# Sekani language

The Sekani language or Tse’khene is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken by the Sekani people of north-central British Columbia, Canada.

## Phonology
### Consonants

Sekani has 33 consonants:
| | | Bilabial | Alveolar | Alveolar | Alveolar | Post- Alveolar | Velar | Velar | Glottal |
| | | Bilabial | plain | sibilant | lateral | Post- Alveolar | plain | labial | Glottal |
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | ts | tɬ | tʃ | k | kʷ | |
| Stop | aspirated | (pʰ) | tʰ | tsʰ | tɬʰ | tʃʰ | kʰ | kʷʰ | |
| Stop | ejective | | tʼ | tsʼ | tɬʼ | tʃʼ | kʼ | kʼʷ | ʔ |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | | | | | |
| Fricative- Approximant | voiceless | | | s | ɬ | ç | x | xʷ | h |
| Fricative- Approximant | voiced | | | z | l | j | ɣ | w | |
* ↑ Sekani, like other Athabaskan languages, does not contrast fricatives with approximants.

### Vowels

| | Front | Central | Back |
| High | i | | u |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Low | | a | |

### Tone

Sekani has two tones: low and high. High tone is the more common tone. Syllables phonologically marked for tone are low. For example, tsun means 'dirt', while tsùn means 'meat'.

### Nasalization

Nasalization of vowels is phonemic. The root *ghèl means 'scrape', while the root *ghę̀l means 'roll'. Nasal vowels also contrast with vowels followed by /n/.

## Orthography

The orthography of the Kwadcha Tsek'ene dictionary uses the following letters.
Kwadacha Tsek'ene alphabet :
| Letter | IPA | IPA |
| Letter | Syll. init. | Syll. final |
| ’ | ʔ | ʔ |
| a | ɑ | ɑ |
| à | ɑ˩ | ɑ˩ |
| ą | ɑ̃ | ɑ̃ |
| ą̀ | ɑ̃˩ | ɑ̃˩ |
| b | p | - |
| ch | t͡ʃʰ | - |
| ch’ | t͡ʃ’ | - |
| d | d | - |
| dl | tɬ | - |
| dz | ts | - |
| e | e | e |
| ę | ẽ | ẽ |
| è | e˩ | e˩ |
| ę̀ | ẽ˩ | ẽ˩ |
| g | k | - |
| gw | kʷ | - |
| h | h | h |
| i | ɪ | - |
| į | ɪ̃ | - |
| ì | ɪ˩ | - |
| į̀ | ɪ̃˩ | - |
| j | tʃ | - |
| ii | i | i |
| įį | ĩ | ĩ |
| ìì | i˩ | i˩ |
| į̀į̀ | ĩ˩ | ĩ˩ |
| k | kʰ | k |
| k’ | k’ | - |
| kh | x | x |
| gh | ɣ | ɣ |
| kw | kʷ | - |
| kw’ | kʷ’ | - |
| l | l | l |
| lh | ɬ | ɬ |
| m | m | m |
| n | n | n |
| o | o | o |
| ǫ | õ | õ |
| ò | o˩ | o˩ |
| ǫ̀ | õ˩ | õ˩ |
| oo | u | u |
| ǫǫ | ũ | ũ |
| òò | u˩ | u˩ |
| ǫ̀ǫ̀ | ũ˩ | ũ˩ |
| p | pʰ | p |
| s | s | s |
| z | z | z |
| sh | ʃ | ʃ |
| t | tʰ | t |
| t’ | t’ | - |
| tl | tɬ | tɬ |
| tl’ | tɬ’ | - |
| ts | tsʰ | ts |
| ts’ | ts’ | - |
| u | ɐ | - |
| ų | ɐ̃ | - |
| ù | ɐ˩ | - |
| ų̀ | ɐ̃˩ | - |
| w | w | w |
| yh | ç | - |
| y | j | j |
| zh | ʒ | - |
In addition, ⟨wu⟩ represents /ʊ/, ⟨iii⟩ represents /iː/, ⟨ee⟩ represents /eː/, and ⟨aa⟩ represents /ɑː/.

## Sample words

These words are from the FirstVoices dictionary for Kwadacha Tsek'ene dialect.
| Kwadacha Tsek'ene | English |
| dune | man, person |
| tlįį | dog |
| wudzįįh | caribou |
| yus | snow |
| chǫ | rain |
| k’wus | cloud |
| kwùn | fire (n) |
| ’įįbèh | summer |
| too | water |
| mun | lake |
| nun | land |
| tselh | axe |
| ʼukèʼ | foot |
| ’àtse | my grandfather |
| ’àtsǫǫ | my grandmother |
| lhìghè’ | one |
| lhèkwudut’e | two |
| tadut’e | three |
| dįįdut’e | four |
| ǫ | yes |
| Tlįį duchę̀’ ’ehdasde | January |
| Dahyusè’ nùkehde wìlę | February |
| ’Iihts’ii nùtsudawit’į̀į̀h | March |
| Nùts’iide | March |
| Dasè’ | April |
| ’Ut’ǫ̀’ kùlhaghnukehde wìlę | May |
| ’Ut’ǫ̀’ kùnuyehde | May |
| Jìje dinììdulh | July |
| Yhììh nunutsunde wìlę | August |
| Yhììh ukudeh’àsde | September |
| ’Udììtl’ǫh ’uwit’į̀į̀h | October |
| Yus ’ut’į̀į̀h | November |
| Khuye ’uwììjàh | December |