Takelma language
Takelma /təˈkɛlmə/ is the language that was spoken by the Latgawa and Takelma peoples and the Cow Creek band of Upper Umpqua, in Oregon, USA. The language was extensively described by the German-American linguist Edward Sapir in his graduate thesis, The Takelma Language of Southwestern Oregon (1912). Sapir’s grammar together with his Takelma Texts (1909) are the main sources of information on the language. Both are based on work carried out in 1906 with language consultant Frances Johnson (Takelma name Kʷìskʷasá:n), who lived on to become the last surviving fluent speaker. In 1934, with her death at the age of 99, the language became extinct. An English-Takelma dictionary is currently being created on the basis of printed sources with the aim of reviving the language.
| Takelma | |
|---|---|
| Ta:kɛlmàʔn | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Oregon, Rogue Valley along the middle course of the Rogue River |
| Ethnicity | Takelma, Latgawa, Cow Creek band of Upper Umpqua |
| Extinct | 1934, with the death of Frances Johnson |
| Revival | [Cow Creek band of Umpqua tribe] has a small group of L2 speakers |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tkm |
| Glottolog | take1257 |
Takelma (south), with the Kalapuyan languages to the north | |