Information about the Maidu languages

Where are the Maidu languages spoken?

These languages are spoken by indigenous peoples of North America in the state of California in the United States.

Who speaks these languages?

The speakers of Maidu languages are members of “First Nations” in North America who already inhabited the region long before Europeans arrived and before the creation of the United States and Canada.

Total number of speakers (estimated):

5 according to UNESCO

6 according to the site ethnologue.com (SIL)

Classification

The Maidu language family currently has only 2 or 3 languages.

Chico: extinct

Konkow (alternative name: Northwestern Maidu): 3 speakers according to UNESCO

Maidu (alternative names: Mountain Maidu, Northeastern Maidu): 2 speakers according to UNESCO and SIL

Nisenan (alternative name: Southern Maidu) (all dialects): extinct according to UNESCO and 1 speaker according to SIL (1994)

Comments on the classification of Maidu languages:

Maidu Languages included a large number of dialects and were very poorly documented and studied. The internal classification proposed by Mithun (1999) is, nonetheless, widely accepted.

There is, however, no real consensus that the Maidu languages might belong to a “superfamily” called “Penutian” as some have proposed along with other language families such as the Chinookan, Tsimshian, Coos, Utienes, Wintuan, etc. Some of the linguistic relationships within this proposed superfamily appear to be valid, but the exact delineations are still unclear. Although this classification may eventually change, at present we have chosen to follow the classification of Mithun (1999) and to present this family independently.

Are Maidu languages in danger?

Yes. Chico is now an extinct language, and the three other languages have no more than one or two native speakers all of whom are very old. It is also possible that the Nisenan language is in fact extinct, and that the whole family will disappear in the coming years.

Sources:

Mithun, Marianne The languages of Native North America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (1999).

Campbell, Lyle. American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1997)

Site devoted to American Indian languages:

http://www.native-languages.org/

Official Website of the Maidu Nation:

http://www.maidu.com