Nicola is an extinct

Athabascan Athabaskan ( ; also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large branch of the Na-Dene language family of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, ...

language formerly spoken in the Similkameen and Nicola Countries of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

by the group known to linguists and ethnographers as the Nicola people, although that name in modern usage refers to an alliance of Interior Salishan bands living in the same area. Almost nothing is known of the language, except for a few words. The available material published by

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...

required only three pages. What the Nicola called themselves and their language is unknown. The Salishan-speaking Thompson Indigenous people who absorbed them (today's Nicola people, in part) referred to them as the "the strangers". So little is known of the language that beyond the fact that it is Athabascan it cannot be classified. Some linguists have suggested that it is merely a displaced dialect of Chilcotin, but the evidence is too little to allow a decision.

References

Sources

''The Thompson Country'', Mark Sweeten Wade
{{Languages of Canada Northern Athabaskan languages Indigenous languages of the North American Plateau First Nations languages in Canada Extinct languages of North America Nicola Country