Mandan language
| Mandan | |
|---|---|
| Nų́ų́ʔetaa íroo | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota |
| Ethnicity | Mandan |
| Extinct | 2016, with the death of Edwin Benson |
|
Siouan
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | mand1446 |
| Linguasphere | 64-AAB-a |
Mandan (autonym: Nų́ų́ʔetaa íroo) is an extinct Siouan language of North Dakota in the United States.
By 2009, there was just one fluent speaker of Mandan, Dr. Edwin Benson (1931-2016). The language is being taught in local school programs to encourage the use of the language.
Mandan is taught at Fort Berthold Community College along with the Hidatsa and Arikara languages. Linguist Mauricio Mixco of the University of Utah has been involved in fieldwork with remaining speakers since 1993. As of 2007, extensive materials in the Mandan language at the college and at the North Dakota Heritage Center, in Bismarck, North Dakota, remained to be processed, according to linguists.
Mandan was initially thought to be closely related to Hidatsa and Crow. However, since Mandan has had language contact with Hidatsa and Crow for many years, the exact relationship between Mandan and other Siouan languages (including Hidatsa and Crow) has been obscured and is currently undetermined. Thus, Mandan is most often considered to be a separate branch of the Siouan family.
Mandan has two main dialects: Nuptare and Nuetare.
Only the Nuptare variety survived into the 20th century, and all speakers were bilingual in Hidatsa. In 1999, there were only six fluent speakers of Mandan still alive.Edwin Benson, the last surviving fluent Mandan speaker, died in 2016.
The language received much attention from White Americans because of the supposedly lighter skin color of the Mandan people, which they speculated was due to an ultimate European origin. In the 1830s Prince Maximilian of Wied spent more time recording Mandan over all other Siouan languages and prepared a comparison list of Mandan and Welsh words (he thought that the Mandan may be displaced Welsh). The idea of a Mandan/Welsh connection was also supported by George Catlin.
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