Dakelh makes no sense as the English name for Carrier for the simple reason that the voiceless lateral fricative is not an English speech sound and that <lh> is uninterpretable as an English spelling. Furthermore, it causes confusion because speakers of Carrier and of Babine call themselves and their languages Dakelh but speakers of Witsuwit'en do not. This is why the First People's map of BC languages erroneously shows W as one language and Dakelh as another, with the latter occupying the territory of Carrier proper plus Babine. Similarly, I see no reason to add still further to the confusion by changing Babine-Witwuwit'en to Nadot'en-Witsuwit'en. Indeed, the Lake Babine Band has not only kept the name "Babine" but has expressed a liking for it on the grounds that non-natives know their lake as Babine Lake with the result that calling the people "Babine" serves to associate the people with their territory. The other major group of Babine speakers, at Takla Lake, refer to their language in English as "Carrier". Although they are aware that their language is the same as the Lake Babine language, they do not call it Nadot'en. <br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 11:22 AM, James Kari <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jmkari@alaska.edu" target="_blank">jmkari@alaska.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Thanks to everyone for the quick & lively response. I made four suggested changes.<br>Also attached is the current Na-Dene languages t-shirt, printed here in Fairbanks.<br>the language names on that too can be modified, some time next year.<br>
Jim<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 1:12 PM, Dagmar Jung <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:djung@uni-koeln.de" target="_blank">djung@uni-koeln.de</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<div>Hi Jim,<br>
<br>
thanks a lot for an update on language names, that's indeed very
useful!<br>
<br>
A comment about renaming Beaver: the name you have right now on
the map commonly refers to the Dene Tha' First nation in NW
Alberta that speaks South Slavey. <br>
<br>
For the majority of Beaver-speaking First Nations the name Dane-<u>z</u>aa
seems to be the preferred one (cf. also the Dane-<u>z</u>aa
language authority in Fort St. John that represents most BC
communities that speak dialects of this language).<br>
<br>
The underline of the fricative marks a range of possible
pronounciations according to the variety/speaker: postdental,
interdental, or alveolar. The first vowel of Dane is sometimes
seen by speakers as a clear demarcation to Dene/Slavey.<br>
<br>
Hope this is useful & best wishes,<br>
<br>
Dagmar<div><div><br>
<br>
<br>
On 19.12.12 20:32, James Kari wrote:<br>
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<blockquote type="cite">Hi<br>
I have been meaning to update my map "Distribution of Na-Dene
Languages" to show the language name changes that were discussed
and suggested during the August (now renamed) Dene Languages
Conference.<br>
<br>
The box lists the changes<br>
comments are appreciated of course<br>
Happy Holidays!<br>
Jim kari<br>
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<br>
<br>
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