The Iroquoian languages are a language family of
indigenous peoples of North America
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...
. 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, bot ...
s. The Iroquoian languages are
polysynthetic
In linguistic typology, polysynthetic languages, formerly holophrastic languages, are highly synthetic languages, i.e. languages in which words are composed of many morphemes (word parts that have independent meaning but may or may not be able t ...
and
head-marking
A language is head-marking if the grammatical marks showing agreement between different words of a phrase tend to be placed on the heads (or nuclei) of phrases, rather than on the modifiers or dependents. Many languages employ both 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 Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
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, t ...
, are spoken by less than 10% of the populations of their tribes.
Family division
:Northern Iroquoian
::Lake Iroquoian
:::Iroquois Proper
::::
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
(severely endangered)
::::
Cayuga (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 capita ...
(severely endangered)
::::
Susquehannock/Conestoga (*)
::::Mohawk–Oneida
:::::
Oneida (severely endangered)
:::::
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
:::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
Neutral or neutrality may refer to:
Mathematics and natural science Biology
* Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity
Chemistry and physics
* Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...
(*)
::::
Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
(*)
::::
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 Wenrohronon or Wenro people were an Iroquoian indigenous nation of North America, originally residing in present-day western New York (and possibly fringe portions of northern & northwestern Pennsylvania), who were conquered by the Confeder ...
, 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 Pennsylvani ...
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, 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
The Meherrin Nation ( autonym: Kauwets'a:ka, "People of the Water") is one of seven state-recognized nations of Native Americans in North Carolina. They reside in rural northeastern North Carolina, near the river of the same name on the Virgini ...
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 enti ...
, 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 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 governm ...
offers Ogwehoweh language Diploma and Degree Programs in
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
or
Cayuga.
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
Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...
in
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
Renison University College is an affiliated university college of the University of Waterloo and located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Renison's campus is situated on the western border of Waterloo's main campus. The university college offers a ...
in collaboration with the Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre,
St. Paul's University College
United College, formerly known as St. Paul’s University College, is a university college affiliated with the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The College contributes to the University of Waterloo by offering academic progra ...
.
See also
*
Proto-Iroquoian language
Proto-Iroquoian is the theoretical proto-language of the Iroquoian languages. Lounsbury (1961) estimated from glottochronology a time depth of 3,500 to 3,800 years for the split of North and South Iroquoian.
At the time of early European con ...
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
Year 872 ( DCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* Sancho III Mitarra (or ''Menditarra'') becomes the founder and first 'king' of the indepe ...
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