Nisenan language

Nisenan
Southern Maidu
Native toUnited States
RegionCalifornia: Central California, scattered, foothills of the Sierras.
EthnicityNisenan
Native speakers
(1-5 cited 1994)[1]
Dialects
  • Valley Nisenan
  • Northern Hill Nisenan
  • Central Hill Nisenan
  • Southern Hill Nisenan
  • 9 other dialects[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nsz
Glottolognise1244
ELPNisenan
Distribution of Nisenan among the languages of California
Nisenan is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
[3]
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Nisenan (or alternatively, Neeshenam, Nishinam, Pujuni, or Wapumni) is a nearly[citation needed] extinct Maiduan language spoken by the Nisenan people of central California in the foothills of the Sierras, in the whole of the American, Bear and Yuba river drainages.

Ethnologue states that there is only one speaker left.[citation needed] However, it is believed that there are a few other speakers left, although the number is not known. Most speakers also speak one or more of the four different dialects.

There has recently been a small effort at language revival. Most notably the release of the "Nisenan Workbook" (three volumes so far) put out by Alan Wallace, which can be found at the California State Indian Museum in Sacramento and the Maidu Interpretive Center in Roseville.[citation needed]

As the Nisenan (like many of the Natives of central California) were not a unified nation but a collection of independent tribes which are grouped together primarily on linguistic similarity, there were many dialects to varying degrees of variation. This has led to some degree of inconsistency in the available linguistic data, primarily in regard to the phonemes.

  1. ^ Hinton, Leanne (1996). Flutes of fire: essays on California Indian languages (2nd print., rev ed.). Berkeley, Calif: Heyday Books. ISBN 978-0-930588-62-5.
  2. ^ "Nisenan". California Language Archive. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  3. ^ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 11.