Okanagan language


Okanagan, Colville-Okanagan, or italic=no is a Salish language that originated among the Indigenous peoples of the southern Interior Plateau. In the precolonial era, its range was entered primarily in the Okanagan and Columbia River Basins of present-day Canada and the United States. Following British, American, and Canadian colonization during the 19th century and the subsequent forced assimilation of Salishan tribes, the use of the language declined significantly.
Colville-Okanagan is considered highly endangered. Although it is rarely acquired as a first language, it is currently being learned as a second language by more than 40 adults and 35 children in Spokane, Washington, as well as by dozens of adults on the Colville Indian Reservation and within the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Approximately 50 fluent first-language speakers remain, the majority of whom reside in British Columbia. The language is currently classified as moribund, with no first-language speakers under the age of 50. Despite this, Colville-Okanagan remains the second-most spoken Salish language after Shuswap.

History and description

Historically, Colville-Okanagan descended from Proto Southern Interior Salish, a language originally spoken in the Columbia River Basin. Prior to European contact, the language expended and developed into three distinct dialects: Colville, Okanagan, and Lakes. These dialects exhibit a low degree of divergence, with variations primarily limited to minor differences in pronunciation rather than significant shirts in vocabulary or grammar.
The vast majority of the Colville-Okanagan lexicon is derived from Proto-Salish or Proto-Interior Salish. Some vocabulary is shared with or borrowed from neighboring Salish, Sahaptian, and Kutenai languages, while more recent loanwords have been adopted from English and French. Colville-Okanagan remained an exclusively oral language until the late 19th century, when missionaries and linguists began transcribing it to produce word lists, dictionaries, and grammars. Today, the language is written in Latin script using the American Phonetic Alphabet.
In the native tongue, the language is referred to as n̓səl̓xčin̓ or nsyilxcn. Historically, speakers occupied the northern Columbia Basin, ranging from the Methow River in the west to Kootenay Lake in the east, and extending north along the Columbia River, the Arrow Lakes, and the Slocan Valley. All nsyilxcn-speaking bands are grouped under the ethnic label syil̓x. This term is cognate of the Spokane-Kalispel word séliš, which is the ethnonym for the Bitterroot Salish of Montana.
Colville-Okanagan is the heritage language of several groups, including:
According to italic=no language keepers, words in the language are traditionally not capitalized. This practice reflects syilx ethics; as noted by practitioners, capitalization can imply a hierarchy of importance that contradicts the egalitarian values of their society.

Revitalization

In 2012, the CBC reported on a family teaching n̓səl̓xcin̓ to their children at home. Seven nonprofit organizations currently support Colville-Okanagan language acquisition and revitalization:

Revitalization in the United States

Revitalization efforts in the United States include early childhood instruction and intensive adult speaker training. The Concentrated Tribes of the Colville Reservation actively promote preservation by allocating local and federal funds for cultural projects. The Tribes' primary objectives include establishing three language programs, developing comprehensive dictionaries, providing translation services, and maintaining regular language classes with 30 or more consistent participants.
The Salish School of Spokane implements a comprehensive community revitalization strategy serving the Spokane metropolitan area. The school provides n̓səl̓xcin̓ immersion education for students ranging from one year old through the 9th grade. In classrooms for grades P-6, instruction is conducted entirely in n̓səl̓xčin̓, covering core subjects such as mathematics, literacy, science, art, music and physical education.
The curriculum is designed to foster full fluency by age 15, and students are expected to use the language exclusively while on campus. As of 2022, the school also provides intensive training for over 40 adults:
Twenty-eight staff members at SSOS are enrolled in the Salish Language Educator Development program at SSOS. These staff members receive 90 minutes of immersion n̓səl̓xčin training daily as part of their work. Another 16 adults, parents of SSOS students, participate in paid afternoon and evening n̓səlxčin̓ fluency track training. All SSOS parents commit to completing at least 60 hours of n̓səl̓xčin̓ language classes per year in order for their children to be eligible to attend the school. SSOS offers free, beginning n̓səl̓xčin̓ language classes on evenings and weekends for SSOS parents and other community members. At Salish School of Spokane, there are 35 intergenerational pairs: 35 immersion school students who have at least one parent who is studying n̓səl̓xčin in a fluency-track program.
Salish School of Spokane aims to increase the availability of educational material by maintaining a variety of audio resources and curricula to advance Colville-Okanagan revitalization. Along with these efforts, the school provides, develops and translates curriculum. The Salish School works alongside organizations such as the Paul Creek Language Association, a nonprofit based in British Columbia, on the italic=no Curriculum Project. The italic=no Project aims to create foundational lesson plans from which teachers of Okanagan can draw. The project is spearheaded by Christopher Parkin, and is translated primarily by the fluent elder Sarah Peterson, with the additional help of Hazel Abrahamson and Herman Edwards. The participation of native speakers ensures clear meaning and high fidelity to the Okanagan language. The project is composed of six textbooks divided into three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Each level consists of a language book which contains a number of audio recordings, language, and learning software to ease language teaching. Additionally, each level includes a literature book. The literature book provides the vital function of providing entertainment for language learners when outside of class and also reinforces sentence construction for Okanagan. The project also contains daily quizzes, midterm-style tests, and both oral and written final exams for evaluation. The curriculum developed by the italic=no Curriculum Project is available in electronic format online free of charge.

