The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of

labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. The two common labial articulations are bilabials, articulated using both lips, and labiodentals, articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth, b ...

s. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian languages are severely or critically

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

, with only a few elderly speakers remaining. The two languages with the most speakers, Mohawk in New York and

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

, are spoken by less than 10% of the populations of their tribes. Iroquoian_map_close_up

Family division

:Northern Iroquoian ::Lake Iroquoian :::Iroquois Proper :::: Seneca (severely endangered) ::::

Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada * Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinoi ...

(severely endangered) :::: Onondaga (severely endangered) :::: Susquehannock/Conestoga (*) ::::Mohawk–Oneida :::::

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida ...

(severely endangered) ::::: Mohawk :::Huronian (†) :::: Huron-Wyandot (*) :::: Petun (Tobacco) (*) :::Tuscarora–Nottoway (*) ::::

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

*) :::: Nottoway (*) :::Unclear :::: Wenrohronon/Wenro (*) :::: Neutral (*) :::: Erie (*) :::: Laurentian (*) :Southern Iroquoian: ::::

Cherokee language 200px, Number of speakers Cherokee or Tsalagi ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, ) is an endangered-to- moribund Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people. ''Ethnologue'' states that there were 1,520 Cherokee speak ...

::::: Cherokee (South Carolina-Georgia Dialect) (Also known as Lower Dialect) (*) ::::: Cherokee (North Carolina Dialect) (Also known as Middle or Kituwah Dialect) (severely endangered) ::::: Cherokee (Oklahoma Dialect) (Also known as Overhill or Western Dialect) (definitely endangered) (*) — language extinct/dormant Evidence is emerging that what has been called the '' Laurentian'' language appears to be more than one dialect or language. Ethnographic and linguistic field work with the Wyandot tribal elders ( Barbeau 1960) yielded enough documentation for scholars to characterize and classify the Huron and Petun languages. The languages of the tribes that constituted the tiny Wenrohronon, the powerful Conestoga Confederacy and the confederations of the

Neutral Nation The Neutral Confederacy (also Neutral Nation, Neutral people, or ''Attawandaron'' by neighbouring tribes) were an Iroquoian people who lived in what is now southwestern and south-central Ontario in Canada, North America. They lived throughout ...

and the

Erie Nation The Erie people (also Eriechronon, Riquéronon, Erielhonan, Eriez, Nation du Chat) were Indigenous people historically living on the south shore of Lake Erie. An Iroquoian group, they lived in what is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylva ...

are very poorly documented in print. The Neutral were called ''Atiwandaronk,'' meaning 'they who understand the language' by the Huron (

Wyandot people The Wyandot people, or Wyandotte and Waⁿdát, are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. The Wyandot are Iroquoian Indigenous peoples of North America who emerged as a confederacy of tribes around the north shore of Lake Ontario ...

). They are historically grouped together, and geographically the Wenro's range on the eastern end of Lake Erie placed them between the larger confederations. To the east of the Wenro, beyond the Genesee Gorge, were the lands of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and southeast, beyond the headwaters of the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into New York then i ...

, lay the Conestoga (Susquehannocks). The Conestoga Confederacy and Erie were militarily powerful and respected by neighboring tribes. By 1660 all of these peoples but the Conestoga Confederacy and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy were defeated and scattered, migrating to form new tribes or adopted into others—the practice of adopting valiant enemies into the tribe was a common cultural tradition of the Iroquoian peoples. The group known as the Meherrin were neighbors to the Tuscarora and the Nottoway ( Binford 1967) in the American South and may have spoken an Iroquoian language. There is not enough data to determine this with certainty.

External relationships

Attempts to link the Iroquoian,

Siouan Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the ent ...

, and

Caddoan The Caddoan languages are a family of languages native to the Great Plains spoken by tribal groups of the central United States, from present-day North Dakota south to Oklahoma. All Caddoan languages are critically endangered, as the number ...

languages in a Macro-Siouan family are suggestive but remain unproven ( Mithun 1999:305).

Linguistics and language revitalization

As of 2012, a program in Iroquois linguistics at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, the ''Certificate in Iroquois Linguistics for Language Learners'', is designed for students and language teachers working in

language revitalization Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community groups, o ...

. Six Nations Polytechnic in

Ohsweken, Ontario Ohsweken () is a dispersed rural community located within the Six Nations of the Grand River, in the County of Brant, Ontario, Canada. Approximately 300 of the 2,700 homes on the reserve are in Ohsweken, and it is the site of the reserve govern ...

offers Ogwehoweh language Diploma and Degree Programs in Mohawk or

. Starting in September 2017, the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the close proximity of the ci ...

started offering a credit course in Mohawk; the classes are to be given at Renison University College in collaboration with the Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre, St. Paul's University College.

Family division

External relationships

Linguistics and language revitalization

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

Linguistics

General works