Iowa-Oto

Print

Primary tabs

A language of United States

ISO 639-3
iow
Alternate Names
Iowa-Oto-Missouria
User Population

No known L1 speakers. Last fluent speaker, Otoe Truman Dailey, of Iowa and Chiwere died in 1996 (Mithun 1999). Ethnic population: 1,150 (Golla 2007).

Location

Oklahoma: central.

Language Status

9 (Dormant). Language of registered tribe: Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians.

Classification
Siouan-Catawban, Siouan, Mississippi Valley-Ohio Valley Siouan, Mississippi Valley Siouan, Chiwere-Winnebago
Dialects

Iowa (Bah Kho Je, Baxoje, Báxoje ich’é, Ioway), Chiwere (Jiwele, Jiwere, Jíwere ich’é, Oto, Otoe), Missouria (Missouri, Niutaji, Nyut’chi, Ñút’achi).

Language Use

In 1999, only 4 passive speakers remained, none fluent (Golla 2007). Shifted to English [eng].

Language Development

Dictionary. Grammar. Language preservation activities taking place in Oklahoma (Golla 2007).

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Iowa-Oto
Other Comments

Iowa and Oto formerly 1 language, with some family variations cross-cutting tribal affiliations. Missouri dialect extinct for many years.