Revitalization in Canada

To encourage interest in teaching vocations, the italic=no places a strong emphasis on its various certification programs. The Certificate of Aboriginal Language Revitalization is offered in the italic=no Centre and is taught by linguist Maxine Baptiste. The course does have a fee involved, but the certificate is offered in partnership with the University of Victoria. Additionally, the Centre offers a certification to become a Certified Early Childhood Education Assistant which is in partnership with Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. The certificate does not qualify one to teach at the secondary level, but does ensure employability in daycare and pre-K. The strategy behind these two certificates ensures that potential teachers have easy access to college credits from centers of higher learning like the University of Victoria, and potential education assistants can be involved in the education of children, thus establishing fluency in Okanagan early on.
The italic=no Centre also emphasizes its college readiness programs. William Cohen notes in his article that many native students perform poorly in school and the high school dropout rate for aboriginal high schoolers is very high.
Additionally, a Syilx Language House was developed in 2015 in British Columbia. The goal of the house is to create 10 fluent italic=no speakers in four years. In this program, participants spend 2000 hours over four years learning italic=no via a variety of different teaching methods, regular assessments, frequent visits from Elders, and full immersion. Following completion of the program in 2020, the italic=no Language House is hoping to expand by developing more language houses across the Okanagan and will increase the goal to creating 100 new italic=no speakers in the 2020 cohort.

UBCO Bachelor of Language Fluency

In 2011, the BC Indigenous Adult and Higher Learning Association, in collaboration with the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and italic=no Centre initiated a new Bachelor's degree program that would be offered through the University of British Columbia Okanagan in order to support Okanagan language learning and create new fluent speakers. From its inception, the Bachelor of italic=no Language Fluency was lead by associate professor Jeannette Armstrong who serves as the program's academic lead. The BNLF was the first bachelor's degree of Indigenous language fluency offered in Canada and was developed as a model that could be duplicated across British Columbia.
The Bachelor of italic=no Language Fluency is a four-year program. During the first two years, students complete an Indigenous language diploma. During the third and fourth year of the program, students are assigned a capstone project at UBCO where they work in the community to promote language learning.
The first cohort of eight students graduated with a Bachelor's of italic=no Language Fluency in 2023. An additional 12 students were expected to graduate the following year, with around 100 students working towards graduation at the time.

