Wailaki, also known as Eel River, is an extinct and revitalizing Athabaskan language spoken by the people of the Round Valley Reservation of northern California, one of four languages belonging to the California Athabaskan cluster of the Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages. Dialect clusters reflect the four Wailaki-speaking peoples, the Sinkyone, Wailaki, Nongatl, and Lassik, of the Eel River confederation. While less documented than Hupa, it is considered to be close to it. It went dormant in the 1940s, but in modern times it is being revived.
Phonology The sounds in Wailaki:
Consonants Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal plain sibilant lateral plain pal. Nasal Plosive plain aspirated ejective Fricative Approximant
Vowels Vowels in Wailaki are /i e a o/, and with length as /iː eː aː oː/.
Grammar Wailaki is polysynthetic, meaning that a single word in it is expressed in English as a sentence.
References
External links Wailaki language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages Wailaki Language (Sinkyone, Lassik, Nongatl, Eel River Athabaskan) OLAC resources in and about the Wailaki language