Hotade dialekter

Aka-Bo

även: Bo

A North Great Andamanese language originally of northern Great Andaman, whose surviving speakers were resettled on Strait Island. Died with Boa Sr in 2010; her speech and songs were recorded by Anvita Abbi in the Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese project.

Dalmatian

även: Dalmatic, Vegliote

An extinct Romance language of the eastern Adriatic coast, intermediate between Italo-Romance and Eastern Romance. Its last dialect, Vegliote of the island of Krk, died with Tuone Udaina in 1898, a year after Matteo Bartoli recorded around 2,800 words from him.

Eyak

The sole non-Athabaskan member of the Athabaskan-Eyak branch of Na-Dené, spoken around the Copper River delta near Cordova, Alaska. Died with Marie Smith Jones in 2008; thoroughly documented by Michael Krauss, whose materials now support a second-language revival.

Mandan

även: Nuʼeta

A highly divergent Siouan language of the upper Missouri River, latterly spoken on the Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota. Died with Edwin Benson in 2016, after Indrek Park's multi-year documentation with him; heritage teaching continues within the MHA Nation.

Old Prussian

även: Prussian, Prūsiskan

The only substantially attested West Baltic language, spoken in historical Prussia around the Sambia peninsula — today's Kaliningrad Oblast and north-eastern Poland. Extinct since the early 18th century, after the 1709–1711 plague; attested in three 16th-century catechisms and the Elbing vocabulary, with a modern reconstruction movement.

Sirenik

även: Sireniki Yupik, Old Sirenik

A highly divergent Eskaleut language of the village of Sireniki on the southern Chukchi peninsula, mutually unintelligible with its nearest Yupik relatives and sometimes treated as a third Eskimo branch. Died with its last speaker in 1997; the community now speaks Central Siberian Yupik and Russian.

Tehuelche

även: Aonekko ʼaʼien, Aonikenk

The last spoken Chonan language, of the Patagonian steppe in Santa Cruz province, southern Argentina. Died with Dora Manchado in 2019, taking the Chonan family with it as a living lineage; recorded in her final years by Javier Domingo, building on Ana Fernández Garay's documentation.

Ubykh

även: Pekhi

A Northwest Caucasian language of the Black Sea coast around present-day Sochi, carried to Anatolia in the 1864 deportation. Famous for one of the largest consonant inventories ever recorded — around eighty consonants against two phonemic vowels. Died with its last speaker, Tevfik Esenç, in 1992; extensively documented by Georges Dumézil.

Welsh Romani

även: Kååle, Welsh Kale

The inflected Northern Romani variety historically spoken by the Kååle of Wales. It was extensively documented by John Sampson in the early twentieth century and is now extinct as a first language, the last fluent speakers having died in the mid-twentieth century. It is notable as the last conservatively inflected Romani dialect attested in Britain.

Yagán

även: Yámana, Yágankuta

A language isolate of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, around the Beagle Channel and Navarino Island. Source of the famously untranslatable word mamihlapinatapai; recorded in a 32,000-word missionary dictionary by Thomas Bridges. Died with Cristina Calderón in 2022; heritage revival continues at Puerto Williams.

ǀXam

även: Cape Bushman

A !Ui (Tuu) click language of the Upper Karoo in the Northern Cape, extinct since the 1910s. Survives in the vast Bleek and Lloyd archive of the 1870s and in South Africa's national motto, !ke e: ǀxarra ǁke — "diverse people unite".

Ainu

Ett språkligt isolat hos ursprungsainufolket i Hokkaido och historiskt i Sachalin och Kurilerna. Akut hotat med endast en handfull modersmålstalare; föremål för en aktiv revitaliseringsinsats.

Cappadocian Greek

Grekiskan i inre Anatolien, isolerad i århundraden innan befolkningsutbytet 1923 förde dess talare till Grekland. Starkt turkpåverkad; en gång ansedd utdöd men återupptäckt i centrala Grekland under 2000-talet.

