View source for Iroquoian languages

{{short description|Native American language family}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = Iroquoian
| altname       = Ogwehoweh
| region        = Eastern [[North America]]
| ethnicity     = [[Iroquoian peoples]]
| familycolor   = American
| family        = One of the world's primary [[language family|language families]]
| protoname     = [[Proto-Iroquoian language|Proto-Iroquoian]]
| child1        = [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]]
| child2        = Northern Iroquoian
| iso2          = iro
| iso5          = iro
| glotto        = iroq1247
| glottorefname = Iroquoian
| map           = Iroquoian_map_close_up.svg
| mapcaption    = Labeled map showing pre-contact distribution of the Iroquoian languages
}}

The '''Iroquoian languages''' ({{IPA|en|ɪrəˈkwɔɪən}}) or '''Ogwehoweh languages'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.snpolytechnic.com/program/bachelor-arts-ogwehoweh-languages|title=Ogwehoweh Languages|website=Six Nations Polytechnic|access-date=August 31, 2025}}</ref> are a language family of [[indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous peoples of North America]]. They are known for their general lack of [[labial consonant]]s. The Iroquoian languages are [[polysynthetic language|polysynthetic]] and [[head-marking language|head-marking]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Mithun |first=Marianne |author-link=Marianne Mithun |title=Grammaticalization and Polysynthesis: Iroquoian |url=http://www.linguistik.fb05.uni-mainz.de/files/2015/01/Abstract_Mithun.pdf |access-date=June 8, 2015 |website=[[Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz]] |archive-date=February 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214004548/https://www.linguistik.fb05.uni-mainz.de/files/2015/01/Abstract_Mithun.pdf }}</ref>

As of 2020, almost all surviving Iroquoian languages are severely or critically [[Endangered language|endangered]], with some languages having only a few elderly speakers remaining. The two languages with the most speakers, [[Mohawk language|Mohawk]] (Kenien'kéha) in New York and Canada, and [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]] in Oklahoma and North Carolina, are spoken by less than 10% of the populations of their nations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php?hl=en&page=atlasmap&cc2=US |title=UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |work=[[unesco]].org |access-date=December 17, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iroquoian Languages |url=http://www.languagegeek.com/rotinonhsonni/iroquoian.html |work=languagegeek.com |access-date=August 9, 2015 |date=22 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223184513/http://www.languagegeek.com/rotinonhsonni/iroquoian.html |archive-date=February 23, 2012 }}</ref>

==Family division==

{{tree list}}
*'''Iroquoian'''
**Northern Iroquoian
***(Lake Iroquoian)<!-- may not be a valid clade-->
****Iroquois Proper (Five Nations)
*****[[Seneca language|Seneca]] <small>(severely endangered)</small>
*****[[Cayuga language|Cayuga]] <small>(severely endangered)</small>
*****[[Onondaga language|Onondaga]] <small>(severely endangered)</small>
*****[[Susquehannock language|Susquehannock]] or Conestoga {{extinct}}
*****Mohawk–Oneida
******[[Oneida language|Oneida]] <small>(severely endangered)</small>
******[[Mohawk language|Mohawk]] <small>(definitely endangered)</small>
****Huronian
*****[[Wyandot language|Wendat/Wyandot]] (Huron) {{extinct}}
*****[[Petun]] (Tobacco) {{extinct}}
***Tuscarora–Nottoway 
****[[Tuscarora language|Tuscarora]] {{extinct}}
****[[Meherrin language|Meherrin]] {{extinct}}
****[[Nottoway language|Nottoway]] {{extinct}}
***Unclassified
****[[Wenrohronon language|Wenrohronon]] or Wenro {{extinct}}
****[[Neutral Huron language|Neutral]] {{extinct}}
****[[Erie language|Erie]] {{extinct}}
****[[Laurentian language|Laurentian]] {{extinct}}
****[[Scahentoarrhonon]] {{extinct}}
**Southern Iroquoian/[[Cherokee language|Cherokee]]
***South Carolina-Georgia dialect ({{aka}} Lower dialect) {{extinct}}
***North Carolina dialect ({{aka}} Middle or Kituwah dialect) <small>(severely endangered)</small>
***Oklahoma dialect ({{aka}} Overhill or Western dialect) <small>(definitely endangered)</small>
{{tree list/end}}
'''{{extinct}}''' — language extinct/dormant

Evidence is emerging that what has been called the ''[[Laurentian language|Laurentian]]'' language appears to be more than one dialect or language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.native-languages.org/laurentian.htm|title=Laurentian Language and the Laurentian Indian Tribe (Stadaconan, Kwedech, Hochelagan)|website=www.native-languages.org|access-date=2020-04-11}}</ref> Ethnographic and linguistic field work with the Wyandot tribal elders ([[#refBarbeau1960|Barbeau 1960]]) yielded enough documentation for scholars to characterize and classify the Wyandot and Petun languages.

