that campground. We stay there one week one time. They stay in that campground. My grandchildren come with us from way down. Then we go down to that old cannery. Oh, yeah! Cranberry. Cranberry? {Cran, cran} that old cannery? Yeah. Oh, we were lucky there. They were selling that fresh crab there. Holy man!
Feast, that's a feast.
Yeah! They tell us how to cook it. They fix it up for us, everything, heh? Yeah? We just went back to the camp and we cook and eat.
Now that I told you weʼre done, watch the breeze come up! [At shooḵ]
['Laughter']
Ḵúnáx̱.
Really.
Kalig̱éiyi aa yee aaní. Yeah.
Your guys’ land is a beautiful thing.
Ḵúnáx̱ á áwé.
Very much so.
Gunalchéesh.
Thank you.
Saa ágé ḵudzitee wé shaa?
Does that mountain have a name?
Wé shaa.
That mountain.
Ch’a ldakát yís saa,
Thereʼs a name for all of them,
yá shaa.
these mountains.
Shaa has du jee yéi dax̱ yatee, ch’a ldakát. Áaa.
All of the mountains have names.
Yáat’aa, maa sá duwasáakw?
This one, what do they call it?
{Wéi} Watsíx Shaa.
Caribou Mountain.
Watsíx Shaa. Oh!
Caribou Mountain. Oh!
{Yóo} Yóot’aa, X̱’eis’awáa Shaayí.
That one over there, Ptarmigan Mountain.
Wéit’aa.
That one.
Yáat’aa dei.
This one now.
X̱’eis’awáa Shaa. No that one in the middle,
Ptarmigan Mountain.
way over there.
Oh, that one is, uh...
{that}That's Ptarmigan Mountain, that one. This one here, Sheep Mountain?
Tawéi.
Mountain Sheep.
Tawéi Shaayí. Sheep Head.
Sheep Mountain. Sheep Head.
Aaá.
Yes.
Tsálgi Shaayí.
Ground Squirrel Mountain.
Aaá. Háaw.
Yes. Well.
And that big one,
Tʼá X̱áat’i T’ooch’.
Black King Salmon.
And this little one over there, Face Mountain. You look at it, you could see a face laying like this.
Haaw! Huh.
Huh!
You see the face.
And that one way over there. Táach uwajáḵ.
Sleep killed it.
That's where you took picture of that.
See that one way over there, called Book Mountain. Come on, come on, Iʼll show you where it is.
Haaw. You look. Show him that one too, Norman.
That Book Mountain, it looks like a big book that's open.
Weʼre just getting names of mountains.
See way over there?
Itʼs over there. Hmmm.
Lingít x̱’éináx̱ sá. Go over it a little more to the left.
Say it in Tlingit. Go over a little more to the left.
Tsu s’átʼnax̱ gé?
Is it to your left?
Wáa sá duwasáakw, wéit’aa?
What do you call that one?
Wé shaa.
That mountain.
Ḵaa Yán Shaa.
Personʼs ??? Hemlock Mountain.
Ohhh.
Iyatéen gé?
Do you see it?
Aaá.
Yes.
Dleit ḵaa x̱’éináx̱, "Gray Mountain.́"
In English, it is called "Grey Mountain."
Hmmm.
Ḵa yú tliyaa áwé?
And the one way over there?
Tawéi Shaa.
Sheep Mountain.
Ḵa wé... ah...
And that...
X̱’eis’awáa Shaa. X̱’eis’awáa Shaa. Mhm. Ptarmigan Mountain.
Ptarmigan Mountain.Ptarmigan Mountain.
Kind of through those trees, huh?
Aas tóonáx̱ áwé, shaa. Aas tóonáx̱.
The mountain (seen) through the trees. Through the trees.
Yáat’aa?
This one?
Watsíx Shaa.
Caribou Mountain.
Ldakát gé?
All?
Aaá.
Yes.
Haaw.
Oh.
Watsíx gé? Watsíx Shaa. Yep.
Caribou, is it? Caribou Mountain.
Aaá.
Yes.
Wéit’aa.
That one.
Tsélgi Shaa.
Ground Squirrel Mountain.
Dleit gé shaa, shaa shakee, shaa shakeewú? Tsélgi Shaa.
Is that snow on top of the mountain? Ground Squirrel Mountain. [Locally, ground squirrels are called ʼgophersʼ.]
Yaa anasḵúx̱.
They are driving.
ʼTotem poleʼ, wáa sá eesáakw?
ʼTotem poleʼ, what do you call it?
Kootéeyaa.
Totem pole.
Kootéeyaa.
Totem pole.
Ḵachʼu...
Or [however]...
Yadátx’i, yadátxʼi.
Children, children.
...néil yee aayí ḵu.aa, gáas'. Yadátx’i.
...the ones inside the house however, house posts. Children.
Yátx'i gé?
Children?
Yátx'i du hídi?
Children's house?
Yátx'i du hít.
Children's house.
{ya} Yadátx'i du hídi.
Children's house.
X'oon sá táakw
How many years
yáat yéi iyateeyí.
have you lived here?
X̱át ágé?
Me?
Aaá.
Yes.
Hm.
Yáat, yaadáx̱ gé ḵeedzitee? [ḵuydzitee]
Here, is this where you were born [from]?
Áaa. Aaá.
Yes. Yes.
Nas'gadooshú,
Eight,
nas'gadooshú jinkaat.
Eighty. Aaa.
Tle yées ḵáa áwé, wa.é.
Then you're a young man.
Aáa. [At shooḵ]
Yes. [Laughter]
Tléik', ah, no!
No.
How you say eight?
Nas'gadooshú.
Eight.
Yeah. Yéi áwé yeeyaḵaa.
That's what you said.
{Eighty} Eighty years old.
Jé.
Gee.
This last July, last month, I was eighty years old.
Ch’a sá daak wusitán?
Whatʼs falling? [precipitating]
Séew daak wusitán. [At shooḵ]
It's raining.
Yéi áwé sh katoolneek.
That's what we're saying.
Is it muddy?
Ḵutl' shi...
Mud.
Ḵutl'. Ḵutl', ḵutl', ḵutlʼkw, ḵutlʼkw, is mud. Ḵutlʼkw.
See! I say it more than once I canʼt say it! Ḵútl'kw.
Mhmm.
If you touch it with your pants youʼre gonna stick on it, see?
Wáa sá duwasáakw?
What do they call that?
Haaw, gushé. Hm.
Well, I donʼt know.
Dleit ḵáa kaayaaní ákyá?
Is this a white man's plant?
Huh? Kaayaaní.
Plant.
Dleit ḵáa aayí ákwé?
Is that a white man's thing?
Aaá.
Yes.
{Dleit aa} Dleit ḵaa ádi gíwé yatee.
Possibly itʼs a white man’s thing.
We probably didn't have them here awhile, a long time ago, huh?
No. {If you} You stick to your pants and everything, that.