Yuchi language

Pre-contact distribution of the Yuchi Language

The Yuchi language is the language of the Yuchi people living in the southeastern United States, including eastern Tennessee, western Carolinas, northern Georgia and Alabama, in the period of early European colonization. However, speakers of the Yuchi language were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma in the early 1800s. Due to assimilation into Muscogee and English-speaking culture, only a few elderly speakers of the Yuchi language remain.

Classification

Yuchi is classified as a language isolate because it is not known to be related to any other language. Some linguists have tried to prove links to other American language families such as Siouan, but no conclusive evidence has emerged.

Geographic distribution

Yuchi is primarily spoken in the northeastern Oklahoma region. In 1997 there were 12-19 elderly speakers out of an estimated population of 1500. In 2005 there are about 10 speakers out of approximately 3000 people.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonants of Yuchi are listed below (with IPA notation in brackets):

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
			central	lateral
Stop	unaspirated	p  [p]	t  [t]			k  [k]	'  [ʔ]
	aspirated	pʰ  [pʰ]	tʰ  [tʰ]			kʰ  [kʰ]
	voiced	b  [b]	d  [d]			g  [g]
	ejective	p'  [p’]	t'  [t’]			k'  [k’]
Affricate	unaspirated		ts  [ʦ]		ch  [ʧ]
	aspirated		tsʰ  [ʦʰ]		chʰ  [ʧʰ]
	voiced		dz  [d]		j  dʒ]
	ejective		ts'  [ʦ’]		ch'  [ʧ’]
Fricative	voiceless	f  [f]	s  [s]	ł  [ɬ]	sh  [ʃ]		h  [h]
	voiced	v  [v]	z  [z]	l  [l]
Nasal			n  [n]
Glide		w  [w]			y  [j]

History

Yuchi people were originally native to various areas of the southeastern United States. However, speakers of the Yuchi language were forcibly relocated with the Muscogee (Creek) people to Oklahoma prior to the Trail of Tears.

Presence in popular literature

The Yuchi people and language are the subject of a chapter in Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages, a book on endangered languages by Mark Abley.

See also

• Yuchi

External links

• Ethnologue report for Yuchi

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