Holikachuk language

{{Short description|Extinct Athabaskan language of US}}

{{About|the Holikachuk language|other things called Holikachuk|Holikachuk (disambiguation){{!}}Holikachuk}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Holikachuk

|nativename={{lang|hoi|Doogh Qinag}}

|states=United States

|region=Alaska (lower Yukon River, Innoko River)

|ethnicity=Holikachuk

| extinct = 2012, with the death of Wilson Deacon{{Cite web|url=https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/alaska-native-language-loses-last-fluent-speaker/|title=Alaska Native Language Loses Last Fluent Speaker - Indian Country Media Network|website=indiancountrymedianetwork.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-05-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608165037/https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/alaska-native-language-loses-last-fluent-speaker/|archive-date=8 June 2017|url-status=dead}} or 2023 with the death of Mary Deacon{{cite web | url=https://doyonfoundation.com/2021/05/expanded-holikachuk-course-now-available-for-language-learners/ | title=Expanded Holikachuk Course Now Available for Language Learners | date=4 May 2021 }}

|ref=

|familycolor=Dené-Yeniseian

|fam2=Na-Dené

|fam3=Athabaskan

|fam4=Northern Athabaskan

|iso3= hoi

|glotto=holi1241

|glottorefname=Holikachuk

|script=Latin (Northern Athabaskan alphabet)

| nation = {{flag|Alaska}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/21/305688602/alaska-oks-bill-making-native-languages-official|title = Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official|newspaper = NPR|date = 21 April 2014|last1 = Chappell|first1 = Bill}}

}}

Holikachuk (own name: {{lang|hoi|Doogh Qinag}}Beth R. Leonard (2007), [http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/PhD_Projects/BethLeonard/LeonardDissertation.pdf Deg Xinag oral traditions: reconnecting indigenous language and education through traditional narratives], a thesis presented to the Faculty

of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, May 2007) is a recently extinct Athabaskan language formerly spoken at the village of Holikachuk ({{lang|hoi|Hiyeghelinhdi}}) on the Innoko River in central Alaska. In 1962, residents of Holikachuk relocated to Grayling on the lower Yukon River. Holikachuk is intermediate between the Deg Xinag and Koyukon 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.Krauss, Michael E. 1973. Na-Dene. Linguistics in North America, ed. by T.A. Sebeok, 903-78. (Current Trends in Linguistics 10). The Hague: Mouton.

Of about 180 Holikachuk people, only about 5 spoke the language in 2007.Krauss, Michael E. 2007. Native languages of Alaska. In: The Vanishing Voices of the Pacific Rim, ed. by Osahito Miyaoko, Osamu Sakiyama, and Michael E. Krauss. Oxford: Oxford University Press In March 2012, the last living fluent speaker of Holikachuk died in Alaska.ICTMN Staff. "Alaska Native Language Loses Last Fluent Speaker." Indian Country Today Media Network. 18 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. [http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/04/18/alaska-native-language-loses-last-fluent-speaker-108568] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422024426/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/04/18/alaska-native-language-loses-last-fluent-speaker-108568|date=2012-04-22}}

James Kari compiled a short dictionary of Holikachuk in 1978, but Holikachuk remains one of the least documented Alaska Native languages.Kari, James. 1978. [https://uafanlc.alaska.edu/Online/HO975K1978c/HO975K1978c.pdf Holikachuk Noun Dictionary (Preliminary)]. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. [http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED172528&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED172528 ERIC ED172528]