The Iroquoian languages are a language family of
indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of
labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are
polysynthetic and
head-marking.
As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian languages are severely or critically
endangered, with only a few elderly speakers remaining. The two languages with the most speakers,
Mohawk in New York and
Cherokee, are spoken by less than 10% of the populations of their tribes.
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, Illinois ...
(severely endangered)
::::
Onondaga Onondaga may refer to:
Native American/First Nations
* Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League
* Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capi ...
(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 Na ...
(severely endangered)
:::::
Mohawk
:::Huronian (†)
::::
Huron-Wyandot (*)
::::
Petun (Tobacco) (*)
:::Tuscarora–Nottoway (*)
::::
Tuscarora *)
::::
Nottoway (*)
:::Unclear
::::
Wenrohronon/Wenro (*)
::::
Neutral (*)
::::
Erie (*)
::::
Laurentian (*)
:Southern Iroquoian:
::::
Cherokee language
:::::
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 and the
Erie Nation are very poorly documented in print. The Neutral were called ''Atiwandaronk,'' meaning 'they who understand the language' by the Huron (
Wyandot people). 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
Genesee, derived from the Seneca word for "pleasant valley", may refer to:
Geographic features Canada
* Genesee, Alberta, an unincorporated community
United States
* Genesee, California
*Genesee, Colorado
*Genesee County, Michigan
*Genesee C ...
, were the lands of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and southeast, beyond the headwaters of the
Allegheny River, 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, 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 of ...
languages in a
Macro-Siouan
The Macro-Siouan languages are a proposed language family that would include the Siouan languages, Siouan, Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian, and Caddoan languages, Caddoan families. Most linguists remain unconvinced that these languages share a gen ...
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.
Six Nations Polytechnic
Six Nations Polytechnic (SNP) is a Haudenosaunee-governed Indigenous institute on Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation. SNP is an Indigenous Institute, the third pillar of post-secondary education in Ontario, as recognized by the ''Indige ...
in
Ohsweken, Ontario offers Ogwehoweh language Diploma and Degree Programs in
Mohawk or
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, Illinois ...
.
Starting in September 2017, the
University of Waterloo in
Waterloo, Ontario 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.
See also
*
Proto-Iroquoian language
Notes
References
Further reading
Linguistics
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General works
*Driver, Harold E. 1969. ''Indians of North America''. 2nd edition. University of Chicago Press.
*Ruttenber, Edward Manning. 1992
872 History of the Indian tribes of Hudson's River'. Hope Farm Press.
*Snow, Dean R. 1994. ''The Iroquois''. Blackwell Publishers. Peoples of America.
*Snow, Dean R.; Gehring, Charles T; Starna, William A. 1996. ''In Mohawk country: early narratives about a native people''. Syracuse University Press. An anthology of primary sources from 1634–1810.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iroquoian Languages
Language families
Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands
First Nations languages in Canada
Native American language revitalization
Languages of the United States