Orthography

Okanagan alphabets are unicase, with no capital letters.
The Paul Creek Language Association uses this alphabet:
LetterLetter NameIPAEnglish ExplanationNsyilxcn Example
aitalic=noas in the word fatheranwí
citalic=noas in the word churchcʕas
c̓italic=noas in the word catsc̓ałt
əitalic=noas in the word elephantəcxʷuy
hitalic=noas in the word happyhiw̓t
iitalic=noas in the word seeixíʔ
kitalic=noas in the word kitekilx
k̓italic=nois pronounced as a hard kk̓ast
kʷitalic=noas in the word queenkʷint
k̓ʷitalic=nois pronounced as a hard kʷk̓ʷck̓ʷact
litalic=noas in the word lovelimt
l̓italic=nopronounced as an abruptly stopped lsl̓ax̌t
łitalic=nopronounced as a slurpy lłt̓ap
ƛ̓italic=nopronounced as a click tl out of the side of the mouthƛ̓lap
mitalic=noas in the word mommahúyaʔ
m̓italic=nopronounced as an abruptly ended mstim̓
nitalic=noas in the word nonaqs
n̓italic=nopronounce as an abruptly stopped nn̓in̓wiʔs
pitalic=noas in the word poppn̓kin̓
p̓italic=nopronounced as a popped pp̓um
qitalic=nopronounced as a k deep in the back of the throatqáqnaʔ
q̓italic=nopronounced as a hard qq̓aʔxán
qʷitalic=nopronounced as a q with rounded lipsqʷacqn
q̓ʷitalic=nopronounced as a hard q with rounded lipsq̓ʷmqin
ritalic=nopronounced rolled on the tongueyirncút
sitalic=noas in the word sistersíyaʔ
titalic=noas in the word toptum̓
t̓italic=nopronounced as a hard tt̓ínaʔ
uitalic=noas in the word soonuł
witalic=noas in the word walkwikn
w̓italic=nopronounced as an abruptly ended wsw̓aw̓ásaʔ
xitalic=nopronounced as a soft h in the back of the throatxixəw̓tm
x̌italic=nopronounced as a guttural h deep in the back of the throatx̌ast
xʷitalic=nopronounced as an h in the back of the throat but with rounded lipsxʷuy
x̌ʷitalic=nopronounced as a guttural h in the back of the throat but with rounded lipsx̌ʷus
yitalic=noas in the word yellowyus
y̓italic=nopronounced as an abruptly ended yc̓sy̓aqn
ʔitalic=nois a breath stop in the back of the throat as in the word uh-ohʔaʔúsaʔ
ʕitalic=nopronounced as a short a deep in the back of the throatʕaymt
ʕ̓italic=nopronounced as an abruptly ended ʕʕ̓ac̓nt
ʕʷpronounced as a nasally ow in the back of the throatkaʕʷm
səcpronounced as a cheesy ssəcmaḿáýaʔx
scmakes the /st͡ʃ/ soundscułm
səxʷa less cheesy ssəxʷλẃam

The letters with acute accent,,, and are not counted as separate letters in this alphabet.
The Westbank First Nation uses this alphabet, in which the letters with acute accent are counted as separate letters:
aáccʼəə́ɣɣʼhḥiíkkʼkʷkʼʷllʼɬƛʼmmʼnnʼp
tqʼʷqʼqʷqrrʼspʼtʼuúwwʼxxʷx̌x̌ʷyyʼʔʕʕʼʕʷʕʼʷ

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant inventory of Colville-Okanagan:

Vowels

The vowels found in Lakes are:,,,, and. Stress will fall only on the full vowels,, and in Colville-Okanagan.
FrontCentralBack
Close
Mid
Open

Grammar

Morphology

The morphology of Colville-Okanagan is fairly complex. It is a head-marking language that relies mostly on grammatical information being placed directly on the predicate by means of affixes and clitics. The combination of derivational and inflectional suffixes and prefixes that are added onto the stem words make for a compact language.

Person markers

Colville-Okanagan demonstrates great flexibility when dealing with persons, number, and gender. The language encodes the person via a series of prefixes and suffixes, and uses its number system in tandem with pluralized pronominals to communicate the number of actors within a sentence. For example:
In this example the k classification designates that the word contains a numeral classifier.
Additionally, Colville-Okanagan relies heavily on the use of suffixes to designate gender. Okanagan handles gender in much the same way, by attaching both determiner and ‘man' to the sentence, the gender of an object or subject can be communicated:
In this example, there is a combination of 2nd singular marker with 'wife'. 'She' is encoded into the meaning of the word via the inclusion of the gender suffix at the end of the sentence.
Person markers within Colville-Okanagan are attached to verbs, nouns, or adjectives. The marker used depending on transitivity of verbs and other conditions outlined below. The person maker used largely depends on the case being used in the sentence.

