Shastan languages

The Shastan (or Sastean) languages are an extinct language family which consists of four languages, spoken in present-day northern California and southern Oregon:

Shastan
Sastean
Geographic distribution	Northern California
Extinct	1963, with the death of Sergeant Sambo
Linguistic classification	Hokan ? Shasta–Palaihnihan ? Shastan
Subdivisions	Konomihu † New River Shasta † Okwanuchu † Shasta †
Language codes
Glottolog	shas1238
Pre-contact distribution of Shastan languages

• Shastan
  • Konomihu †
  • New River Shasta †
  • Okwanuchu †
  • Shasta (also known as Shastika) †

Konomihu appears to have been the most divergent Shastan language. Okwanuchu may have been a dialect of Shasta proper, which is known to have had a number of dialects.

The entire Shastan family is now extinct. Shasta was the last language that was spoken. Three elderly speakers were reported in the 1980s.

Shastan has often been considered to be in the hypothetical Hokan stock.

References

• Mithun, Marianne, ed. The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

External links

• Native Tribes, Groups, Language Families and Dialects of California in 1770 (after Kroeber)