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The majority languages in Canada are English and French, they are also the two official languages of the country. English is the official language de jure or de facto of most provinces, while French is the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick has both languages as official languages (Manitoba also has some official reconnaissance of French).
English spoken in Canada follow the rules of British English, but is orally closer to American English while having its own distinct particularities. On the other side, French in Canada is very different from the French spoken elsewhere in the world. There are two main distinctive categories of French in Canada: Quebec French and Acadian French, respectively spoken in Quebec and in the Atlantic provinces. Both have their own particularities and have kept many aspects of the French that was spoken at the time of colonization during the 17th and 18th centuries that have been abandoned in Europe. The "chiac" is a mix of Acadian French and English spoken in New Brunswick. There is also several communities of French speakers in Ontario called Franco-Ontariens that speak a French influenced by English at different levels from a community to another. Some French minority communities also exist throughout the rest of Canada.
However, prior to European colonization of the North American continent, the vast lands of Canada were the territories of many Amerindians and Inuits nations. It also saw the development of the Métis nation, a nation from French and Cree descendants that speak Michif, a mix of Cree and French. Western Canada also saw the Bungi language, a creole of Scottish English influenced by Scottish Gaelic, Cree and Ojibwe, but it is most likely extinct today.
Knowing the exact number of Aboriginal languages across Canada is almost impossible especially since many Natives speak English or French as a mother tongue and most of them have only a limited passive knowledge of their ancestral languages. The task is even more difficult since the majority of languages has many dialects. Ethnologue lists 63 languages for Canada[1]. There are only three indigenous languages of Canada that are not threatened or endangered: Cree, Inuktitut and Ojibwe. Below is the most exhaustive list of indigenous languages of Canada that are not considered dead.
List of indigenous languages of Canada
Note: This list only includes languages that are still existing today (i.e. languages with living speakers) that are indigenous to Canada (although some are also present in the United States).
| Language (English name) | Speakers[2] | Location | ISO 639[3] (Wikipedia link if existing) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abenaki | 20 | Quebec | abe | Critically endangered |
| Algonquin | 2,275 | Quebec and Ontario | alq | Severely endangered |
| Assiniboine | 200 | Saskatchewan | asb | Critically endangered |
| Atikamekw | 3,995 | Quebec | atj | Vulnerable |
| Babine | 1,600 | British Columbia | bcr | Severely endangered |
| Beaver | 300 | Alberta and British Columbia | bea | Definitely endangered |
| Bella Coola | 200 | British Columbia | blc | Critically endangered |
| Blackfoot | 4,745 | Alberta | bla | Definitely endangered |
| Carrier | 2,000 | British Columbia | crx, caf | Severely endangered |
| Cayuga | 360 | Ontario | cay | Critically endangered |
| Chilcotin | 705 | British Columbia | clc | Definitely endangered |
| Chinook Wawa | 83 | British Columbia | chn | |
| Chipewyan (Dene) | 4,000 | Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwest Territories | chp | Vulnerable |
| Comox | 400 | British Columbia | coo | Critically endangered |
| Moose Cree | 4,500 | Ontario | crm (cr) | Vulnerable |
| Northeastern Cree | 5,308 | Quebec | crl (cr) | Vulnerable |
| Plains Cree | 34,000 | Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba | crk (cr) | Vulnerable |
| Southeastern Cree | 7,306 | Quebec | crj (cr) | Vulnerable |
| Swampy Cree | 4,500 | Ontario | csw (cr) | Vulnerable |