Absolutive case

Absolutive markers within Colville-Okanagan can only be used if the predicate of the sentence is intransitive.
For example, Kən c'k-am is perfectly viable in Colville-Okanagan, but *Kən c'k-ən-t * is not because the verb 'count' is transitive. Person markers never occur without an accompanying intransitive verb.
SingularPlural
1st personkənkʷu
2nd personkʷp
3rd person∅

Possessive case

Simple possessives within Colville-Okanagan are predominantly a result of prefixation and circumfixation on a verb. However, Colville-Okanagan uses simple possessives as aspect forms on the verb in very complex ways. This practice is predominantly seen in Southern interior Salish languages.
PossessiveExampleUseMorphological processTranslation
1st SGinkilxin-kilxprefixmy-hand
2nd SGankilxan-kilxprefixyour-hand
3rd SGiʔ kilxsiʔcircumfixhis/her
1st PLiʔ kilxtətiʔcircumfixOur
2nd PLiʔ kilxəmpiʔcircumfixYour.PL
3rd PLiʔ kilxsəlxiʔcircumfixTheir

Where prefixation occurs with -in / -an in the 1st and 2nd person singular, may undergo deletion as below:

Ergative case

In the case of verbs, Colville-Okanagan morphology handles transitivity in various ways. The first is a set of rules for verbs that only have a single direct object, transitive verbs. For the ergative case there are two variants of person markers a stressed and an unstressed.
StressedUnstressed
1st SG-ín-n
2nd SG-íxʷ-xʷ
3rd SG-ís-s
1st PL-ím-m
2nd PL-ip-p
3rd PL-ísəlx-səlx

The stem: c'k-ən-t is the equivalent of the transitive verb 'count.'
ExampleUseTranslation
1st SGc̓kəntinc'k-ən-t-ínI count it
2nd SGc̓kəntixʷc'k-ən-t-íxʷYou count it
3rd SGc̓kəntisc'k-ən-t-ísS/he counts it
1st PLc̓kəntimc'k-ən-t-ímWe count it
2nd PLc̓kəntipc'k-ən-t-ípYou count it
3rd PLc̓kəntisəlxc'k-ən-t-ísəlxThey count it

wikn̓t is an example of a strong -nt- transitive past/present verb, with 'XX' identifying non-occurring combinations and '--' identifying semantic combinations which require the reflexive suffix -cut-

Accusative case

There are two sets of verb affixes each containing two members that dictate the composition of a verb. The first set is composed of the affixes -nt-, and -ɬt-. The second set is composed of -st- and xt- where 'i' is a stressed vowel.
The major difference between two sets is how they incorporate affixes to remain grammatically correct. In the case of the -nt-, -ɬt- group, all particles and suffixes joining onto the stem and suffix of the verb will be identical for both. The -nt- affix connects to the stem of a transitive verb via suffixation. The suffix -nt- can only make reference to two persons: an actor and a primary goal.
q̓y̓əntin q'y'-ənt-in
The -ɬt- affix is the ditransitive counterpart of -nt- and works in much the same. The difference between the two is that it refers to three persons: an actor, and two other actors or goals. Furthermore, -ɬt- is further differentiated from its ditransitive cousin -xt- because it does not require a clitic to be a part of the verb.
In contrast to this group, -st- and -xt- operate by unique rules. The -st- affix, much like its counterpart must be added to a verb stem by means of suffixation, it is also transitive, and refers to an actor and a primary goal, but it implies a reference to a third person, or a secondary goal without explicitly stating it.
q̓y̓əstin q'y'-əst-in.
The -xt- ditransitive affix shares all of the features of -ɬt- with the sole exception that it requires a clitic to be attached to front of the verb stem. The reason for the clitic in Okanagan is to add emphasis or focus on the second object, whereas -ɬt- makes no distinction.

