These languages are spoken by indigenous peoples of North America in the states of New Mexico, Kansas and Oklahoma in the United States.<\/p>\n
The speakers of Kiowa-Tanoan languages are members of “First Nations” in North America who inhabited the region long before Europeans arrived and before the creation of the United States.<\/p>\n
7625 according to UNESCO<\/p>\n
6500 according to the site ethnologue.com (SIL)<\/p>\n
The Kiowa-Tanoan language family currently includes 6 languages.<\/p>\n
Kiowa<\/strong>: 400 speakers according to UNESCO and 1092 according to SIL<\/p>\n Tiwa Branch<\/span><\/p>\n Northern Tiwa Group<\/p>\n Picuris<\/strong>: 225 speakers according to UNESCO<\/p>\n Taos<\/strong>: 800 speakers according to UNESCO and SIL<\/p>\n Southern Tiwa<\/strong>: 1600 speakers according to UNESCO<\/p>\n Tewa <\/strong>(all dialects): 1600 speakers according to UNESCO<\/p>\n Towa <\/strong>(alternate name: Jemez): 3000 speakers according to UNESCO and 1300 according to SIL<\/p>\n The four main branches Kiowa, Tiwa, Tewa and Towa (the last three being grouped under the name Tanoan languages) have been identified since the 1960s (Hale, 1967). Tewa is a small set of ten dialects spoken mainly in the valley of the Rio Grande north of Santa Fe.<\/p>\n There have been attempts to link the Kiowa-Tanoan family with other families, including the Uto-Aztecan family, but these links remain hypothetical for the moment.<\/p>\n Yes, all Kiowa-Tanoan languages are endangered. According to UNESCO, Kiowa, spoken by only a few hundred elderly speakers is probably the most threatened with extinction along with Picuris (which only has about a hundred speakers).<\/p>\nComments on the classification of Kiowa-Tanoan languages:<\/h5>\n
Are Kiowa-Tanoan languages in danger?<\/h5>\n
Sources:<\/h5>\n