Chickasaw

även: Chikashshanompa

Ett muskogeanskt språk hos Chickasaw-nationen i Oklahoma. Nära släkt med choctaw; akut hotat med aktiv revitalisering genom Chickasaw-nationens språkavdelning.

Crimean Tatar

även: Qırımtatarca

Ett blandat turkspråk på Krimhalvön, härstammande från kontakt mellan kiptjak- och oghuzvarieteter. Akut hotat efter den sovjetiska deportationen 1944; föremål för en aktiv revitaliseringsinsats.

Great Andamanese

även: Present-day Great Andamanese, Jeru

A koine of the four North Great Andamanese languages, with a grammar based mainly on Jeru, spoken on Strait Island in the Andaman archipelago. Around three elderly speakers remain of one of the world's primary language families, notable for a grammatical system in which nouns and verbs are obligatorily marked with body-part-based prefixes.

Itelmen

även: Western Kamchadal

The sole surviving language of the Kamchatkan branch of Chukotko-Kamchatkan, spoken in villages along the western coast of Kamchatka such as Kovran. Only a few elderly fluent speakers remain; known for extremely complex consonant clusters, and structurally so divergent from Chukchi-Koryak that its place in the family is debated.

Jeju

även: Jejueo

Varieteten på ön Jeju, ofta klassificerad som ett separat koreaniskt språk. Bevarar arkaiska drag som gått förlorade på fastlandet och är akut hotad.

Kawésqar

även: Qawasqar, Alacalufe

The last surviving Alacalufan language, spoken at Puerto Edén on Wellington Island in the fjords of Chilean Patagonia. The language of the last nomadic canoe peoples of the southern channels; fewer than ten fluent speakers remain.

Ket

Det sista nu levande jenisseiska språket, talat längs mellersta Jenisej i centrala Sibirien. Cirka 200 äldre talare; nyligen kopplat till nordamerikanska na-déné-familjen i den omtvistade Dene-Yenisey-hypotesen.

Koryo-mar

även: Koryo-mal, Koryo-saram Korean

Den koreanska varieteten hos Koryo-saram, ättlingar till samhällen som 1937 deporterades från det sovjetiska Fjärran östern till Centralasien. En hamgyŏng-baserad dialekt, kraftigt påverkad av ryska, idag akut hotad.

Kusunda

även: Ban Raja

A language isolate of mid-western Nepal, historically spoken by forest-dwelling hunter-gatherers of the Dang valley and southern Rolpa. One fully fluent speaker remains; the language has no words for yes or no, expressing polarity through verb modification instead. Community revitalisation classes are ongoing.

Livonian

även: Līvõ kēļ, Liv

A Finnic Uralic language of the Livonian Coast of Courland, Latvia. The last fluent native speaker died in 2013, but an active revival sustains a small community of second-language speakers, supported by the University of Latvia Livonian Institute. Notable for its stød-like broken tone, rare among Uralic languages.

Lower Sorbian

även: Dolnoserbski, Niedersorbisch, Wendish

Ett västslaviskt språk som talas av sorbisk minoritet i Nedre Lausitz i Brandenburg, centrerat kring Cottbus (Chóśebuz). Akut hotat, med revitaliseringsinsatser i tvåspråkiga skolor och programmet Witaj.

Lushootseed

även: Puget Salish

Ett salishanskt språk hos Coast Salish-folken kring Puget Sound i västra Washington. Akut hotat; föremål för en aktiv revitalisering genom Tulalip- och Muckleshoot-stammarna.

Manchu

Ett tunguskt språk och det historiska hovsspråket under Qingdynastin (1644–1912). Idag akut hotat, med endast en handfull modersmålstalare i Heilongjiang.

Miyakoan

även: Miyako, Miyako Ryukyuan, Miyako language

A Southern Ryukyuan Japonic language of the Miyako Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. Not mutually intelligible with Standard Japanese; preserves distinctive Ryukyuan phonology and is severely threatened by shift to Japanese.

