Haida language
| Haida | |
|---|---|
| X̱aat Kíl, X̱aadas Kíl, X̱aayda Kil, Xaad kil | |
| Native to | |
| Ethnicity | Haida people |
|
Native speakers
|
24 (2007–2014) |
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
|
Official language in
|
 Council of the Haida Nation Alaska
|
| Regulated by | No official regulation |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | |
| ISO 639-3 |
Individual codes: hdn – Northern Haida hax – Southern Haida |
| Glottolog | haid1248 |
Pre-contact distribution of Haida
|
|
Haida /ˈhaɪdə/ (X̱aat Kíl, X̱aadas Kíl, X̱aayda Kil, Xaad kil,) is the language of the Haida people, spoken in the Haida Gwaii archipelago of the coast of Canada and on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. An endangered language by the book of UNESCO, Haida currently has about 20 native speakers, though revitalization efforts are underway. At the time of the European arrival at Haida Gwaii in 1774, it is estimated that Haida speakers numbered about 15,000. Epidemics soon led to a drastic reduction in the Haida population, which became limited to three villages: Masset, Skidegate, and Hydaburg. Positive attitudes towards assimilation combined with the ban on speaking Haida in residential schools led to a sharp decline in the use of the Haida language among the Haida people, and today almost all ethnic Haida use English to communicate.
Classification of the Haida language is a matter of controversy, with some linguists placing it in the Na-Dené language family and others arguing that it is a language isolate. Haida itself is split between Northern and Southern dialects, which differ primarily in phonology. The Northern Haida dialects have developed pharyngeal consonants, typologically uncommon sounds which are also found in some of the nearby Salishan and Wakashan languages.
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Wikipedia