Yuchi/Euchee (yUdjEha)

Yuchi, or Euchee, is a language isolate spoken in northeastern Oklahoma in the USA. It was formerly spoken in parts of Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama. However the Yuchi were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma in the early 19th century. in 2016 there were four native speakers of Yuchi and another twelve second language speakers.

Efforts are being made to revive Yuchi in the form of the Euchee (Yuchi) Language Project (yUdjEha gO'wAdAnA k'ak'unE-chE), which involves the last remaining native speakers passing on the language to younger members of the tribe through immersion methods in the Yuchi House, and through master-apprentice teams, children's immersion programs and language camps.

The Yuchi call themselves Tso ya ha ("people of the sun"), and add different prefixes to words when refering to Yuchis or non-Yuchis. For example, a Yuchi woman is referred to as sAdE'nê and a non-Yuchi woman as wAdE'nê

Yuchi was first transcribed in the 1970s by the linguists James Crawford and Addie George using the International Phonetic Alphabet. Since then several ways of writing Yuchi have been developed by linguists and Yuchi speakers.

Yuchi alphabet and pronunciation

Yuchi alphabet and pronunciation

Notes

Download an alphabet chart for Yuchi (Excel)

Sample texts in Yuchi

s’a'x̣dji k’aˋ’adodɛ'hɛ na’ тɔ̧ тago' тnə ĸɛdjidj ı'n ĸ’ɔ̧ ləwɛ'ha tsoonɔ̧ 'k’ala wɛ'xтɔ̧ тɔ̧ ĸɛwɛhadji' hɔ̧gwadji'n тɔ̧ ' тawɛławɛ'nɔ̧ wɛyuˋwagɛ' ĸɛwɛˋhadjı'n.

Translation (French)

À l'origine, il n'y avait pas de lumière sur la terre, et donc ils se sont tous réunis sous l'égide du soleil pour chercher quelqu'un qui éclairerait la terre.

Source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuchi_(langue)

yUdjEha OhahanE Enu yUdjEhaA OdzOTa. dEchUdanE. n@fig@dEwEje^. yUdjEha gO’wAdenAA gOyUOnda nEchE s@nlA. gO^ thl@PAe^ yUdjEha gO’wAdenAA OwAdAnE, yUdjEha gOwAdenAA g@shtaalAdA kEno^ je^.

Translation

The Euchee elders, they are teaching me the Euchee language. I listen. I didn't forget. It's good to know the Euchee language. Only about 10 people speak the Euchee language, a language spoken on Earth for thousands of years.

Source: https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/saving-language

Sample videos in and about Yuchi

Information about Yuchi / Euchee | Numbers

Links

Information about the Yuchi language and people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuchi_language
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuchi_(langue)
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ючи_(язык)
http://www.yuchilanguage.org
http://ourmothertongues.org/language/Euchee/5
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/united-states/yuchi-house-storehouse-living-treasure
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/united-states/small-talk

Audio recordings in Yuchi
http://www.yuchilanguage.org/#!audio--chuda

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Language isolates

Adaizan, Ainu, Basque, Burushaski, Candoshi-Shapra, Chitimacha, Eskayan, Hadza, Haida, Karuk, Kawésqar, Keres, Kuot, Kusunda, Kutenai, Natchez, Nihali, Nivkh, Páez, Purepecha, Sandawe, Seri, Sumerian, Tartessian, Ticuna, Tiwi, Tonkawa, Tunica, Urarina, Waorani, Wardaman, Washo, Yaghan, Yuchi/Euchee, Zuni

Page last modified: 23.04.21

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