Munsee

även: Munsee Delaware, Lunaape

An Eastern Algonquian language of the Lenape (Delaware), originally spoken around the lower Hudson, including present-day New York City. The last native-speaker community is the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown in south-western Ontario, where a single elderly first-language speaker was reported in the 2020s alongside a growing circle of second-language learners.

Nivkh

även: Gilyak

Ett språkligt isolat på Sachalin och i nedre Amurbäckenet i Ryssland. Akut hotat; ett av få paleo-sibiriska språk utan påvisade släktingar.

Nǀuu

även: Nǁng, ǂKhomani

The last surviving language of the !Ui branch of the Tuu family, spoken in the southern Kalahari around Upington in the Northern Cape. One fluent native speaker remains, who runs a community language school; the language has one of the largest consonant inventories ever recorded, including dozens of click consonants.

Tsakonian

även: Tsakonika

Den enda nu levande ättlingen till den antika doriska grekiskan, talad i några byar på Peloponnesos kring Leonidio. Akut hotad; strukturellt skild från alla andra grekiska varieteter, som härstammar från attisk-jonisk grekiska.

Yaghnobi

även: Yagnobi

Ett östiranskt språk i Yaghnobdalen i Tadzjikistan. Den enda nu levande ättlingen till sogdiskan, medeltida Sidenvägens lingua franca; akut hotat.

Yuchi

även: Euchee, Tsoyaha

A language isolate of north-eastern Oklahoma, around Sapulpa within the Muscogee Nation, originally spoken in the south-eastern United States before removal. At most a handful of elderly native speakers remain; the Yuchi immersion school is again raising children with the language.

Zargari

även: Zargari Romani, Zargari Romanes, Zargar Romani

En starkt hotad romani-varietet som talas i och kring byn Zargar i provinsen Qazvin i nordvästra Iran, väster om Teheran. Samhället ska enligt traditionen ha bosatts under safavidernas tid och är en av de östligaste belagda romanitalande populationerna; dialekten bevarar en lexikalisk romanikärna men uppvisar starkt kontaktinflytande från persiska och azerbajdzjansk turkiska i fonologi, ordförråd och grammatik. Talarna är få och den intergenerationella överföringen har försvagats kraftigt.

Caló

även: Iberian Romani, Zincaló, Caló Romani

The Iberian para-Romani variety spoken by the Calé (Gitanos) of Spain and, in related forms, Portugal and southern France. A Romani-derived lexicon is embedded in a Castilian (or Catalan/Portuguese) grammatical frame; the older inflected Iberian Romani is no longer spoken. Caló vocabulary has left a marked imprint on Andalusian Spanish and flamenco.

Finnish Kalo

även: Kaale, Finnish Kaale, Fíntiko Rómma

A Northern Romani variety spoken by the Finnish Kale in Finland and, through twentieth-century migration, in Sweden. It shows heavy structural and phonological influence from Finnish, including consonant gradation, and is one of the most distinctive Northern Romani dialects. Intergenerational transmission has weakened markedly.

Jerusalem Domari

även: Domari of Jerusalem, Nawari

Den mest grundligt dokumenterade domarivarieteten, talad av domsamhället i Gamla staden i Jerusalem. Allvarligt hotad, med endast några hundra flytande talare; referensvarieteten i Matras (2012), A Grammar of Domari.

Manx

även: Gaelg

Ett goideliskt keltiskt språk på Isle of Man. Funktionellt utdött 1974 vid den siste modersmålstalarens död; återupplivat genom utbildning och idag talat som andraspråk av hundratals.

Romanichal

även: Angloromani, British Romani, Pogadi Chib

The Romani variety of the Romanichal Travellers of England and the wider British Isles. The older inflected dialect is no longer spoken; it survives as Angloromani, a para-Romani register in which a substantial Romani-derived lexicon is embedded in an English grammatical frame. Diaspora communities exist in North America and Australia.