Predicates and arguments

Each clause in Colville-Okanagan can be divided into two parts: inflected predicates which are required for every sentence, and optional arguments. Colville-Okanagan allows a maximum of two arguments per sentence construction. These are marked by pronominal markers on the predicate. Each argument is introduced to the sentence via an initial determiner; the only exception to initial determiners is in the case of proper names which do not need determiners to introduce them. Predicates may be of any lexical category. There may be additional arguments added to a sentence in Okanagan via complementizers. Okanagan is unique among the majority of Salish languages for the inclusion of the complementizer.

Obliques

Colville-Okanagan has one oblique marker that serves adapts it to several different functions depending upon the context in which it is used. The oblique marker 't' can be used to mark the object of an intransitive verb, as in the case below.
't' may also mark the agent in a passive construction, and it may be used to mark the ergative agent of transitive verbs. Finally, the oblique 't' may be used to mark functions including time and instrument:
't' may also coincide with the determiner 'iʔ' in the case of instrumentals and passive agents:

Complements

There are a number of complements available to Colville-Okanagan to clarify its predicates among these are positional complements, which merely indicate the place of a predicate.
In addition to positional complements, there are a variety of marked complements, complements used in Okanagan that express further meaning through a series of particles.
The first of the marked complements is the prefix yi. For the most part, yi is an optional complement that is used in definite cases with the exception of cases when a proper noun is used. In such cases, the yi prefix is not allowed. When yi is used it refers to a definite referent.
wikən yiʔ sqilxʷ
"I saw the/those people."
The sequential complements are composed of the particles ɬ and ɬa. ɬa conveys temporal sequence while ɬ represents a subordinate element.
way̓ x̌ast ɬ kʷ cxʷuy̓
"It's good if/that you come."
way̓ x̌ast ɬa kʷ cxʷuy̓
"It will be good when/after you come."
Colville-Okanagan also contains a number of locational complements which refer to when or where something happened. It is a point of reference. The l and the variant lə particles are used to tie a predicate to a time or place.
xʷuy̓ lə sənkʷəkʷəʔac.
"He went in the night"
Ablative complements in Colville-Okanagan come in the form of the tl particle. Along with directional complements, k̓ and k̓l, Okanagan speakers can indicate motion. The ablative complement tl only serves to indicate ‘moving away from.' For instance, in the sentence below, the ablative is ‘from.'
Kʷ scutxx tl sk̓ʷətikənx
"Were you saying from Seattle?"
The directional complement's two particles represent both direction towards something, and direction towards a specific location. k signifies movement towards something:
k̓ incitxʷ
"to my house"
The k̓l particle modifies this sentence so that it specifies the house as the location to which the subject must move.
k̓əl incitxʷ
"To my house"

Verb classification

Verbs may react in a number of different ways when a suffix is attached to the root stem of the word. Below are a number of ways in which intransitive roots are modified.
  • -t can indicate a natural characteristic of the root
  • * c̓ik̓ "burn"
  • * c̓ik̓t "burned"
  • -lx indicates the subject is engaged in an activity
  • * qiclx "run"
  • -ils expresses state of mind.
  • * nk̓wpils "lonely"
  • -p expresses lack of a subject's control
  • * kmap "darkening"
Transitives:
  • -n involves action upon an object by a subject
  • * kʷuʔ caʔntis "he hit me"
  • -s involves action or state resulting from an activity.
  • * kʷu cˀaistixʷ
  • -cut indicates when the action of a subject is directed toward oneself.
  • * tarqncut "kick oneself"
  • Transitive stems without person markings indicate imperatives
  • * nlk̓ipnt "open it"
  • Intransitives can express an imperative via the -x suffix:
  • * xʷuyx "go"

