| Holikachuk | |
|---|---|
| Doogh Qinag | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Alaska (lowerYukon River,Innoko River) |
| Ethnicity | Holikachuk |
| Extinct | 2012, with the death of Wilson Deacon[1] or 2023 with the death of Mary Deacon[2][3] |
| Latin (Northern Athabaskan alphabet) | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Alaska[4] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hoi |
| Glottolog | holi1241 |
| ELP | Holikachuk |
Holikachuk (own name:Doogh Qinag[5]) is a recently extinctAthabaskan language formerly spoken at the village ofHolikachuk (Hiyeghelinhdi) on theInnoko River in centralAlaska. In 1962, residents of Holikachuk relocated toGrayling on the lowerYukon River. Holikachuk is intermediate between theDeg Xinag andKoyukon languages, linguistically closer to Koyukon but socially much closer to Deg Xinag, which has influenced it. Though it was recognized by scholars as a distinct language as early as the 1840s, it was only definitively identified in the 1970s.[6] Of about 180 Holikachuk people, only about 5 spoke the language in 2007.[7] In March 2012, the last living fluent speaker of Holikachuk died in Alaska.[3]
James Kari compiled a short dictionary of Holikachuk in 1978, but Holikachuk remains one of the least documented Alaska Native languages.[8]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | lateral | ||||||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | plain | tθ⟨ddh⟩ | t⟨d⟩ | ts⟨dz⟩ | tɬ⟨dl⟩ | k⟨g⟩ | q⟨G⟩ | ʔ⟨ʼ⟩ | ||
| aspirated | tθʰ⟨tth⟩ | tʰ⟨t⟩ | tsʰ⟨ts⟩ | tɬʰ⟨tł⟩ | kʰ⟨k⟩ | qʰ⟨q⟩ | ||||
| ejective | tθʼ⟨tthʼ⟩ | tʼ⟨tʼ⟩ | tsʼ⟨tsʼ⟩ | tɬʼ⟨tłʼ⟩ | kʼ⟨kʼ⟩ | qʼ⟨qʼ⟩ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | θ⟨th⟩ | s⟨s⟩ | ɬ⟨ł⟩ | χ⟨x⟩ | h⟨h⟩ | ||||
| voiced | ð⟨dh⟩ | z⟨z⟩ | ɮ⟨l⟩ | ʁ⟨gh⟩ | ||||||
| Sonorant | voiced | m⟨m⟩ | n⟨n⟩ | j⟨y⟩ | ŋ⟨ng⟩ | |||||
| voiceless | n̥⟨nh⟩ | j̊⟨yh⟩ | ŋ̊⟨ngh⟩ | |||||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near-close | ɪ⟨i⟩ | ʊ⟨u⟩ | |
| Close-mid | eː⟨e⟩ | oː⟨oo⟩ | |
| Open-mid | ɔː⟨o⟩ | ||
| Open | aː⟨a⟩ |
| A a | D d | Ddh ddh | Dh dh | Dl dl | Dz dz | E e | G g |
| Gg gg | Gh gh | H h | I i | K k | K' k' | L l | Ł ł |
| M m | N n | ng | nh | O o | Oo oo | Q q | Q' q' |
| S s | T t | T' t' | Th th | Tl tl | Tl' tl' | Ts ts | Ts' ts' |
| Tth tth | Tth' tth' | U u | X x | Y y | yh | Z z | ' |
Some Holikachuk words:[11]
| Indigenous | |
|---|---|
| Sign languages | |
| Non-Indigenous | |
