List of last known speakers of languages
Any language is determined to be an extinct language when the last native or fluent speaker of that language dies.
Out of the nearly 7,000 living languages, there are some 500 classified as nearly extinct because "only a few elderly speakers are still living".[1]
Last known speakers of languages
Name | Born | Died | Language | Taxonomy | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Marchant, ChestenChesten Marchant | unknown | 1676 | Cornish (last monoglot speaker) | Indo-European – Celtic – Insular Celtic – Brittonic | [notes 1] |
McMurray, MargaretMargaret McMurray | unknown | 1760 | Galwegian dialect, Scottish Gaelic | Indo-European – Celtic – Insular Celtic – Goidelic – Scottish Gaelic | |
Pentreath, DollyDolly Pentreath | unknown | 1777 | Cornish (traditionally known as the last fluent native speaker; disputed)[2] | Indo-European – Celtic – Insular Celtic – Brittonic | [notes 2] |
Shanawdithit | 1801 | c.1829 | Beothuk | unclassified | |
Sutherland, WalterWalter Sutherland | unknown | c. 1850 | Norn | Indo-European – Germanic – North Germanic – West Scandinavian | |
Juana Maria | unknown | 1853 | Nicoleño | Uto-Aztecan – Northern – Takic (unclassified beyond the Takic family) | |
Nikonha | c. 1765 | 1871 | Tutelo | Siouan – Western Siouan – Ohio Valley Siouan – Virginia Siouan | [notes 3] |
Trugernanner | c. 1812 | 1876 | an unidentified Tasmanian language | unknown; there were multiple language families in Tasmania | [notes 4] |
Davey, JohnJohn Davey | 1812 | 1891 | Cornish (some knowledge) | Indo-European – Celtic – Insular Celtic – Brittonic | [notes 5] |
Udaina, TuoneTuone Udaina | 1823 | 1898 | Dalmatian | Indo-European – Italic – Romance – Italo-Dalmatian | |
Smith, Fanny CochraneFanny Cochrane Smith | 1834 | 1905 | an unidentified Tasmanian language | unknown; there were multiple language families in Tasmania | [notes 6] |
Fielding, FideliaFidelia Fielding | 1827 | 1908 | Mohegan-Pequot | Algic – Algonquian – Eastern Algonquian | |
Toney, SantuSantu Toney | 1835 | c. 1910 | Beothuk (some knowledge) | unclassified | [notes 7] |
Mann, JohnJohn Mann | 1834 | c. 1914 | Cornish (extent of proficiency unclear) | Indo-European – Celtic – Insular Celtic – Brittonic | [notes 8] |
Ishi | c. 1860 | 1916 | Yana | language isolate | [notes 9] |
Noble, SallySally Noble | unknown | 1922 | Chimariko | language isolate | |
Solorsano, AscencionAscencion Solorsano | unknown | 1930 | Mutsun | Yok-Utian – Utian – Ohlone/Costanoan – Southern | [5] |
Johnson, FrancesFrances Johnson | unknown | 1934 | Takelma | language isolate | |
Trruúlmani | unknown | 1934 | Puelche | Chon | |
Watt Sam and Nancy Raven | unknown | late 1930s | Natchez | language isolate | |
Meadows, IsabelIsabel Meadows | 1846 | 1939 | Rumsen | Yok-Utian – Utian – Ohlone/Costanoan – Southern | |
Decloux, DelphineDelphine Decloux | 1871 | 1940 | Chitimacha | language isolate | |
Youchigant, SesostrieSesostrie Youchigant | unknown | 1940s | Tunica | language isolate | |
Nalig, JamesJames Nalig | c. 1870s | 1954 | Utaha | Austronesian – Malayo-Polynesian – Southern Oceanic – Oceanic | [6] |
Annie O'Hanlon | unknown | 1960 | Leinster dialect, Irish | Indo-European – Celtic – Insular Celtic – Goidelic – Irish | |
Yee, MaryMary Yee | 1897 | 1965 | Barbareño | Chumashan – Southern – Central | [notes 10] |
Wood, ManfriManfri Wood | unknown | 1968 | Welsh Romani | Indo-European – Romani – Northern Romani | [7] |
Maddrell, NedNed Maddrell | 1877 | 1974 | Manx | Indo-European – Celtic – Insular Celtic – Goidelic | [notes 11] |
Loij, ÁngelaÁngela Loij | c. 1900 | 1974 | Selk’nam[notes 12] | Chon | |
