Colville-Okanagan
/kəˈvɪl oʊkəˈnɑːɡən/noun
A name used for the Indigenous language continuum and cultural-linguistic grouping associated chiefly with Colville and Okanagan communities in the Pacific Northwest.
Did you know?Colville-Okanagan is generally an English umbrella label rather than the community’s sole traditional self-name; Okanagan communities use Indigenous names such as Nsyilxcən for the language.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Latin
Latin
villa
“A country estate or rural property; the distant root of the place-name element in Colville.”
Medieval Latin
Latin
villa
“A settlement or estate, developing into a place-name element across Romance-speaking Europe.”
12th–13th Century
Old French
ville
“Town or settlement; a form that entered many European surnames and place-names.”
Medieval period
Anglo-Norman/French
Colville
“A surname and place-name form, traditionally interpreted through French elements connected with a settlement or estate name; its specific original place-name reference is not completely certain.”
19th Century
English
Okanagan
“An English-rendered form of the Indigenous regional and ethnonymic name associated with Okanagan peoples; its deeper Indigenous etymology is debated and should not be reduced to a literal English translation.”
20th Century–Modern English
English
Colville-Okanagan
“A compound umbrella term used in scholarship and administration for related Interior Salish languages, communities, and cultural regions.”