Kerek language

Kerek (Russian: Керекский язык) is an extinct language of Russia of the northern branch of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages. On historical linguistic grounds it is most closely related to Koryak (both languages have a merger of the proto-Chuktotian phonemes /*ð/ and /*r/ with /*j/). The next closest relative is Chukchi (/*ð/ and /*r/ are merged, but not /*j/).

Kerek
Native toRussia
RegionChukotka Autonomous Okrug
EthnicityKereks
Extinct2005[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3krk
Glottologkere1280
ELPKerek
Pre-contact distribution of Kerek (dark orange) and other Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages

In 1997 there were still two speakers remaining, but by 2005 the language was considered extinct.[2] According to the 2010 census,[3] there were 10 people claiming Kerek as their native language, a number which may include partial speakers and non-speakers who claim the language as part of their ethnic heritage. According to The Moscow Times, only one Kerek speaker remains in 2023.[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.

Kerek is an agglutinative language, meaning that the morphemes build on each other to have different meanings.[5]

References
  1. Kerek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Fortescue, Michael 2005. Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
  3. 2010 census
  4. "Languages in Russia Disappearing Faster than Data Suggests, Activists Warn". The Moscow Times. 13 March 2023.
  5. "Endangered Languages of Siberia – The Kerek Language". lingsib.iea.ras.ru. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
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