Donation of the first printed Klallam Language Dictionary

The North Olympic Library System welcomes an exciting and historic donation of the first printed Klallam Language Dictionary to the Port Angeles Main Library Reference collection. Staff extend gratitude and thanks to Port Angeles High School Klallam Language teacher Jamie Valadez for this volume. Plans are underway to acquire additional copies for circulation and the archive collection in 2013. More information about the dictionary can be found in the Peninsula Daily News article: here . The dictionary is an important step in saving the Klallam language and teaching it to new speakers.

Features of the dictionary¹include:

• The Klallam alphabet and pronunciation guide.


• A list of English words with their Klallam equivalent.


• The history of the how the dictionary was produced, including the names and a brief biography of each contributor. The initials of the elders who helped with the dictionary are listed next to their contributions.

In addition to the dictionary, an audible pronunciation guide is available at http://tinyurl.com/hearklallam. A “word of the day” with an audio pronunciation is available online at Twitter or Facebook under the group name KlallamWOTD. The dictionary is currently on display at the Port Angeles Library in the Reference department.

Source: 1. Rice, A. (2012, December 12). First Klallam language dictionary revives ancient Native American tongue. The Peninsula Daily News on the Web. Retrieved December 26, 2012, from http://tinyurl.com/cxwvrq3 .