Tonkawa is a language isolate formerly spoken by the Tonkawa people and the Mayeye across an area including western Oklahoma, south-central Texas and parts of New Mexico. It has no known relatives, and its status as a language isolate is not seriously disputed in the scholarly literature. Tonkawa lost its last first-language speakers by around the mid-twentieth century, but revitalization efforts among the Tonkawa community have been underway since the late 2010s.
Facts
RegionWestern Oklahoma, south-central Texas and parts of New Mexico, United States 1 Speaker Count Proto-Language StatusAs a language isolate with no known relatives, Tonkawa has no reconstructed proto-language; its status as an isolate is not seriously disputed. 1 In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Tonkawa Language
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
The Tonkawa language was a language spoken in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico by the Tonkawa people.
- Infobox, extinct field (circa 1940)
Lead section, first paragraph
A language isolate, with no known related languages, Tonkawa has not had L1 (first language) speakers since the mid 20th century.
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