List of endangered languages in Canada


An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language. UNESCO defines four levels of language endangerment between "safe" and "extinct": There are primarily eight languages that were spoken in Canada around 2010.
LanguageUsersStatusCommentsRef
Algonquin language/Anishinàbemiwin Vulnerable There are several dialects of the Algonquin language, generally grouped broadly as Northern Algonquin and Western Algonquin.
Aivilingmiutut language/Aivilik VulnerableInuktitut or Inuvialuktun dialect.
Assiniboine language 150Critically endangered Also in the United States.
Atikamekw language 6,165Vulnerable Divergent R-dialect of Western Cree. Closely related to Eastern Cree and Innu.
Blackfoot language 4,915Definitely endangered Southern Alberta, CA and Northern Montana, USA.
Bungee language 0-500Critically endangered Possibly extinct. Cree-Ojibwe-Scots-Gaelic creole language.
Carrier language/Dakeł 1,270Severely endangered
Cayuga language 61Critically endangered Split into 2 distinct groups, in Ontario and New York.
Central Ojibwe language 8,000Vulnerable
Chilcotin language/Tsilhqotʹin 860Severely endangered
Chipewyan language/Dene/Dënesųłiné 11,325VulnerableAthapaskan language in Canadian Subartic. Not to be confused with Chippewa.
Comox-Sliammon language/ʔayajuθəm 47Critically endangered Mainland and Island dialects. Island dialect is extinct.
Dakota language 290Critically endangered Also in the United States.
Dane-zaa language/Beaver 220Definitely endangered
Dogrib language/Tłı̨chǫ 1,735Definitely Endangered
Eastern Cree language/James Bay Cree 13,000Vulnerable Divided into 4 dialects.
Eastern Ojibwe language/Ojibwa Severely endangered
Gitxsan language 1,020Severely endangered
Gwich'in language 560Severely endangered Also spoken in Alaska.
Haisla language 240Critically endangered
Halkomelem language/Hul'qumi'num 100-260Critically endangeredThree distinct Dialects. Also in the United States.
Han language 20Critically endangered Also in Alaska.
Heiltsuk language/Bella Bella 60Critically endangered
Innu language/Eastern Montagnais 10,075Vulnerable
Inuinnaqtun language 1,310Definitely endangered Dialect of Inuvialuktun or Inuktitut.
Inuiuuk47Critically endangeredAlso known as Inuit Sign Language or Inuit Uukturausingit.
Inupiaq language/Alaskan Inuit 2,144Severely endangered Also in Alaska.
Kaska language 240Severely endangered British Columbia and Yukon
Kivallirmiutut language/Kivalliq VulnerableInuktitut or Inuvialuktun dialect.
Kutenai language 345Severely endangeredAlso use Ktunaxa Sign Language. Also in the United States.
Kwak'wala language 450Critically endangered4-5 distinct dialects. Also in the United States.
Lakota language Critically endangered 2,100 speakers in the United States.
Lillooet language/St̓át̓imcets 315Severely endangered
Malecite-Passamaquoddy language 355Definitely endangeredComposed of 2 dialects. Also in the United States.
Maritime Sign Language Critically endangered
Maniwaki Algonquin language/Southern Anishinàbemiwin Severely endangered Speakers at Maniwaki consider their language to be Southern Algonquin, though linguistically it is a dialect of Nipissing Ojibwa.
Michif language 730Critically endangered Cree-French creole language. Also in the United States.
Mi'kmaq language/Migmaw 7,140Vulnerable Also in the United States.
Mohawk language/Kanienʼkéha 3,875Definitely endangered Also in the United States.
Moose Cree language/Ililîmowin 3,000Vulnerable L-dialect of Western Cree.
Munsee language/Munsee Lenape/Ontario Delaware 2Critically endangered Unami language in the United States.
Naskapi language/Iyuw Iyimuun 1,230Vulnerable Eastern Cree dialect that shares features with Innu.
Natsilingmiutut/Netsilik VulnerableDialect of Inuvialuktun.
Nisga'a language 470-1,500Severely endangered Nisga’a is very closely related to Gitxsan.
Nootka language/Nuu-chah-nulth 130Severely endangered
North Slavey language 800Definitely endangered
Northern Haida language Critically endangeredDivided into 2 dialects. Also in the United States.
Northern Tutchone language Definitely endangered
Northwestern Ojibwe language Vulnerable
Inuttitut/Nunatsiavummiutut/Nunatsiavut VulnerableInuktitut dialect.
Nuxalk language/Bella Coola 17Critically endangered
Oji-Cree language/Severn Ojibwa 13,630Vulnerable
Okanagan language Definitely endangered5 dialects. Also in the United States.
Oneida language 47Critically endangeredOntario, CA and Wisconsin, USA.
Onondaga language 50Critically endangeredAlso in the United States.
Odawa language 360Severely endangeredAlso in the United States.
Plains Cree language 34,000Vulnerable Y-dialect of Western Cree.
Plains Sign Talk Critically Endangered
Potawatomi language Critically endangered Also in the United States.
Qikiqtaaluk nigiani language/South Baffin dialect VulnerableInuktitut dialect.
Qikiqtaaluk uannangani language/North Baffin dialect VulnerableInuktitut dialect.
Rigolet Inuktitut language 0-3Critically endangeredInuktitut/Nunatsiavut/Inttitut dialect.
Sarcee language/Tsuutʼina 150Critically endangered
Saulteaux language/Nakawēmowin 10,000Vulnerable Also known as Western or Plains Ojibwe.
Sechelt language 7Critically endangered
Sekani language 200Critically endangered
Seneca language Critically endangered Also in the United States.
Shuswap language/Secwepemctsín 200-1,190Definitely endangered Divided into 2 dialects.
Siglit dialect Severely endangeredInuvialuktun dialect.
South Slavey language 1,000Definitely endangered
Southern Haida language Critically endangered Divided into 2 dialects: Skidegate and Ninstints. Also in Alaska.
Southern Tutchone language Critically endangered
Squamish language/Sḵwx̱wú7mesh 450Critically endangered 1 native speaker left, 449 L2 learners.
Stoney language/Nakota/Nakoda 3,200Vulnerable
North Straits Salish language 105Severely endangeredAlso in the United States. Divided into 6 dialects.
Swampy Cree language/Maskekon/Omaškêkowak 1,805Vulnerable N-dialect of Western Cree.
Tahltan language 45Critically endangered
Thompson language/Nlaka'pamuctsin 130Severely endangered
Tlingit language 120Critically endangered Also in the United States.
Coast Tsimshian language/Sm'álgyax Critically endangered Also in Alaska.
Tuscarora language/Skaròꞏrə̨ 3Critically endangered Also in the United States.
Upper Tanana language/Nabesna Critically endangered Also in Alaska.
Western Abenaki language/Wôbanakiôdwawôgan 14Critically endangered Divided into 5 dialects. East Abenaki is extinct. Also in the United States.
Woods Cree language/Bush Cree 20,000Vulnerable TH-dialect pf Western Cree. Merged with Rock Cree.

