Kwakw’ala
/ˈkwɑːkwəlɑː/noun
The Wakashan language traditionally spoken by the Kwakwaka’wakw peoples of coastal British Columbia, Canada.
Did you know?Kwakw’ala is one of several closely related Wakashan languages of the Pacific Northwest, a region known for exceptionally complex systems of consonants and grammatical meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-contact period
Kwakw’ala
Kwak’wala
“The Indigenous name of the language; its precise internal translation is not securely established in standard English etymological sources.”
19th Century
English
Kwakwala
“An early English rendering used by anthropologists and colonial-era linguists for the language.”
19th–20th Century
English
Kwakiutl
“A historical English term associated with the Kwakwaka’wakw peoples; it was also used broadly for their language, though many communities prefer Indigenous names.”
20th Century
Linguistics
Kwak’wala
“A standardized scholarly spelling increasingly used for the language, with an apostrophe marking a glottalized consonant.”
Modern English
English
Kwakw’ala
“A contemporary spelling for the language, reflecting community and linguistic usage.”
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