Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik Resources | Government of Northwest Territories

Overview

Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik is part of the Dene-Athabaskan language family. It is also spoken in parts of Yukon and Alaska.

In 2019, there were 290 speakers in the NWT.

Speakers in the Northwest Territories may refer to Gwichʼin or its alternative spelling Kutchin, or one of its dialects/sub-dialects:

Teetł’it Gwichʼin (Fort McPherson)
Gwichya Gwichʼin (Tsiigehtchic)

In earlier decades, the term Loucheux was used by the French and Tukudh by Anglican missionaries.

Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik is the primary Indigenous language spoken in:

Fort McPherson
Tsiigehtchic

There is also a significant number of people who speak Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik in:

Inuvik
Aklavik

International Standards Organization (ISO) code

Gwichʼın – GWI

Orthographic conventions

Diacritics

Grave (low tone): ◌̀
Ogonek (nasalization): ◌̨
Unlike other Dene languages, Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik retains the tittle (dot) on «i».

Consonants

Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik uses the apostrophe «ʼ» instead of the character «ɂ» for a glottal stop. Its orthography also contains many more di- and trigraphs than other Dene languages as it was developed separately and converged with orthographies in Alaska and Yukon.

ch’

ddh

dzh

ghw

k’

khw

n’

t’

tth

tth’

tł

tł’

tr’

ts’

Vowels and diphthongs

a	à	ą	e	è	ę	i	ı̀	į
o	ò	u	ù	ao	aii	eii	eu

Words and Phrases

Hi, my name is ___	Dànch’ùh, ___ vìlzhìi gwichin.m
I live in ___	___ danh gwihch’inh
I work as/at/for ___	___ guuveenjit gwitr’it t’igwił’inh
Hello (i.e., how are you)	Dànch’ùh
Good morning	Vahn Gwiinzii
Thank you	Hąį’
Welcome	Shòh Hàh Aanàii
Merry Christmas	Drin Tsal Zhit Shòh Ohłih
Happy New Year	Drin Choo Zhìt Zhòh Ohłìi
Happy Valentine's Day	Edrii Drin Zhìt Shòh Ohłih
Happy Indigenous People's Day!	Tr’oochìt Gidilii Kat Diinagoo’ee Geenjit Shòh Goonlii Drìn!
Happy Indigenous Languages Month!	Dinjii Zhuh Ginjìk Gwisriinàn Zhìt Shòh Ohłih!
Happy International Mother Language Day!	Diihanh Ginjik Gwidrìn Zhìt Shòh Ohłih!