- Source: Kerek language
Kerek (Russian: Керекский язык, romanized: Kereksky yazyk) is an extinct language in Russia of the northern branch of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages. Before its extinction, it was spoken by the Kereks of the Russian Far East. It went extinct in 2005 with the death of Ekaterina Khatkana.
Classification
On historical linguistic grounds it is most closely related to Koryak (both languages have a merger of the Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan phonemes /*ð/ and /*r/ with /*j/). The next closest relative is Chukchi (/*ð/ and /*r/ are merged, but not /*j/).
Situation
In 1997 there were still two speakers remaining, but in 2005 the language went extinct, with the death of Ekaterina Khatkana. According to the 2010 census, there were 10 people claiming Kerek as their native language, believed to only consist of partial speakers and non-speakers who claim the language as part of their ethnic heritage. In 2020, that number had decreased to 4. Over the 20th century many members of the Kerek ethnic group shifted to Chukchi, the language of the majority ethnic group in the area, but now most Chukchis and Kereks speak Russian.
Phonology
= Vowels
=Vowels may be long.
= Consonants
=Consonants may also be long, [l] is palatalized intervocalically, and [tʃ] is pronounced as [s] by some.
Dialects
There were two dialects, the Maino-Pilgin and Khatyr dialects.
Grammar
Kerek is an agglutinative language, meaning that the morphemes build on each other to have different meanings.
References
External links
Bibliography