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 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 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. Iroquoian_map_close_up

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

:::Huronian (†) :::: Huron-Wyandot (*) :::: Petun (Tobacco) (*) :::Tuscarora–Nottoway (*) :::: Tuscarora *) :::: 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 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 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, and Caddoan 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, 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 offers Ogwehoweh language Diploma and Degree Programs in

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, 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 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 ...

Family division

External relationships

Linguistics and language revitalization

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

Linguistics

General works