Wailaki language (original) (raw)

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Athabaskan language of California

Wailaki
Eel River
Native to United States
Region California
Ethnicity Eel River Athapaskans
Extinct 1960s[1]
Revival 2010s[2][3]
Language family Dené–Yeniseian? Na-DenéAthabaskanPacific Coast AthabaskanCalifornia AthabaskanWailaki
Dialects Sinkyone Wailaki Nongatl Lassik
Language codes
ISO 639-3 wlk
Linguist List qt8
Glottolog wail1244
ELP Eel River Athabaskan
Wailaki and other California Athabaskan languages.
Eel River Athabaskan is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[4]

Wailaki, also known as Eel River, is an extinct and revitalizing Athabaskan language spoken by the people of the Round Valley Reservation of northern California, one of four languages belonging to the California Athabaskan cluster of the Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages. Dialect clusters reflect the four Wailaki-speaking peoples, the Sinkyone, Wailaki, Nongatl, and Lassik, of the Eel River confederation. While less documented than Hupa, it is considered to be close to it. It went dormant in the 1960s, but in modern times it is being revived.[3][2]

The sounds in Wailaki:

| | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | plain | sibilant | lateral | plain | pal. | | | | | | | Nasal | m[a] | n | | | | ŋ | | | | | Plosive | plain | p | t | ts[a] | | tʃ | k | kʲ | ʔ | | aspirated | | tʰ | | | tʃʰ | kʰ | kʲʰ | | | | ejective | | tʼ | tsʼ | | tʃʼ | kʼ | kʲʼ | | | | Fricative | | | s | ɬ | ʃ | ɣ | | h | | | Approximant | | | | l | j | w[a] | | | |

  1. ^ a b c Sounds /m, ts, w/ are rather rare.

Vowels in Wailaki are /i e a o/, and with length as /iː eː aː oː/.

Wailaki is polysynthetic, meaning that a single word in it is expressed in English as a sentence.[3]

  1. ^ Wailaki at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b Stansberry, Linda (June 9, 2015). "Welcome Back Wailaki: An Extinct Native Language Rebounds". North Coast Journal. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  3. ^ a b c "Reviving the Language – and Culture – of the Wailaki People | Humboldt NOW | Cal Poly Humboldt". now.humboldt.edu. 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  4. ^ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 11.