Yurok

Print

Primary tabs

A language of United States

ISO 639-3
yur
Alternate Names
Chillula, Mita, Pekwan, Rikwa, Sugon, Weitspek, Weitspekan
User Population

No known L1 speakers. The last speaker, Archie Thompson, died in 2013 (2013 L. Romney). A few dozen semispeakers and passive speakers, middle-aged or older (Golla 2007). Ethnic population: 4,000 (Golla 2007).

Location

California: northwest.

Language Status

9 (Dormant). Language of registered tribe: Big Lagoon Rancheria, Blue Lake Rancheria, Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, Elk Valley Rancheria, Resighini Rancheria, Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation.

Classification
Algic, Ritwan
Typology

Flexible word order; verb affixes mark person and number; tense and aspect.

Language Use

Shifted to English [eng].

Language Development

Local school programs since the 1970s at the primary and secondary levels (Golla 2007). Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. Yurok is taught in public schools in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, including five high schools (2013 L. Romney).

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Yurok
Writing

Latin script [Latn], Unifon style has been widely employed in classroom teaching, but other orthographies are also in use (Golla 2007).