Iate

Iate, more commonly known as the Fulnio or Yate language, is the only indigenous language still spoken in the northeastern region of Brazil, used by the Fulnio people around the town of Aguas Belas in Pernambuco state. It is treated as a language isolate, and although some scholars have attempted to connect it to the Macro-Je languages, no such relationship has been demonstrated. The language has two closely related dialects, one of which is used specifically during a three-month annual religious observance central to Fulnio cultural life, and around 500 people spoke it fluently as of 2020 out of a Fulnio population of roughly 7,000, leaving the language under serious threat despite ongoing revitalization efforts.