The  languages of the tribes that constituted the tiny [[Wenrohronon]],{{efn 
 |Historical examination of the Jesuits records suggest that, following the Seneca conquest of [[Oil Springs Reservation|Oil Spring]] in 1638, the Wenro may have had no more than three villages sandwiched between Buffalo and [[Rochester, NY|Rochester]] (i.e., between the [[Niagara River|Niagara]] and [[Genesee River|Genesee]] rivers).<ref name="AmHeritageBk">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1961 |title=The American Heritage Book of Indians|editor=Alvin M. Josephy Jr. |pages=188–219|publisher=American Heritage Publishing Co. |lccn=61-14871}}</ref>}} the powerful Conestoga Confederacy and the confederations of the [[Neutral Nation]] and the [[Erie (tribe)|Erie Nation]] are very poorly documented in print. The [[Wyandot people|Wyandot]] referred to the Neutral people as ''Atiwandaronk,'' meaning 'they who understand the language'. The Wenro and Neutral are historically grouped together, and geographically the Wenro's range on the eastern end of Lake Erie placed them between the larger confederations. To the east of the Wenro, beyond the [[Genesee Gorge]], were the lands of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. To the southeast, beyond the headwaters of the [[Allegheny River]], lay the Conestoga (Susquehannock).<ref name="AmHeritageBk"/>  The Conestoga Confederacy and Erie were militarily powerful and respected by neighboring tribes.<ref name="AmHeritageBk"/>  By 1660 all of these peoples but the Conestoga Confederacy and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy were defeated and scattered, migrating to form new tribes or adopted into others. The Iroquoian peoples had a practice of adopting valiant enemies into the tribe; they also adopted captive women and children to replace members who had died.<ref name="AmHeritageBk"/>

The group known as the [[Meherrin]] were neighbors to the Tuscarora and the Nottoway ([[#refBinford1967|Binford 1967]]) in the American South. They are believed to have spoken an Iroquoian language but documentation is lacking.

==External relationships==
Attempts to link the Iroquoian, [[Siouan languages|Siouan]], and [[Caddoan languages|Caddoan]] languages in a [[Macro-Siouan languages|Macro-Siouan]] family are suggestive but remain unproven ([[#refMithun1999|Mithun 1999]]:305).

== Linguistics and language revitalization ==
As of 2012, a program in Iroquois linguistics at [[Syracuse University]], the ''Certificate in Iroquois Linguistics for Language Learners'', is designed for students and language teachers working in [[language revitalization]].<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Certificate in Iroquois Linguistics for Language Learners
| work = University College
| access-date = September 6, 2012
| url = http://uc.syr.edu/CIL/
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
| last = Gale Courey Toensing
| title = Iroquois Linguistics Certificate at Syracuse University Comes at Important Time for Native Languages
| work = Indian Country Today Media Network
| access-date = September 6, 2012
| date = September 2, 2012
| url = http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/09/02/iroquois-linguistics-certificate-at-syracuse-university-comes-at-important-time-for-native-languages-132152
| archive-date = September 4, 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120904005815/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/09/02/iroquois-linguistics-certificate-at-syracuse-university-comes-at-important-time-for-native-languages-132152
}}</ref>

[[Six Nations Polytechnic]] in [[Ohsweken, Ontario]] offers Ogwehoweh language Diploma and Degree Programs in [[Mohawk language|Mohawk]] or [[Cayuga language|Cayuga]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.snpolytechnic.com/programs-courses/university|title=University Program|website=Six Nations Polytechnic|access-date=December 3, 2021}}</ref>

Starting in September 2017, the [[University of Waterloo]] in [[Waterloo, Ontario]] started offering a credit course in Mohawk; the classes are to be given at [[Renison University College]] in collaboration with the Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre, [[St. Paul's University College]].<ref name=Bueckert>{{cite news |title=Mohawk language course to be offered for 1st time at UW |work=CBC News |author= Bueckert, Kate |date=17 Aug 2017 |access-date=17 Aug 2017 |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/mohawk-course-kanienkeha-renison-university-waterloo-1.4249770?cmp=rss}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Languages}}
{{sister project |project=wiktionary |text=[[Wiktionary]] has a list of reconstructed forms at '''''[[Wiktionary:Appendix:Proto-Iroquoian reconstructions|Appendix:Proto-Iroquoian reconstructions]]'''''}}
*[[Proto-Iroquoian language]]
* [[Dean R. Snow]] and [[William A. Starna]] – archeologists and historians who have conducted ground-breaking archeological research in the [[Mohawk Valley]] and other Iroquoian sites