Changes in Canadian Endangered Languages

Terminology

There is a "phonological process," or patterns used to simplify speech in the Oneida language that has been passed down for generations, this process is described as the loss of voicing in the vowel of the last syllable of a word. This process is vital to the preservation of the language, and has been changing among the speakers, such that some speakers have introduced a degree of voiced vowels in these final forms, which poises additional stress on the small population of speakers. The introduction in voicing the last syllable in words that typically are unvoiced is that it changes the traditional morphology of the language, pushing the original dialect towards language death, especially since the majority of speakers are older in age.

Blackfoot (Algonquian Language)

The Blackfoot language consists of the loss of voicing in the last syllable of a word, which is typically inaudible. Certain inflections, or the use of inaudible vowels has been identified as "old Blackfoot", and are not in frequent use by younger speakers. Similarly, a minority of Blackfoot speakers use the "soundless" suffixes, which is pushing the traditional language towards more extreme language endangerment and potentially language death.

Chipewyan (Athapaskan Language)

The Chipewyan language exhibits morphological characteristics that are far more complex than the majority of European languages. This includes conditioning of tone and morphology of phonemes, as well as frequent contractions, elisions, metatheses, and consonantal substitutions. Chipewyan is mainly endangered due to its complex structure, which makes it difficult to decipher the morphological code, as well as the fact that the majority of the speakers are in their mid-late adulthood.

Assiniboine

Assinibone is one of the language divisions out of five main language divisions within the Dakotan group of the Siouan family. The sound of this language differs from the other languages in the group because it merges voiceless stops with voiced stops. There are reports that syllabics to have been used by Assinibone speakers.. The Assiniboine language is spread over 2 communities in Canada, and is mainly used by older adults.

Central Ojibwe

There are about 8,000 speakers in the central Ojibwe language, and it has been spread over 16 communities in Canada. The language is spoken from Ontario Canada to Manitoba. It is also spoken in places from Michigan to Montana next to the Great Lakes which is the home of the Ojibwe people. The language today is spoken by people over the age of 70. The people of the Ojibwe language note that double vowels in their language are treated as standing for unit sounds, therefore they are alphabetized after corresponding single values.

