Eyak is a moribund Na-Dené language that was historically spoken in southcentral Alaska, near the mouth of the Copper River. Cordova is a small city located near the mouth of the Copper River in Alaska, at the head of Orca Inlet on the east side of Prince William Sound. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... Pre-contact distribution of Na-Dené languages (in red) Na-Dené (also Na-Dene, Nadene, Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit) is a Native American language family which includes the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit. ... Writing Systems of the World today A Specimen of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words see here. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Because of technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A language is usually considered moribund (literally, dying) when it is no longer the language of the community, and is no longer learned by children, so that without massive intervention it will likely become extinct when the last of its current speakers dies. ... Pre-contact distribution of Na-Dené languages (in red) Na-Dené (also Na-Dene, Nadene, Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit) is a Native American language family which includes the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit. ... Official language(s) English Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Area  Ranked 1st  - Total 663,267 sq mi (1,717,854 km²)  - Width 808 miles (1,300 km)  - Length 1,479 miles (2,380 km)  - % water 13. ... A fisherman (bottom center) dipnetting for salmon on the Copper River at Chitina. ...

Today, the language has only one surviving elderly speaker, Marie Smith (born 1918) of Cordova, now resident in Anchorage, and she is also the only surviving full blooded Eyak still living. Because of the dying off of its native speakers, Eyak has become a poster child for the fight against language extinction. Marie Smith Jones (born May 14, 1918) is the last surviving speaker of the Eyak language of southern Alaska. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Cordova is a small city located near the mouth of the Copper River in Alaska, at the head of Orca Inlet on the east side of Prince William Sound. ... The current version of the article or section reads like an advertisement. ... The phrase poster child originally referred to a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters to raise money for charitable purposes; she was the poster child for muscular dystrophy. However, the term is usually used metaphorically, meaning a shining example or model of its... An endangered language is a language with so few surviving speakers that it is in danger of falling out of use. ...

It should be noted that the spread of English and suppression of aboriginal languages by American authorities are not the only reason for the decline of the Eyak language. The northward migration of the Tlingit people around Yakutat in precontact times encouraged the use of Tlingit rather than Eyak along much of the Gulf Coast of Alaska. Eyak was also under pressure from its neighbors to the west, the Alutiiq people of Prince William Sound, as well as some pressure from the people of the Copper River valley. Eyak and Tlingit culture began to merge along the Gulf Coast, and a number of Eyak speaking groups were absorbed by the Gulf Coast Tlingit populations. This resulted in the replacement of Eyak by Tlingit among most of the mixed groups after a few generations, as reported in Tlingit oral histories of the area. This process was however entirely voluntary, in stark contrast to the coercive efforts of the U.S. government during the territorial era. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Yakutat City and Borough is a borough and a city located in Alaska. ... The Tlingit (Lingít) language is the language of the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada. ... The Gulf of Mexico is a major body of water bordered and nearly landlocked by North America. ... The Alutiiq (plural: Alutiit), also called Pacific Yupik or Sugpiaq, are a southern, coastal branch of Alaskan Yupik. ... Prince William Sound, on the south coast of Alaska. ... Alaska Territory was an organized territory of the United States from August 24, 1912 to January 3, 1959, when Alaska became the 49th state. ...

The closest relatives of Eyak are the Athabaskan languages. The Eyak-Athabaskan cluster, together with Tlingit, forms a basic division of the Na-Dené language phylum. Athabaskan or Athabascan (also Athapascan or Athapaskan) is the name of a large group of distantly related Native American peoples, also known as the Athabasca Indians or Athapaskes, and of their language family. ... The Tlingit (Lingít) language is the language of the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada. ...

Numerous Tlingit place names along the Gulf Coast are derived from names in Eyak; they have obscure or even nonsensical meanings in Tlingit, but oral tradition has maintained many Eyak etymologies. The existence of Eyak-derived Tlingit names along most of the coast towards southeast Alaska is strong evidence that the prehistoric range of Eyak was once far greater than it was at the time of European contact. This confirms both Tlingit and Eyak oral histories of migration throughout the region.

External links

• From Stewards to Shareholders: Eyaks Face Extinction (interview)
• Alaska Native Language Center
• Eyak Preservation Council

Bibliography

• Krauss, Michael E., ed. 1982. In Honor of Eyak: The Art of Anna Nelson Harry. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. ISBN 0-933769-03-2
• New Yorker, June 6, 2005: "Last Words, A Language Dies" by Elizabeth Kolbert