Wyandot language

Wyandot
Waⁿdat
Pronunciation[wa.ndá.t]
Native toCanada, United States
RegionNortheastern Oklahoma, Quebec; recently near Sandwich, Ontario, and Wyandotte, Oklahoma
EthnicityWyandot people
Extinct1972[1]
RevivalOklahoma and Quebec have limited language programs (2007)
Iroquoian
  • Northern
    • Lake Iroquoian
      • Huronian
        • Wyandot
Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
wyn – Wyandot
wdt – Wendat
Glottologwyan1247
Huron Wyandot is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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A Wyandot speaker, recorded in the United States.

Wyandot (also Wyandotte, Wendat, Quendat or Huron) is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known as Wyandot or Wyandotte, descended from the Tionontati. It is considered a sister to the Wendat language, spoken by descendants of the Huron-Wendat Confederacy. It was last spoken, before its revival, by members located primarily in Oklahoma, United States, and Quebec, Canada. Linguists have traditionally considered Wyandot as a dialect or modern form of Wendat.

Wyandot essentially died out as a spoken language with the death of the last native speaker in 1972, though there are now attempts at revitalization:

  • The Wyandotte Nation is offering Wyandot language classes in the Wyandotte Public Schools grades K–4, at the Wyandotte Nation's preschool "Turtle-Tots" program in Oklahoma and has created online language lessons for self-study.[2]
  • The Huron-Wendat Nation of Quebec is offering adult and children's classes in the Wendat language at its village school in Wendake.
  1. ^ Pulte, William (1999). "The Last Speaker of Wyandot". Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics. 24 (4): 43–44.
  2. ^ "Wyandotte Language Lessons". cs.sou.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-22.