Lunel, ArmandArmand Lunel | 1892 | 1977 | Shuadit (Jewish dialect of Occitan) | Indo-European – Italic – Romance – Western – Ibero-Romance – Occitan | |
Palmer, AlfAlf Palmer | c. 1891 | 1981 | Warrungu | Pama-Nyungan – Maric | |
Séamus Bhriain Mac Amhlaig | unknown | 1983 | Antrim dialect, Irish | Indo-European – Celtic – Insular Celtic – Goidelic – Irish | |
Butler, JackJack Butler | 1901 | 1986 | Jiwarli dialect, Mantharta | Pama-Nyungan – Kanyara–Mantharta – Mantharta | |
Nolasquez, RoscindaRoscinda Nolasquez | 1892 | 1987 | Cupeño | Uto-Aztecan – Northern – Takic – Cupan – Cahuilla-Cupeño | |
Plotnikova, KlavdiyaKlavdiya Plotnikova | c. 1895 | 1989 | Kamassian | Uralic – Samoyedic – Core Samoyedic – Kamas–Selkup | |
Munro, MorndiMorndi Munro | unknown | 1990s | Unggumi dialect, Worrorra | Worrorran – Western – Worrorra | |
Bernat, FidelaFidela Bernat | 1898 | 1991 | Roncalese (Erronkarriko) dialect, Basque | Basque is a language isolate | |
Esenç, TevfikTevfik Esenç | 1904 | 1992 | Ubykh | Northwest Caucasian | |
Asai, TakeTake Asai | c. 1901 | 1994 | Sakhalin Ainu | Ainu | |
Paterson, AlgyAlgy Paterson | unknown | 1995 | Martuthunira | Pama-Nyungan – Ngayarta | |
Dailey, Truman WashingtonTruman Washington Dailey | 1898 | 1996 | Otoe-Missouria dialect, Chiwere | Siouan – Western Siouan – Mississippi Valley – Chiwere–Winnebago – Chiwere | |
Vyie | unknown | 1997 | Sirenik Eskimo | Eskimo-Aleut – Eskimo – Yupik? | |
Charles, CarmelCarmel Charles | 1912 | 1999 | Nyulnyul | Nyulnyulan – Western | |
Neidjie, Big BillBig Bill Neidjie | c. 1920 | 2002 | Gaagudju | Arnhem | |
Thompson, Edward LeonardEdward Leonard Thompson | 1904 | 2002 | Unami Lenape | Algonquian–Eastern Algonquian | [notes 13] |
Jones, Marie SmithMarie Smith Jones | 1918 | 2008 | Eyak | Na-Dené – Athabascan-Eyak | |
Ms. Boro | unknown | 2009 | Aka-Kora | Great Andamanese – Northern | |
Rozario, WilliamWilliam Rozario | unknown | 2010 | Cochin Indo-Portuguese creole | Portuguese Creole – Indo-Portuguese Creoles | |
Pan Jin-yu | 1914 | 2010 | Pazeh | Austronesian – Northwest Formosan | |
Boa Sr. | c. 1925 | 2010 | Aka-Bo | Great Andamanese – Northern | |
Hogg, BobbyBobby Hogg | 1920 | 2012 | Cromarty fisher dialect, Scots | Indo-European – Germanic – West Germanic – Anglo-Frisian – Anglic | |
Kristiņa, GrizeldaGrizelda Kristiņa | 1910 | 2013 | Livonian | Uralic – Finnic | [notes 14] |
Sampson, HazelHazel Sampson | 1911 | 2014 | Klallam | North Straits Salishan Languages – Salishan Languages | [notes 15] |
McLemore, DorisDoris McLemore | 1927 | 2016 | Wichita | Caddoan – Northern | [8] |
Calderón, CristinaCristina Calderón | May 24, 1928 | living | Yaghan | language isolate | |
Benson, EdwinEdwin Benson | 1931 | living | Mandan | Siouan – Western Siouan | |
Mungulda, CharlieCharlie Mungulda | unknown | living | Amurdag | Iwaidjan | [9] |
Parker, VerdenaVerdena Parker | unknown | living | Hupa | Na-Dené – Athabaskan-Eyak – Athabaskan – Pacific Coast Athabaskan | [10][11][notes 16] |
Sen, Gyani MaiyiGyani Maiyi Sen | c. 1937 | living | Kusunda | language isolate | [12] [notes 17] |
Abegaz | c. 1920 | after 2001 | Mesmes | West Gurage - Ethiopian Semitic language | [13] [14] |
Wilcox, MarieMarie Wilcox | 1933 | living | Wukchumni | Yok-Utian – Yokutsan – General Yokuts – Nim – Tule-Kaweah | [15] |
George, TommyTommy George | 1928 | 2016 | Awu Laya | Pama–Nyungan – Paman – Thaypan – Kuku-Thaypan – Awu Laya | [16] |
See also
- Language death
- Extinct language
- Lists of endangered languages
- List of languages by time of extinction
Notes
- ↑ Believed to have been the last monoglot Cornish speaker, as opposed to other speakers such as Dolly Pentreath who could also speak English. See Last speaker of the Cornish language.
