Overview of the Eyak Language
Eyak is not an Athabaskan language, but a coordinate sub-branch to Athabaskan as a whole in the Athabaskan-Eyak branch of the Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit language family. Eyak was spoken in the 19th century from Yakutat along the southcentral Alaska coast to Eyak at the Copper River delta, but by the 20th century only at Eyak. It is now represented by about 50 people but no surviving fluent speakers. With the passing of Marie Smith Jones (pictured above with linguist Michael Krauss) on January 21, 2008 Eyak became the first Alaska Native language to become extinct in recent history.
The name Eyak itself is not an Eyak word but instead derives from the Chugach Eskimo name (Igya'aq) of the Eyak village site near the mouth of Eyak River (Krauss 2006:199). The Chugach word Igya'aq is a general term referring to 'the outlet of a lake into a river.'
Comprehensive documentation of Eyak has been carried out since the 1960s by Michael Krauss, including his edition of traditional stories, historic accounts, and poetic compositions by Anna Nelson Harry.
In the early part of the 21st century there was a growing interest in Eyak langauge revitalization. More information on these efforts can be found at the Eyak Language Project.
Key Documents
Several key Eyak language documents are being retranscribed in digital format as part the NSF-funded project Completion of Eyak Grammar, Dictionary, Texts, PI Michael Krauss.
Grammar
-
Eyak Grammar [draft] (Item
EY961K2009)
Since 2007 Michael Krauss has been compiling a comprehensive reference
grammar of Eyak, greatly expanding on his 1965 article,
Eyak: a Preliminary Sketch.
Dictionary
-
Eyak Dictionary (Item EY961K1970b)
This massive 1970 dictionary is currently being converted to digital format.
As of November 2011 approximately one third of the dictionary has been converted.
PDF files can be downloaded as item
EY961K2011.
Texts
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In Honor of Eyak: The Art of Anna Nelson Harry
EY961K1982)
-
Eyak Texts (Item EY961K1970a)
Since 2007 Michael Krauss has been compiling a comprehensive reference grammar of Eyak, greatly expanding on his 1965 article, Eyak: a Preliminary Sketch.
This massive 1970 dictionary is currently being converted to digital format. As of November 2011 approximately one third of the dictionary has been converted. PDF files can be downloaded as item EY961K2011.
Recordings
ANLC0082
Title: [Interview with Anna Nelson Harry]
Contributor: Krauss, Michael E. (interviewer); Leer, Jeff (interviewer); Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker);
ANLC0084
Title: [Eyak Language Recorded by Anna Nelson Harry]
Contributor: Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker); Krauss, Michael E. (recorder);
ANLC0085
Title: [Eyak Material Recorded by Anna Harry]
Contributor: Harry, Anna Nelson (interviewer);
ANLC0086
Title: [Eyak Texts, Anne Nelson Harry]
Contributor: Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker);
ANLC0087
Title: [Eyak Texts, Anne Nelson Henry]
Contributor: Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker);
ANLC0088
Title: [Eyak Texts, Anne Nelson Harry]
Contributor: Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker);
ANLC0089
Title: [Anna Nelson Harry, Giant Rat]
Contributor: Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker);
ANLC0090
Title: [Eyak Stories, Anna Nelson Harry]
Contributor: Leer, Jeff (interviewer); Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker);
ANLC0092
Title: [Eyak Language Stories by Anna Nelson Harry]
Contributor: Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker);
ANLC0093
Title: [Alaska Native Oral Literature Project, Anna Nelson Harry]
Contributor: McPherson, Karen (interviewer); Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker);
ANLC0094
Title: [Alaska Native Oral Literature Project, Anna Nelson Harry]
Contributor: McPherson, Karen (interviewer); Harry, Anna Nelson (speaker);
ANLC0505
Title: [Eyak, G.B. Grinnel, E.H. Harriman]
Contributor: Harriman, E.H. (speaker); Grinnel, G.B. (speaker);
ANLC0509
Title: More Than Words
Contributor:
ANLC0510
Title: [Eyak Conversations]
Contributor: Krauss, Michael E. (interviewer); Smith, Marie. (speaker);
ANLC0514
Title: [Eyak language recording with Marie Smith]
Contributor: Smith, Marie. (speaker);
ANLC0517
Title: Eyak history and its meaning for Cordova
Contributor:
ANLC0518
Title: [Eyak stories]
Contributor:
ANLC0520
Title:
Contributor:
ANLC2007
Title: [Michael Krauss interviewed about Anna Nelson Harry]
Contributor: Krauss, Michael E. (speaker); McPherson, Karen (interviewer);
Support for digitization, enhancement, and completion of Eyak language reference materials
is provided by a grant from the US National Science Foundation,
Office of Polar Programs,
Arctic Social Sciences Division (#1003160, PI Michael Krauss).