Nuxalk is spoken at Bella Coola, on the coast of the mainland, and in the surrounding region. It is also known as Bella Coola.
No traditional name for all Nuxalk people or the language as a whole is known. The name currently used by the Nuxalk Nation and for the language is an anglicization of the word /nuxalk/ "Bella Coola Valley". Although originally restricted to the people of the Bella Coola Valley, the derivative term /nuxalkmx/ "people of the Bella Coola Valley" has been extended to all Nuxalk people since the consolidation of the Nuxalk people at Bella Coola village in the 1920s. The usual English name for this language, Bella Coola is an anglicization of /bəlxwəlá/, the Heiltsuk name for the Nuxalk.
Nuxalk is a Salishan language.
| HOME | BACK |
Yinka Déné Language Institute © 2006