Mojave language
Mohave or Mojave is the native language of the Mohave people along the Colorado River in northwestern Arizona, southeastern California, and southwestern Nevada. Approximately 70% of the speakers reside in Arizona, while approximately 30% reside in California. It belongs to the River branch of the Yuman language family, together with Quechan and Maricopa.
| Mohave | |
|---|---|
| Mojave | |
| Hamakhav | |
| Region | Arizona and California, U.S. |
| Ethnicity | 2,000 Mohave people (2007) |
Native speakers | 200 (2015 census) |
Yuman
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mov Mohave |
| Glottolog | moha1256 Mohave |
| ELP | Mojave |
Mojave is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The Mojave language became endangered during the manifest destiny movement of the 19th century when Mohave and other Native American children were taken away from their parents and tribes to be placed in boarding schools, where they were prohibited from speaking their language. The schools went so far as to prohibit students from speaking their native tongue even with their parents when they occasionally visited home; many parents did not speak English.