Space, time, and modality

The Okanagan system relies heavily on its affixes to demonstrate tense, space, and time. Below are demonstrated various affixes that attach to roots to encode meaning.
Of the following two examples, they are only possible in the -n transitive paradigm.
ks- unrealized action
ikstxt̓ám
"I'm going to look after him"
səc- past perfect
ˁi-səc-txt'-am
"I've been looking after him."
The following examples are for intransitives.
-k Unrealized: expresses an intentional future action or state.
Kn kʷal̓t
" I'm warm"
-aʔx Continuative: Action or state that is in progress
kn scpútaʔx
"I am celebrating"

Directional prefixes

  • ɬ- Movement back
  • c- Movement toward speaker
  • kɬ- down, and under

Prepositional case-markings for oblique objects

  • tl̓ from, source.
  • k̓l to, at, goal, recipient, dative.
  • k̓ for, benefactive.
  • l on, locative.
  • nˁəɬ with, comitative.
  • ˁit with, by, instrumental

Language learning texts

  • Peterson, Wiley, and Parkin.. Nsəlxcin 1: A Beginning Course in Colville-Okanagan Salish. The Paul Creek Language Association.
  • Peterson and Parkin.. Captíkʷł 1: Nsəlxcin Stories for Beginners. The Paul Creek Language Association.
  • Peterson and Parkin.. Nsəlxcin 2: An Intermediate Course in Okanagan Salish. The Paul Creek Language Association.
  • Peterson and Parkin.. Captíkʷł 2: More Nsəlxcin Stories for Beginners. The Paul Creek Language Association.
  • Peterson and Parkin.. Nsəlxcin 3. The Paul Creek Language Association.
  • Peterson and Parkin.. Captíkʷł 3. The Paul Creek Language Association.
  • Manuel, Herbert, and Anthony Mattina.. Okanagan Pronunciation Primer. University of Montana Linguistics Laboratory.

Narratives, songbooks, dictionaries, and word lists

  • Doak, Ivy G.. The 1908 Okanagan Word Lists of James Teit. Missoula, Montana: Dept. of Anthropology, University of Montana, 1983.
  • Mattina, Anthony and Madeline DeSautel.. Dora Noyes DeSautel łaʔ kłcaptikʷł: Okanagan Salish Narratives. University of Montana Occasional Papers in Linguistics 15.
  • Seymour, Peter, Madeline DeSautel, and Anthony Mattina.. The Golden Woman: The Colville Narrative of Peter J. Seymour. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
  • Seymour, Peter, Madeline DeSautel, and Anthony Mattina.. The Narrative of Peter J. Seymour Blue Jay and His Brother-In-Law Wolf.
  • Lindley, Lottie & John Lyon.. 12 Upper Nicola Okanagan Texts. ICSNL 47, UBCWPL vol. 32, Vancouver BC.
  • Lindley, Lottie & John Lyon.. 12 More Upper Nicola Okanagan Narratives. ICSNL 48, UBCWPL vol. 35, Vancouver BC.
  • Mattina, Anthony. Colville-Okanagan Dictionary. Missoula, Mont: Dept. of Anthropology, University of Montana, 1987.
  • Pierre, Larry and Martin Louie.. Classified Word List for the Okanagan Language. MS, Penticton, B.C.
  • Purl, Douglas.. The Narrative of Peter J. Seymour: Blue Jay and Wolf. ICSL 9, Vancouver, B.C.
  • Someday, James B.. Colville Indian Language Dictionary. Ed.D. dissertation, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. DAI 41A:1048.
  • Peterson and Parkin n̓səl̓xcin iʔ‿sn̓kʷnim: Songs for Beginners in Okanagan Salish. The Paul Creek Language Association.
  • Peterson and Parkin n̓səl̓xcin iʔ‿sn̓kʷnim 2: More Songs for Beginners in Okanagan Salish. The Paul Creek Language Association.
  • Peterson and Parkin. n̓səl̓xcin iʔ‿sn̓kʷnim 3: Even More Songs for Beginners in Colville-Okanagan. The Paul Creek Language Association.

