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Alternate Names: Salish

The Salishan anguages are a group of languages of the Pacific Northwest (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana).

They are characterised by agglutinativity and astonishing consonant clusters—for instance the Nuxálk word xłp̓x̣ʷłtłpłłskʷc̓ (IPA: [xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt͡sʼ]) meaning "he had had a bunchberry plant" has 13 consonants in a row with no vowels.

The terms Salish and Salishan are used interchangeably by Salishan linguists and anthropologists. The name Salish is actually the endonym of the Flathead Nation. The name was later extended by linguists to refer to other related languages. Many languages do not have self-designations and instead have specific names for local dialects as the local group was more important culturally than larger tribal relations.

All Salishan languages which are not extinct are endangered—some extremely so with only three or four speakers left. Practically all languages only have speakers who are over sixty years of age, and many languages only have speakers over eighty. Salish is most commonly written using the International Phonetic Alphabet to account for the various vowels and consonants that do not exist in most modern alphabets.


The Salishan language family consists of twenty-three languages. Below is a list of Salishan languages, dialects, and sub-dialects. This list is a linguistic classification that may not correspond to political divisions. Many Salishan groups consider their variety of speech to be a separate language rather than a dialect.

Bella Coola

1. Nuxálk (a.k.a. Bella Coola, Salmon River)

• Kimsquit
• Bella Coola
• Kwatna
• Tallheo

Coast Salish

A. Central Coast Salish (a.k.a. Central Salish)

2. Comox

• Comox (a.k.a. Qʼómox̣ʷs)
• Sliammon (Homalco-Klahoose-Sliammon) (a.k.a. ʔayʔaǰúθəm)

3. Halkomelem

Island (a.k.a. Hulʼq̱ʼumiʼnumʼ, həl̕q̓əmín̓əm̓)

• Cowichan
• Snuneymuxw/Nanaimo

Downriver (a.k.a. Hunqʼumʔiʔnumʔ)

• Musqueam

Upriver (a.k.a. Upper Sto:lo, Halqʼəméyləm)

• Katzie
• Kwantlen
• Chehalis (Canada)
• Chilliwack
• Tait
• Skway

4. Lushootseed (a.k.a. Puget Salish, Skagit-Nisqually, Dxʷləšúcid)

Northern

• Skagit (a.k.a. Skaǰət)
• Snohomish (a.k.a. Sduhubš)

Southern

• Duwamish-Suquamish (a.k.a. Dxʷduʔabš)
• Puyallup (a.k.a. Spuyaləpubš)
• Nisqually (a.k.a. Sqʷaliʔabš)

5. Nooksack (a.k.a. Nooksack ɬə́čələsəm, ɬə́čælosəm) (†)

6. Pentlatch (a.k.a. Pənƛ̕áč) (†)

7. Sháshíshálh (a.k.a. Sechelt, Seshelt, Shashishalhem, šášíšáɬəm)

8. Sḵwxwú7mesh snichim (a.k.a. Squamish, Sqwxwu7mish, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, sqʷx̣ʷúʔməš)

i. Straits Salish group (a.k.a. Straits)

9. Klallam (a.k.a. Clallam, Nəxʷsƛ̕áy̓emúcən)

• Becher Bay
• Eastern
• Western

10. Northern Straits (a.k.a. Straits)

• Lummi (a.k.a. Xwlemiʼchosen, xʷləmiʔčósən) (†)
• Saanich (a.k.a. SENĆOŦEN, sənčáθən, sénəčqən)
• Samish (a.k.a. Siʔneməš)
• Semiahmoo (a.k.a. Tah-tu-lo) (†)
• Sooke (a.k.a. Tʼsou-ke, c̓awk) (†)
• Songhees (a.k.a. Lək̓ʷəŋín̓əŋ) (†)

11. Twana (a.k.a. Skokomish, Sqʷuqʷúʔbəšq, Tuwáduqutšad) (†)

• Quilcene
• Skokomish (a.k.a. Sqʷuqʷúʔbəšq)

B. Tsamosan (a.k.a. Olympic)

i. Inland

12. Cowlitz (a.k.a. Lower Cowlitz, Sƛ̕púlmš) (†)

13. Upper Chehalis (a.k.a. Q̉ʷay̓áyiɬq̉) (†)

• Oakville Chehalis
• Satsop
• Tenino Chehalis

ii. Maritime

14. Lower Chehalis (a.k.a. ɬəw̓ál̕məš) (†)

• Humptulips
• Westport-Shoalwater
• Wynoochee

15. Quinault (a.k.a. Kʷínayɬ)

• Queets
• Quinault

C. Tillamook

16. Tillamook (a.k.a. Hutyéyu) (†)

Siletz

• Siletz

Tillamook

• Garibaldi-Nestucca
• Nehalem

Interior Salish

A. Northern

17. Shuswap (a.k.a. Secwepemctsín, səxwəpməxcín)

Eastern

• Kinbasket
• Shuswap Lake

Western

• Canim Lake
• Chu Chua
• Deadman's Creek–Kamloops
• Fraser River
• Pavilion-Bonaparte

18. Stʼatʼimcets (a.k.a. Lillooet, Lilloet, St'át'imcets)

• Lillooet-Fountain
• Mount Currie–Douglas

19. Thompson River Salish (a.k.a. Nlakaʼpamux, Ntlakapmuk, nɬeʔkepmxcín, Thompson River, Thompson Salish, Thompson, known in frontier times as the Hakamaugh, Klackarpun, Couteau or Knife Indians)

• Lytton
• Nicola Valley
• Spuzzum–Boston Bar
• Thompson Canyon

B. Southern

20. Coeur d’Alene (a.k.a. Snchitsuʼumshtsn, snčícuʔumšcn)

21. Columbian (a.k.a. Columbia, Nxaʔamxcín)

• Chelan
• Entiat
• Columbia-Moses
• Wenatchee (a.k.a. Pesquous)

22. Colville-Okanagan (a.k.a. Okanagan, Nsilxcín, Nsíylxcən, ta nukunaqínxcən)

Northern

• Quilchena & Spaxomin
• Head of the Lakes
• Penticton
• Similkameen
• Vernon

Southern

• Lakes-Colville-Inchelium
• Methow
• San Poil–Nespelem
• Southern Okanogan

23. Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead (a.k.a. Kalispel)

• Flathead (a.k.a. Séliš)
• Kalispel (a.k.a. Qalispé)

• Chewelah
• Kalispel

• Spokane (a.k.a. Npoqínišcn)

Pentlatch, Nooksack, Twana, Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, Cowlitz, and Tillamook are now extinct. Additionally, the Lummi, Semiahmoo, Songhees, and Sooke dialects of Northern Straits are also extinct.