- ↑ Possibly the last fluent native speaker of the Cornish language, was monoglot until her twenties. See Last speaker of the Cornish language.
- ↑ Last full-blooded speaker, though partial knowledge of this language continued among mixed Cayuga-Tutelo descendants for some time.
- ↑ Considered to be the last full-blood speaker of a Tasmanian language;[3] however, Fanny Cochrane Smith, who spoke one of the Tasmanian languages, outlived her.
- ↑ A Cornish farmer who was one of the last people with some traditional knowledge of the Cornish language.[4] See Last speaker of the Cornish language.
- ↑ Considered to be the last fluent speaker of a Tasmanian language.
- ↑ Recorded a song in Beothuk in 1910.
- ↑ The last attested native Cornish language speaker, part of a group of children who conversed in Cornish, interviewed in 1914 at the age of 80.[2] See Last speaker of the Cornish language.
- ↑ Last member of the Yahi, the last surviving group of the Yana people who spoke Yana
- ↑ Last attested speaker of a Chumashan language
- ↑ Last surviving native speaker; the language has since been revived.
- ↑ The last full-blooded Selknam Indian, but some have suggested certain people remained fluent in the languages until the 1980s.
- ↑ Brother of Lenape traditionalist and language preservation activist Nora Thompson Dean
- ↑ Last surviving native speaker; some children still learn it as a second language.
- ↑ Last surviving native speaker; it is being taught as a second language on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.
- ↑ Last fluent speaker; several non-fluent speakers remain
- ↑ Last fluent native speaker; several non-fluent speakers remain
References
- ↑ Endangered languages Ethnologue: Languages of the World. (Archived 6 July 2012 at WebCite)
- 1 2 "Legend of Dolly Pentreath outlived her native tongue". This is Cornwall. 2011-08-04. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
- ↑ Field linguistics: a beginner's guide.
- ↑ De Bruxelles, Simon (21 May 2008). "After centuries, Cornish agree how to speak their language". The Times.
- ↑ Archived 4 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "What happened to Erromango's languages?" by Terry Crowley, The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 106:33-64, No. 1 (1997)
- ↑ Kenrick, Donald (2010). The A to Z of the Gypsies (Romanies). Toronto: Scarecrow Press. p. 289. ISBN 9780810875616.
- ↑ "The Last Living Speaker of Wichita : NPR" (Audio interview).
- ↑ "Scientists Race Around World to Save Dying Languages". Fox News. Associated Press. 20 September 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ↑ Evans, Nicholas (2010). Dying words: endangered languages and what they have to tell us. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-23305-3.
- ↑ Newberry, Daniel. "Rescuing Languages From Extinction: The Experience of the Hoopa Valley, Karuk, and Yurok Tribes". Jefferson Public Radio. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- ↑ "Obscure language isolate will die with this woman". The Hot Word - Hot & Trending Words Daily Blog at Dictionary.com. 2012-06-03. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ↑ Ahland, Michael Bryan. (2010). Language death in Mesmes. Dallas: SIL International and the University of Texas at Arlington.
- ↑ Bustorf, Dirk. (2007). "Mäsmäs”, in: Siegbert Uhlig (ed.): Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 3: D-Ha, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 838-39.
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/opinion/who-speaks-wukchumni.html
- ↑ "Language lost with the passing of 'great elder' Tommy George". The Australian. 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
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