The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.
SIL code: NSK
ISO 639-2: alg
| Population | 1,177 including 677 Western Naskapi, 500 Eastern Naskapi (1996 Ministere de la Sante el des Services Sociaux). 9,070 mother tongue speakers of Naskapi and Montagnais (1998 Statistics Canada). |
| Region | 2 communities in Quebec and Labrador. Those in Kawawachikamach are about 10 km. northeast of Schefferville in northeastern Quebec at the height of land. The Mushuau Innu presently live at Utshimassits (Davis Inlet), Labrador, an island on the Labrador Coast, but are planning (1998) to construct and relocate nearby on the mainland. |
| Alternate names | INNU AIMUUN |
| Dialects | WESTERN NASKAPI, EASTERN NASKAPI (INNU). |
| Classification | Algic, Algonquian, Central, Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi. |
| Comments | Language complex or dialect continuum within Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi. Closely related to Montagnais, but distinct. Palatalized y- (Western Naskapi) or n- (Eastern Naskapi). Bilingualism in English. Vigorous in both dialects. Slow shift occurring. Naskapi culture was nomadic and completely dependent on the migratory habits of the caribou. Many still use caribou in important ways. Dictionary. Grammar. Literacy rate in first language: 1% to 5%. Literacy rate in second language: 50% to 75%. Western Naskapi: modified Cree syllabary, Eastern Naskapi: Roman orthography based on French. Western Naskapi as language of instruction in school at Kawawachikamach, elsewhere as a subject in school. Subsistence hunting in the bush in watersheds north from Schefferville and west from Davis Inlet. |
