Upper Kuskokwim language

The Upper Kuskokwim language (also called Kolchan or Goltsan or Dinak'i) is an Athabaskan language of the Na-Dené language family. It is spoken by the Upper Kuskokwim people in the Upper Kuskokwim River villages of Nikolai, Telida, and McGrath, Alaska. About 40 of a total of 160 Upper Kuskokwim people (Dichinanek’ Hwt’ana) still speak the language.

Upper Kuskokwim
Dinakʼi
Native toUnited States
RegionAlaska (middle Yukon River, Koyukuk River)
Ethnicity160 Upper Kuskokwim (2007)[1]
Native speakers
<5 (2020)[2]
Latin (Northern Athabaskan alphabet)
Official status
Official language in
 Alaska[3]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kuu
Glottologuppe1438
ELPUpper Kuskokwim[4]

A practical orthography of the language was established by Raymond Collins, who in 1964 began linguistic work at Nikolai.

Since 1990s, the language has also been documented by a Russian linguist Andrej Kibrik.[5][6]

Bibliography
  • Alaska Native Language Center. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  • Collins, Raymond and Sally Jo Collins. 2004. Dichinanek' Hwt'ana: A History of the people of the Upper Kuskokwim who live in Nikolai and Telida, Alaska. (Online: Alaska Native Language Archive item UK964C2004)

References
  1. Upper Kuskokwim language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/Portals/4/pub/ANLPAC/ANLPAC%202020%20Report%20to%20the%20Governor%20and%20Legislature.pdf
  3. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/21/305688602/alaska-oks-bill-making-native-languages-official
  4. Endangered Languages Project data for Upper Kuskokwim.
  5. http://ukpreservation.com/kibrik-papers/
  6. https://www.uaf.edu/anla/collections/search/result.xml?contributor=848


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