Negidal language

Negidal (also spelled Neghidal) is a language of the Tungusic family spoken in the Russian Far East, mostly in Khabarovskij Kraj, along the lower reaches of the Amur River. Negidal belongs to the Northern branch of Tungusic, together with Evenki and Even. It is particularly close to Evenki, to the extent that it is occasionally referred to as a dialect of Evenki.

According to the Russian Census 2002, there were 567 Negidals, 147 of which still spoke the language. Recent reports from the field reveal that the linguistic situation of Negidal is much worse than the official data: according to Kalinina (2008), whose data stem from the fieldwork conducted in 2005-2007, there are only three full speakers left, and a handful of semi-speakers. Negidal is thus to be considered practically extinct.

There were formerly two dialects: the Upper Negidal dialect along the Amgun River (village of Vladimirovka), still residually spoken, and the now extinct Lower dialect in its lower reaches (villages of Tyr and Beloglinka, the town of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur). The Lower dialect was especially close to Evenki.