| Woods Cree | 4,500 | Ontario | cwd (cr) | Vulnerable |
| Dakota (Sioux) | 2,085 | Manitoba and Saskatchewan | dak | Definitely endangered |
| Dogrib | 2,085 | Northwest Territories | dgr | Vulnerable |
| Northern Haida | 30 | British Columbia | hdn (hai) | Critically endangered |
| Southern Haida | 10 | British Columbia | hax (hai) | Critically endangered |
| Haisla | 25 | British Columbia | has | Critically endangered |
| Halkomelem | 200 | British Columbia | hur | Severely endangered |
| Han | 7 | Yukon | haa | Critically endangered |
| Heiltsuk | 300 | British Columbia | hei | Critically endangered |
| Eastern Inuktitut | 14,000 | Quebec and Labrador | ike (iu) | Vulnerable |
| Western Inuktitut (Inuinnaqtun) | 4,000 | Nunavut | ikt (iu) | Definitely endangered |
| Kaska | 400 | British Columbia | kkz | Severely endangered |
| Kutenai | 120 | British Columbia | kut | Severely endangered |
| Kwakiutl (Kwak'wala) | 250 | British Columbia | kwk | Critically endangered |
| Lillooet | 400 | British Columbia | lil | Severely endangered |
| Gitxsan | 1,330 | British Columbia | git | Severely endangered |
| Gwich'in (Loucheux) | 430 | Northwest Territories | gwi | Severely endangered |
| Malecite-Passamaquoddy | 655 | Quebec and New Brunswick | pqm | Definitely endangered |
| Michif | 840 | Manitoba | crg | Critically endangered |
| Micmac (Mi'kmaq) | 7,310 | Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland | mic | Vulnerable |
| Mohawk | 350 | Ontario and Quebec | moh | Definitely endangered |
| Montagnais (Innu) | 8,483 | Quebec and Labrador | moe (cr) | Vulnerable |
| Munsee | 7 | Ontario | umu | Critically endangered |
| Naskapi | 1,177 | Quebec and Labrador | nsk (cr) | Vulnerable |
| Niska (Nisga'a) | 2,000 | British Columbia | ncg | Severely endangered |
| Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth) | 590 | British Columbia | noo | Severely endangered |
| Northern Ojibway (Oji-Cree) | 8,000 | Manitoba and Ontario | ojb (oji) | Vulnerable |
| Ojibway (Saulteux) | 35,000 | British Columbia and Saskatchewan | ojc, ojg, ojs, ojw (oji) | Vulnerable, definitely and severely endangered |
| Okanagan (N'syilxcen) | 500 | British Columbia | oka | Definitely endangered |
| Oneida | 200 | Ontario | one | Critically endangered |
| Onondaga | 100 | Ontario | ono | Critically endangered |
| Ottawa (Odawa, Nishnaabemwin) | 7,100 | Ontario | otw | Severely endangered |
| Potawatomi | 1,250 | Ontario | pot | Critically endangered |
| Salish Straits | 30 | British Columbia | str | Severely endangered |
| Sarsi (Tsuu T'ina) | 50 | Alberta | srs | Critically endangered |
| Sechelt (Shíshálh) | 40 | British Columbia | sec | Critically endangered |
| Sekani | 500 | British Columbia | sek | Critically endangered |
| Seneca | 25 | Ontario | see | Critically endangered |
| Shuswap (Secwepemc) | 745 | British Columbia | shs | Definitely endangered |
| North Slavey | 290 | Northwest Territories | scs (den) | Definitely endangered |
| South Slavey | 2,620 | Northwest Territories | xsl (den) | Definetely endangered |
| Squamish | 20 | British Columbia | squ | Critically endangered |
| Stoney (Nakota) | 1,500 | Alberta | sto | Vulnerable |
| Tagish | 2 | British Columbia | tgx | Critically endangered |
| Tahltan | 40 | Yukon | tht | Critically endangered |
| Tanana | 10 | Yukon | tau | Critically endangered |
| Thompson | 595 | British Columbia | thp | Severely endangered |
| Tlingit | 145 | British Columbia and Yukon | tli | Critically endangered |
| Tuscarora | 8 | Ontario | tus | Critically endangered |
| Tsimshian | 432 | British Columbia | tsi | Critically endangered |
| Northern Tutchone | 800 | Yukon | ttm | Definitely endangered |
| Southern Tutchone | 1,000 | Yukon | tce | Critically endangered |
References
- ↑ http://www.ethnologue.org
- ↑ Numbers vary a lot between sources, real numbers are probably lower than the ones indicated.
- ↑ Languages Codes by Ethnologue
External resources
See also
- Languages of North America
- Portal:Wikilang