Linguistic descriptions and reviews

  • Arrowsmith, Gary L.. Colville Phonemics. M.A. thesis, University of Washington, Seattle.
  • Baptiste, M.. Wh-Questions in Okanagan Salish. M.A. thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
  • Barthmaier, Paul.. Intonation Units in Okanagan. Pp. 30–42 of Gerdts and Matthewson 2004.
  • Barthmaier, Paul.. Transitivity and Lexical Suffixes in Okanagan. Papers for ICSNL 37. UBCWPL 9:1–17.
  • Charlie, William M., Clara Jack, and Anthony Mattina.. William Charlie's "Two-Headed Person": Preliminary Notes on Colville-Okanagan Oratory. ICSNL 23, Eugene, Oregon.
  • Dilts, Philip.. An Analysis of the Okanagan "Middle" Marker -M. Papers for ICSNL 41. UBCWPL 11:77–98.
  • Doak, Ivy G.. A Note on Plural Suppletion in Colville Okanagan. Pp. 143–147 of Mattina and Montler 1981.
  • Doak, Ivy G.. ' IJAL 57:402–405.
  • Harrington, John P.. Lummi and Nespelem Fieldnotes. Microfilm reel No. 015, remaining data as per Harrington 1910.
  • Hébert, Yvonne M.. Sandhi in a Salishan Language: Okanagan. ICSL 13:26–56, Victoria, B.C.
  • Hébert, Yvonne M.. A Note on Aspect in Okanagan. ICSL 14:173–209, Bellingham, Washington.
  • Hébert, Yvonne M.. Transitivity in Okanagan. Ph.D. dissertation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. DAI 43A:3896.
  • Hébert, Yvonne M.. Aspect and Transitivity in Okanagan. Syntax and Semantics 15:195–215.
  • Hébert, Yvonne M.. Noun and Verb in a Salishan Language. KWPL 8:31–81.
  • Hill-Tout, Charles.. Report on the Ethnology of the Okanák.ēn of British Columbia, an Interior Division of the Salish Stock. JAIGBI 41:130–161. London.
  • Kennedy, Dorothy I. D. and Randall T. Bouchard.. ‘Northern Okanagan, Lakes, and Colville.' Pp. 238–252 of Walker, Jr. 1998.
  • Kinkade, M. Dale.. On the Identification of the Methows. IJAL 33:193–197.
  • Kinkade, M. Dale.. ' Western Folklore 46:213–214.
  • Kroeber, Karl, and Eric P. Hamp.. IJAL 55:94–97.
  • Krueger, John R.. Miscellanea Selica V: English-Salish Index and Finder List. AL 9:12–25.
  • Lyon, John. Predication and Equation in Okanagan Salish: The Syntax and Semantics of DPs and Non-verbal Predication University of British Columbia, PhD Dissertation.
  • Lyon, John.. Oblique Marked Relatives in Southern Interior Salish: Implications for the Movement Analysis. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 58:2. pp 349–382.
  • Mattina, Anthony and Clara Jack.. Okanagan Communication and Language. ICSNL 17:269–294, Portland, Oregon.
  • Mattina, Anthony and Clara Jack.. Okanagan-Colville Kinship Terms. ICSNL 21:339–346, Seattle, Washington.
  • Mattina, Anthony and Nancy J. Mattina. Okanagan ks- and -kł. ICSNL 30, Victoria, B.C.
  • Mattina, Anthony and Sarah Peterson.. Diminutives in Colville-Okanagan. ICSNL 32:317–324, Port Angeles, Washington.
  • Mattina, Anthony and Allan Taylor.. The Salish Vocabularies of David Thompson. IJAL 50:48–83.
  • Mattina, Nancy J.. Some Lexical Properties of Colville-Okanagan Ditransitives. ICSNL 28:265–284, Seattle, Washington.
  • Mattina, Nancy J.. Roots, Bases, and Stems in Colville-Okanagan. ICSNL 29, Pablo, Montana.
  • Mattina, Nancy J.. Argument Structure of Nouns, Nominalizations, and Denominals in Okanagan Salish. Paper presented at the 2nd Annual University of Victoria Salish Morphosyntax Workshop, Victoria, B.C.
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