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
===Linguistics===
{{refbegin|indent=yes|30em}}
*{{Citation
 | year = 1960
 | last = Barbeau
 | first = C. Marius
 | title = Huron-Wyandot Traditional Narratives in Translations and Native Texts
 | series = National Museum of Canada Bulletin 47; Anthropological Series 165
 | place =  [Ottawa]
 | publisher = Canada Dept. of Northern Affairs and National Resources
 | oclc = 1990439
 | ref = refBarbeau1960
}}.
*{{Citation
 | last = Binford
 | first = Lewis R.
 | year = 1967
 | title = An Ethnohistory of the Nottoway, Meherrin and Weanock Indians of Southeastern Virginia
 | periodical = Ethnohistory
 | volume = 14
 | issue = 3/4
 | pages = 103–218
 | doi = 10.2307/480737
 | publisher = Ethnohistory, Vol. 14, No. 3/4
 | jstor=480737
 | ref = refBinford1967
}}.
*{{Citation
 | last = Chilton
 | first = Elizabeth
 | year = 2004
 | editor-last = Pauketat
 | editor-first = Timothy R. |editor-link=Timothy Pauketat
 | editor2-last = Loren
 | editor2-first = Diana Dipaolo
 | contribution = Social Complexity in New England: AD 1000–1600
 | title = North American Archaeology
 | pages = 138–60
 | place = Malden, MA
 | publisher = Blackwell Press
 | oclc = 55085697
 | ref = refChilton2004
}}.
*{{Citation
 | year = 1996
 | editor-last = Goddard
 | editor-first = Ives
 | title = Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 17: Languages
 | place = Washington, DC
 | publisher = Smithsonian Institution
 | oclc = 43957746
 | isbn = 0-16-048774-9
 | ref = refGoddard1996
}}.
*{{Citation
 | year = 1978
 | last = Lounsbury
 | first = Floyd G.
 | editor-last = Trigger
 | editor-first = Bruce G.
 | chapter = Iroquoian Languages
 | title = Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15: Northeast
 | pages = 334–43 [unified volume Bibliography, pp. 807–90]
 | place = Washington, DC
 | publisher = Smithsonian Institution
 | oclc = 58762737
 | ref = refLounsbury1978
}}.
* {{cite journal
 | date = July 2008
 | last = Martin
 | first = Scott W. J.
 | title = Languages Past and Present: Archaeological Approaches to the Appearance of Northern Iroquoian Speakers in the Lower Great Lakes Region of North America
 | journal = American Antiquity
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press
 | volume = 73
 | number = 3
 | pages = 441–463
 | doi = 10.1017/S0002731600046813
 | jstor = 25470499
| s2cid = 151035122
 }}
*{{Citation
 | year = 1984
 | last = Mithun
 | first = Marianne
 | author-link = Marianne Mithun
 | editor-last = Foster
 | editor-first = Michael K.
 | editor2-last = Campisi
 | editor2-first = Jack
 | editor3-last = Mithun
 | editor3-first = Marianne
 | chapter = The Proto-Iroquoians: Cultural Reconstruction from Lexical Materials
 | title = Extending the Rafters: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Iroquoian Studies
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/extendingrafters00fost/page/259 259–82]
 | place = Albany
 | publisher = State University of New York Press
 | oclc = 9646457
 | isbn = 0-87395-781-4
 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/extendingrafters00fost/page/259
 | ref = refMithun1984
}}.
*{{Citation
 | last = Mithun
 | first = Marianne
 | year = 1985
 | title = Untangling the Huron and the Iroquois
 | periodical = International Journal of American Linguistics
 | volume = 51
 | issue = 4
 | pages = 504–7
 | doi = 10.1086/465950
 | jstor=1265321
 | publisher = University of Chicago Press
 | s2cid = 143896562
 | ref = refMithun1985
}}.
*{{Citation
 | year = 1999
 | last = Mithun
 | first = Marianne
 | title = The Languages of Native North America
 | place = Cambridge
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press
 | oclc = 40467402
 | isbn = 0-521-23228-7
 | ref = refMithun1999
}}.
*{{Citation
 | last = Rudes
 | first = Blair A.
 | year = 1993
 | title = Iroquoian Vowels
 | periodical = Anthropological Linguistics
 | volume = 37
 | issue = 1
 | pages = 16–69
 | ref = refRudes1993
}}.
{{refend}}

===General works===
*Driver, Harold E. 1969. ''Indians of North America''. 2nd edition. University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|978-0-226-16467-0}}
*Ruttenber, Edward Manning. 1992 [1872]. ''[https://archive.org/details/ruttenberindians00ruttrich History of the Indian tribes of Hudson's River]''. Hope Farm Press.
*Snow, Dean R. 1994. ''The Iroquois''. Blackwell Publishers. Peoples of America. {{ISBN|978-1-55786-225-9}}
*Snow, Dean R.; Gehring, Charles T; Starna, William A. 1996. ''In Mohawk country: early narratives about a native people''. Syracuse University Press. An anthology of primary sources from 1634 to 1810.

{{Clear}}
{{Iroquoian languages}}
{{Iroquois Confederacy}}
{{Language families}}
{{Pre-Columbian North America}}
{{North American languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iroquoian Languages}}
<!--Categories-->
[[Category:Iroquoian languages| ]]
[[Category:Language families]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands]]
[[Category:First Nations languages in Canada]]
[[Category:Native American language revitalization]]
[[Category:Languages of the United States]]