Scandoromani

även: Tavringer Romani, Traveller Romani, Rommani

A para-Romani variety spoken by Traveller communities in Sweden and Norway, combining a Romani-derived lexicon with a Scandinavian grammatical frame. It descends from the speech of Romani groups present in the region since the sixteenth century and survives today largely as an in-group vocabulary register.

Seke

även: Tangbe

A Tamangic (Tibeto-Burman) language of five villages in Upper Mustang, Nepal, with roughly 700 speakers worldwide. A sizeable share of the community now lives in New York City, where about half of the diaspora speakers are concentrated in a single Brooklyn apartment building.

Western Neo-Aramaic

även: Maaloula Aramaic, Siryon

The only surviving Western Aramaic vernacular, spoken in the Anti-Lebanon villages of Maaloula, Bakhʿa, and Jubbʿadin north of Damascus by both Christian and Muslim communities. Fewer than 10,000 fluent speakers remain after wartime displacement, most of them older adults.

Wymysorys

även: Vilamovian, Wymysiöeryś

A West Germanic language spoken only in the town of Wilamowice in southern Poland, descended from medieval German-Flemish settlement. Around 20 elderly native speakers remain, but a youth revitalisation movement has produced a new cohort of fluent younger speakers.

Cajun French

även: Louisiana French, Français cadien

Franskan hos cajunska samhällen i södra Louisiana, härstammande från 1700-tals akadiska bosättare som fördrevs från de maritima provinserna. Hotad, med aktiv revitalisering genom CODOFIL och programmet Louisiana French Immersion.

Crimean Romani

även: Krymitika Roma, Crimean Roma

A Balkan Romani variety spoken by Roma communities of the Crimean peninsula and the northern Black Sea coast, marked by heavy contact influence from Crimean Tatar and other Turkic languages in both lexicon and phonology.

Hawrami

En äldre och särpräglad kurdisk varietet som talas i fickor längs gränsen mellan Iran och Irak; rik på klassisk poetisk tradition.

Kalmyk

även: Kalmyk Oirat, Khalimag

Europas enda mongoliska språk, talat i Republiken Kalmuckien av ättlingar till 1600-talets oirat-migranter från Dzungariet. Hotat men officiellt erkänt.

Mariupolitan Greek

även: Rumeika, Azov Greek

Grekiskan i Mariupolregionen i Ukraina, härstammande från samhällen som flyttades från Krim av Katarina den stora 1778. Hotad; strukturellt nära pontisk grekiska.

Mlabri

även: Mrabri, Yumbri

A Khmuic (Austroasiatic) language of formerly nomadic hunter-gatherers in the highlands of Nan and Phrae provinces, northern Thailand, and adjacent Laos. Roughly 100–300 speakers; its numeral system allows only one and two to modify nouns, and it lacks the register contrasts typical of related languages.

Occitan

även: Lenga dʼòc, Provençal

Ett romanskt språk i södra Frankrike, Arandalen i Katalonien och några alpina dalar i Italien. De medeltida trubadurernas språk; idag hotat i vardaglig användning.

Scottish Gaelic

även: Gàidhlig

Ett goideliskt keltiskt språk nära släkt med iriska, talat på Yttre Hebriderna och i delar av de skotska högländerna. Cirka 60 000 talare, med fortlöpande revitalisering genom gäliskmedialt skolundervisning.

Wakhi

även: Wakhi Pamir

Ett pamiririskt språk som talas längs Wakhankorridoren där Afghanistan, Tadzjikistan, Pakistan och Kina möts. Ett av de mest ålderdomliga iranska språken; bevarar drag från fornpersiskan som gått förlorade på andra håll.

Ruska Roma

även: Russian Romani, North Russian Romani, Xaladitka Roma

A Northern Romani variety spoken by the Ruska Roma across Russia and Ukraine, shaped by long and intensive contact with Russian. It was the basis of a short-lived literary standard developed in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s and remains one of the more vital Northern Romani dialects.