Sm'algyax Living Legacy Talking Dictionary

NEW with this update: There are a half dozen new pictures in the database with this update, provided by Tammy Blumhagen’s class at Charles Hayes Secondary School in Prince Rupert. The photos were taken during a class excursion to Lax Spa’aws (Pike Island). Thanks to these students – if you want to send in a photo for inclusion in the database please email it as a bitmap image attachment to anderson@unbc.ca

REVISED June 29, 2006: The Living Legacy Talking Dictionary has been updated so that the information now appears in Unicode font. This font should make it easier for users, especially those who use Macs. You will need to download the font and install it on your computer. The font you need is available free from the following site. Here are instructions and a link to the site to download it:

a.  Download the Doulos SIL font from the following website:

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&cat_id=FontDownloads

and install it.

or

b.  Download any of the following from the above link and install:

        Doulos SIL

        Charis SIL

        Gentium

Then do c. below

c.  In Internet Explorer - select Tools ... Internet Options ... Fonts ..and set Web Page Font to one of the above or your own Unicode font (see NOTE: below).

OR

In Mozilla Firefox (my browser of choice) - select Tools ... Options... Font  and set Default Font to one of the above.

Once you have installed this font you may wish to make it the “default” font for your web browser.

Message from Gitxon

Getting Started: Use of This Talking Dictionary

This version of the Living Legacy Talking Dictionary is prepared for web access. Mac users may not be able to access this version, depending on the operating system and browser they have installed, and whether or not their computer can take the Tsimshian font, which was originally set up only for PC computers. Work is now in progress on a version based on a Unicode font, which should facilitate access for Mac users. We apologize for any inconvenience at this time.

For PC users, if you do not have the Tsimshian font installed on your computer, you will need to get a copy of it. You can email anderson@unbc.ca to request that it be sent to you as an attachment, so that you can install it in the FONTS folder in the Control Panel of your computer. If you do not have this font the Sm'algyax words will have very peculiar spellings!

This website includes the text for the entire Sm'algyax Dictionary, as well as several thousand sound files and several hundred image files. Additional sound files are being recorded and will be included in the Sm'algyax Living Legacy Talking Dictionary soon.

This Dictionary is a true Living Legacy of Sm'algyax. We have tried to avoid errors, but we know that inevitably there will be some that we missed. We are continuing to make revisions, and would appreciate it if users let us know about errors that they encounter so that the next version of the dictionary can be even better. Email comments to anderson@unbc.ca. This version is the first release of the talking dictionary, and we intend to continue to work on it and to release updated versions from time to time, with additional data and enhancements. If you are a fluent speaker, we hope that you will add your own voice to this Sm'algyax Living Legacy -- call Tammy at (250) 627-8213 to book a time to do a recording, or drop off photographs at the UNBC office in Prince Rupert for scanning.

We hope that you will enjoy using the talking dictionary.

Instructions:

If you know the Sm'algyax word you want to look up then do the following:

Select the first letter of the word from the top left hand corner.
Scroll to the word from the list on the left-hand side.
Click on the word. The entry will appear in the middle.

If you want to find Sm'algyax words by their English equivalents, do the following:

Try typing the English word in the top right hand corner. If the English word exists in the list, it will automatically scroll to it.
Click on the Tsimshian equivalent found underneath the English word. The Tsimshian entry will appear in the middle.

To hear Sm'algyax:

Many of the entries have recordings. Look for button and click on it. Please note that not all words have associated sound files yet, but we will keep adding sound files over the coming months..

Acknowledgements

Funding for the Sm'algyax Living Legacy Talking Dictionary was provided by the First Peoples' Heritage, Language and Culture Council. Their support for Sm'algyax language and the Tsimshian people is acknowledged with gratitude.

We are grateful for the support and encouragement of the Ts'msyen Sm'algyax Authority and the First Nations Education Office of School District 52, which supported and guided this work. We acknowledge the efforts of all who have contributed their voices and knowledge to the development of this dictionary. We hope that the names listed here include all those who shared with us, and we apologize if we have overlooked anyone. We wish to acknowledge several individuals who have put in many hours of volunteer labour on this project, Tammy Blumhagen and Margaret Anderson.

Project Coordinator: Tammy Blumhagen

Project Accounting: Pansy Blackmon/TTC

Sound Recording, Digital Images, and Data Entry: Margaret Anderson, Tammy Blumhagen, Lorraine Green, Isobel Hill, Nadine Leighton, Theresa Lowther, Morris Mason

Fluent Sm'algyax Speakers: Clarence Anderson, Alvin Bolton, Bernice Bolton, Mary Booth, Arnold Booth, Albert Brooks, Doug Brown, Marjorie Brown, Bea Bryant, Bert Bryant, Alex Campbell, Samson Collinson, George Eaton, Percy Green, Sylvia Leighton, Darlene Leland, Delores Lewis, Theresa Lowther, Violet McKay, Elinor Mason, Velna Nelson, Perry Reece, Herbert Ridley, Beatrice Robinson, Delores Robinson, Evertt Robinson, Mildred Wilson

Linguist Consulting on the Living Legacy Project: Margaret Anderson, UNBC

Database Importation: Tonia Stebbins, imported the database from Shoebox into LinguaLinks for this project, based on the database that she had built for the print dictionary project, which incorporated some data from Boas and especially Dunn 1978 as well as data provided by the School District 52 Sm'algyax Committee.

Development of Software Template for the Export of the Database to CD/web: Larry Hayashi, SIL/CIL

Training: Randy Radney, CIL, Verna Stutzman, SIL, Margaret Anderson, UNBC

Copyright and Use Restrictions

This website, its format and all component files are the property of the Ts'msyen Sm'algyax Authority, and are protected by copyright. No part may be copied, distributed or sold by any other individual or group. Permission to download files for educational purposes may be requested from the Ts'msyen Sm'algyax Authority, c/o Tsimshian Tribal Council, Prince Rupert, British Columbia. If permission is granted for use of any material from this website, it is expressly agreed that the writing system will not be altered without written permission from the Ts'msyen Sm'algyax Authority.