Lakota (Siouan Language)

There are about 6,000 speakers in the Northern Plain States of North Dakota and South Dakota. Most native speakers are in their mid-50s. There is a growing interest to revitalize the language. At the Red Cloud Indian school, there are immersion classes for children to teach the language. However, at the moment, there are no children on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation that are fluent in the language. Within the next ten years, there will be children fluent in Lakota.

Dakota (Siouan Language)

There are about 20,000 native speakers, primarily in the North Dakota and South Dakota area, about 4,000 of which live in Minnesota. Dakota Wicohon is an after school camp that helps children learn the language, since it is not taught in the government-run boarding schools for American Indian youth. To help preservation efforts, technology like phraselators come into play, allowing learners to type in the words they want or orally speak the word they want and the machine will find it for them.

Dogrib (Northern Athabaskan Language)

There are about 2,640 speakers of the language in the Canadian Northwest Territories from the Great Slave Lake to the Great Bear Lake. Dogrib phonology is rather intricate and is organized into 5 levels. The first person to write a book in Dogrib was Herb Zimmerman, who translated the Bible into the language in 1981. Unlike many other Native American languages, there are children who are fluent in the language.

Kaska (Athabaskan Language)

This was typically a First Nations speaking language, and mainly lived in northern British Columbia and some from southeast Yukon in Canada. People who speak Kaska today still live within the British Columbia and Yukon Territory area. The speakers are elders, such as grandparents, and their children and grandchildren would speak English. First Nations have started work to re-create and preserve their heritage language.

Ottawa (Ojibwe Language)

The number of people who speak the Ottawa dialect is unknown, though it is predicted to be around 13,000. Native communities received $5 million a year for 7 years to help them in their efforts to preserve their languages and teach it to their children. The language is written with Latin letters and is a dialect of the Ojibwe language. Many descendants of migrants now live in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Stoney (Siouan Language)

There are roughly 3,200 people who speak Stoney in the Northern Plains and the Alberta province of Canada. Stoney has a Latin alphabet. The stress is one of the harder aspects about the language. The Stoney Indian Language Project was created to help make a standard format of the Stoney language. The project created 6 books for adults and children, as well as a videotape for third graders.

Potawatomi (Central Algonquian Language)

The Potawatomi Language is critically endangered because there are only 52 fluent speakers left surrounding the Great Lakes region in Michigan. Within a decade, those who are fluent will soon be dead, causing the culture to die out with them, along with the knowledge of history that has been passed down from previous generations. English has become the predominant language spoken in homes due to the halt of parents speaking Potawatomi to children from 20 to more than 50 years ago. Currently there are no teachings of the language but there are revitalization efforts to bring back the language and the culture that could possibly be gone forever.

Tuscarora (Northern Iroquoian Language)

Tuscarora entails complex morphology dealing with the copying of words, roots, stems, and affixes. There was a time where the Tuscarora language was spoken 'as the mother tongue,' used for all situations, but now there are approximately only four to five remaining elders who are fluent in the language. All of the elders are around the ages of seventy to eighty years old, where a possible result is the extinction of the Tuscarora language.

Cayuga (Northern Iroquoian Language)

The Native American Cayuga speaking people are located in Oklahoma and Ontario. With the splitting of the people into two geographical locations, they now begin to differ in terms of language usage, morphology and phonology. In the setting of Oklahoma, Cayuga has become influenced by other tribes and has to a certain extent, lost their original vocabulary. Cayuga contains a pitch accent where the placement of it can be predicted by metrical structure and constraints on the structure of the syllables.

Upper Tanana Language

The Upper Tanana Language originally was spoken in only five villages, each with a different dialect. Those villages were Beaver Creek, Scottie Creek, Northway, Nabesna, and Tetlin. Today, the language is only spoken by about 95 people, above the age of 50, in eastern interior Alaska. Depending on the dialect, the Upper Tanana Language has about six to seven phonemic vowels. the primary difference between the dialects is by the pitch of the tone. Also a major factor in the split of different dialects is that different dialects have different vowel inventories.

Nootka Language

Despite misinterpretation of studies which describe the phonetic inventory of Nootka, these studies do not suggest that its phonemic inventory is the main reason why the Nootka language may be severely endangered. A process known as glottalization is a key factor in being able to articulate certain sounds in the language, called ejective consonants. Though these sounds are not in English, they not linguistically rare. Many languages with a large body of speakers, including Arabic and Amharic contain these sounds, an observation which immediately discredits this theory. It is clear that Nootka, like all Canadian aboriginal languages, is endangered due to social factors alone.