Lushootseed Dictionary

A celebration of western Washington Native language and culture, this book is a completely reformatted and greatly revised and expanded update of Thom Hess’s Dictionary of Puget Salish (1976). Editor Dawn Bates integrates the field notes of Vi Hilbert, UpperSkagit elder and native speaker of Lushootseed, with Hess’s analyses, mining information gathered by Hilbert and Hess from Skagit, Tulalip, Muckleshoot, Swinomish, Puyallup, and other Native consultants over a period of thirty years. The dictionary includes numerous example sentences taken from Lushootseed’s rich tradition of storytelling. The introduction to the Lushootseed-English section catalogs Lushootseed word-building structures, and entries exemplify each prefix, suffix, and root. The English-Lushootseed section features encyclopedic entries on many culturally significant topics, such as Native canoe classifications and animal names. Scientific classifications are included for botanical terms, and cultural information makes the volume interesting for the nonlinguist. An extensive introduction explains the structure of entries and provides clear definitions of grammatical terms. A detailed description of the sounds of Lushootseed will be invaluable for learners of the language. The traditional dictionary format is readable and economical, resulting in a volume of manageable size.

This book is intended for use by a divers readership which includes Lushootseed speakers and their families, people of Lushootseed heritage unfamiliar with the languages, linguists, folklorists, and those interested in oral literature and the native culture of Washington state.

Author Biography

Thom Hess was a professor of linguistics at the University of Victoria.