 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2024) |
| Yana | |
|---|---|
| Native to | United States |
| Region | California |
| Ethnicity | Yana |
| Extinct | 1916, with the death of Ishi[1] |
Hokan?
| |
| Dialects | Northern Central Southern
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ynn |
ynn | |
| Glottolog | yana1271 |
 Pre-contact distribution of the Yana language | |
The Yana language (also Yanan) is an extinct language that was formerly spoken by the Yana people, who lived in north-central California between the Feather and Pit rivers in what is now the Shasta and Tehama counties. The last speaker of the southernmost dialect, which is called Yahi, was Ishi, who died in 1916. When the last fluent speaker(s) of the other dialects died is not recorded. Yana is fairly well documented, mostly by Edward Sapir.
The names Yana and Yahi are derived from ya "people" plus an obligatory suffix, -na in the northern two dialects and -hi or -xi in the southern two dialects.[2]