ABSTRACT
Language family in western North America with approx. thirty languages; the largest languages are Salish and Okanagan in Canada (with about 2,000 speakers each).
Characteristics: extremely rich consonantal system (often eight points of articulation and five manners of articulation), including glottalized consonants and pharyngeals; in contrast, a very simple vowel system (typically three vowels+schwa in unstressed syllables). Noun-verb distinction only weakly evident. A sentence often consists of several smaller predications (example: A bear ate a rabbit is made into three predications: x ate y, x is a bear, y is a rabbit). Agents are marked as to whether or not they have control of the action. Polysynthesis, highly developed nominal classification ( noun class). Typologically similar to the neighboring Wakashan languages.
