Carrier book a
way to preserve

(3 language

Tyler Clarke, The Cutbanks
Doing his part to keep the Carrier
Language alive, local author
William J. Poser has recently
released a book through the CNC

Press titled The Carrier Language:

A Brief Introduction.

A self-proclaimed “Jew from
Vermont,” Poser first became
interested in the Carrier language

‘in the early 90’s. He became
inclined to write a book about
the language when he noticed _
graffiti in Fort St. John written in
Carrier. Interested in translating
it, and noticing that there weren't
too-many books on the subject
already, he made the decision to
write one himself. :

“| thought it wouldn't be that hard

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to do so |.sat down and wrote it ..
myself,” he said.

Having researched American First .

Nations languages earlier on in
his career when he was a member
of the Linguistics Department at
Stanford University from 1983 to
1994, Poser was already well-
versed in the nuances of First:
Nations languages.

“I’ve been compiling information,”
he said. “A lot of it comes from
dictionary databases.”

Other information has been
gathered by Poser through .
discussions and other means of
research, with write-ups in his
new book on the history of the
language, residential school’s
effect on it, as well as a traditional
First Nations story written in
Carrier. The book, he added, is

intended as an instructional tool to

help teach the basics of the Carrier

language.

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“It’s important,” he said of retaining
languages and of his new book.»
“It in itself-it won’t preserve the
language. It reallydependson-
whether or not people in the
community use it.”
Language, he added, helps in
understanding cértain aspects of
different cultures. As a result of "
the residential school system, First

Nations people were made to feel .

ashamed of their native language, '
something Poser sincerely hopes | .

will change. |
That said, Poser admits that it'll be ,
tricky for people to become fluent . :
in the language again. ;
“It's hard to become fluent ;
because in most places it isn’t
spoken around,” he said.
“| would like school teachers to
know more about language, and |
maybe this is a way to do that,” he. ,
said of his book. |
Celebrated with a Doctorate in _
Linguistics, Poser is currently a
Research Consultant to the Yinka |
Dene Language Institute based in:
Vanderhoof. .
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William J. Poser with his book. |
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