Naskapi language

{{short description|Cree language of eastern Canada}}

{{See also|Naskapi}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Naskapi

| nativename = {{Lang|nsk|ᓇᔅᑲᐱ}} {{Transliteration|nsk|naskapi}},{{Lang|nsk|
ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ}} {{Transliteration|nsk|iyuw iyimuun}}

| states = Canada

| region = St'aschinuw
(Quebec, Labrador)

| ethnicity = Naskapi

| speakers = 1,230

| date = 2016 census

| ref = {{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=41&Geo=01|title=Language Highlight Tables, 2016 Census - Aboriginal mother tongue, Aboriginal language spoken most often at home and Other Aboriginal language(s) spoken regularly at home for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census – 100% Data|publisher=Government of Canada, Statistics|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|date=2 August 2017 |language=en|access-date=2017-11-23}}

| script = Eastern Cree syllabics

| familycolor = Algic

| fam1 = Algic

| fam2 = Algonquian

| fam3 = Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/cree1271 |title=Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=Glottolog |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015114502/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/cree1271 |archive-date=2022-10-15 |url-status=live |publisher=Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}

| iso3 = nsk

| glotto = nask1242

| glottorefname = Naskapi

| lingua = 62-ADA-ba

| notice = IPA

}}

{{Infobox ethnonym|people=Naskapi Iyuw
ᓇᔅᑲᐱ ᐃᔪᐤ|language=Naskapi Iyuw Iyimuun
ᓇᔅᑲᐱ ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ|country=St'aschinuw
ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ}}Naskapi (also known as {{Lang|nsk|ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ}}/{{Transliteration|nsk|Iyuw Iyimuun}} in the Naskapi language) is an Algonquian language spoken by the Naskapi in Quebec and Labrador, Canada.Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: It is written in Eastern Cree syllabics.

The term Naskapi is chiefly used to refer to the language of the people living in the interior of Quebec and Labrador in or around Kawawachikamach, Quebec. Naskapi is a "y-dialect" that has many linguistic features in common with the Northern dialect of East Cree, and also shares many lexical items with the Innu language.

Although there is a much closer linguistic and cultural relationship between Naskapi and Innu than between Naskapi and other Cree language communities, Naskapi remains unique and distinct from all other language varieties in the Quebec-Labrador peninsula.