Yurok People - Language

Language

Yurok is one of two Algic languages spoken in California, the other being Wiyot. Between twenty and one hundred people speak the Yurok language today. The language is passed on through master-apprentice teams and through singing. Language classes have been offered through Humboldt State University and through annual language immersion camps.

A usual feature of the language is that certain nouns change depending upon whether there is one, two, or three of the object. For instance, one human being would be ko:ra' or ko'r, two human beings would be ni'iyel, and three human beings would be nahkseyt.

Read more about this topic:  Yurok People

Famous quotes containing the word language:

    The human face is the organic seat of beauty.... It is the register of value in development, a record of Experience, whose legitimate office is to perfect the life, a legible language to those who will study it, of the majestic mistress, the soul.
    Eliza Farnham (1815–1864)

    Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,
    The which in every language I pronounce,
    Stuffing the ears of men with false reports.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    To try to write love is to confront the muck of language: that region of hysteria where language is both too much and too little, excessive ... and impoverished.
    Roland Barthes (1915–1980)