Endangered Languages Project

Dialect complex

ALSO KNOWN AS		Myaamia, Miami, Illinois, Miami-Myaamia, Peoria, Piankishaw, Miami Cluster, Wea
CLASSIFICATION		Algic, Algonquian, Miami-Illinois
ORTHOGRAPHY		Roman
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		mia
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Peoria-Kaskaskia Piankashaw-Wea Miami
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

Compare Sources (7)

Information from: “Personal communication on Miami-Illinois from the Myaamia Center” . Jarrid Baldwin (2020)

Awakening
No first-language (L1) speakers
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
5700
SEMI SPEAKERS
100
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"The number of speakers is difficult to track, due to our language revitalization efforts that have spread the language beyond a core group, and no census having been done."

DATE OF INFO: 2020

SPEAKER ATTITUDE: Positive
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT: Yes, tribal government
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT: Yes, through the Miami Tribe's partnership with Miami University, known as the Myaamia Center
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
Scripts (Writing system): Roman
Competing Orthographies: None
More on Orthography: Double-vowel orthography using the Roman alphabet

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "The community is a diasporic community spread across the United States. As a result, the language is
spoken in many different areas, however the known hot spots for high language use are Indiana, Ohio and
Oklahoma"

Dormant
0
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
No known L1 speakers. Speakers of at least some varieties survived into the 20th century, but there have been no fluent first-language speakers since 1962.

PLACES: USA

PLACES: USA

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: There are two groups whose members are involved in Myaamia language revitalization: the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (Miami, Oklahoma) and the Miami Nation of Indiana (Peru, Indiana).

PLACES: USA

Awakening
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"No fluent L1 speakers."

MORE ON VITALITY

"The Myaamia Center (formally the Myaamia Project), created in 2001, is a tribal initiative located within an academic environment to advance the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s language and cultural revitalization efforts.

The Myaamia Center has two main purposes. The first is to conduct in-depth research to assist tribal educational initiatives aimed at the preservation of language and culture. This research is used to create a wide range of educational models and materials for community language and cultural programs.

The second purpose is to expose undergraduate and graduate students at Miami University to tribal efforts in language and cultural revitalization. Student experiences are gained through a wide range of activities including visits to Oklahoma, direct involvement in research initiatives, class visitations by Center staff, and access to Miami Tribe language and cultural resources."

PLACES: USA

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Oklahoma, Indiana

Awakening
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Was extinct, but well documented. A tribal scholar studied documentation, became a fluent second language speaker, and is raising his two children to speak the language.

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: Miami University of Ohio has established an institute for the study of Miami culture and language, and courses in Miami have been offered there and at the Woodland Indian Cultural Center at Prophetstown,
Indiana.

PLACES: USA

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Illinois and northern Indiana

Awakening
Ethnic population
2,000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"No fluent L1 speakers since 1962 (Golla 2007)."

DATE OF INFO: 1977 (for ethnic population figures)

MORE ON VITALITY

"Miami University of Ohio with support of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma has developed the Myaamia Center for study of Miami culture and language. Courses are offered there and the Miami Tribe has been developing youth programs since 2005 (2013 D. Baldwin)."

PLACES: USA

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Miami dialect: north central Indiana; Miami and Peoria dialects: northeast Oklahoma."

comments powered by Disqus

There is a Google Group dedicated to the discussion, protection and documentation of Miami-Illinois.

		2007	North America	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	1-96	C. Moseley	London & New York: Routledge				Victor Golla	Golla, Victor. 2007. "North America." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 1-96. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD				Awakening	Was extinct, but well documented. A tribal scholar studied documentation, became a fluent second language speaker, and is raising his two children to speak the language.							Miami University of Ohio has established an institute for the study of Miami culture and language, and courses in Miami have been offered there and at the Woodland Indian Cultural Center at Prophetstown, Indiana.			Awakening ()		USA	Illinois and northern Indiana
0199255911		2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press	New York				2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.																		USA		40.0,-90.0
		2020	Personal communication on Miami-Illinois from the Myaamia Center						Myaamia Center		Jarrid Baldwin			5700	No first-language (L1) speakers	2020	Awakening	"The number of speakers is difficult to track, due to our language revitalization efforts that have spread the language beyond a core group, and no census having been done."	100	100	All	English	Yes, tribal government	Positive		Yes, through the Miami Tribe's partnership with Miami University, known as the Myaamia Center	All	Awakening ()			"The community is a diasporic community spread across the United States. As a result, the language is spoken in many different areas, however the known hot spots for high language use are Indiana, Ohio and Oklahoma"
		2013	The Myaamia Center							http://myaamiacenter.org/?page_id=81		2013. "The Myaamia Center." Online: http://myaamiacenter.org/?page_id=81.					Awakening	"No fluent L1 speakers."										Awakening ()	"The Myaamia Center (formally the Myaamia Project), created in 2001, is a tribal initiative located within an academic environment to advance the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s language and cultural revitalization efforts. The Myaamia Center has two main purposes. The first is to conduct in-depth research to assist tribal educational initiatives aimed at the preservation of language and culture. This research is used to create a wide range of educational models and materials for community language and cultural programs. The second purpose is to expose undergraduate and graduate students at Miami University to tribal efforts in language and cultural revitalization. Student experiences are gained through a wide range of activities including visits to Oklahoma, direct involvement in research initiatives, class visitations by Center staff, and access to Miami Tribe language and cultural resources."	USA	Oklahoma, Indiana
		2008	North America	Atlas of the World's Languages	7-41	Chris Moseley and Ron Asher	Routledge	London			Victor Golla and Ives Goddard and Lyle Campbell and Marianne Mithun and Mauricio Mixco	Victor Golla, Ives Goddard, Lyle Campbell, Marianne Mithun and Mauricio Mixco. 2008. "North America." In Atlas of the World's Languages, edited by Chris Moseley and Ron Asher. 7-41. Routledge.			0			No known L1 speakers. Speakers of at least some varieties survived into the 20th century, but there have been no fluent first-language speakers since 1962.										Dormant ()		USA
		2013	Personal Communication: Myaamia Language Locations							http://myaamiacenter.org/	Myaamia Center	Myaamia Center. 2013. "Personal Communication: Myaamia Language Locations." Online: http://myaamiacenter.org/.																		USA	There are two groups whose members are involved in Myaamia language revitalization: the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (Miami, Oklahoma) and the Miami Nation of Indiana (Peru, Indiana).	36.874400, -94.877200; 40.753600, -86.068900;
	18th	2015	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 18th Edition			Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig	SIL International	Dallas, Texas		http://www.ethnologue.com		Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2015. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.		2,000		1977 (for ethnic population figures)	Awakening	"No fluent L1 speakers since 1962 (Golla 2007)."		"A Miami language scholar has acquired L2 fluency and his 2 youngest children are acquiring it as L1."								Awakening ()	"Miami University of Ohio with support of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma has developed the Myaamia Center for study of Miami culture and language. Courses are offered there and the Miami Tribe has been developing youth programs since 2005 (2013 D. Baldwin)."	USA	"Miami dialect: north central Indiana; Miami and Peoria dialects: northeast Oklahoma."

Miami-Illinois

Language metadata

Language information by source

Awakening

No first-language (L1) speakers

Dormant

0

Awakening

Awakening

Awakening

Discussion

Join the community

Miami-Illinois

Language metadata

Language information by source

Awakening

No first-language (L1) speakers

Dormant

0

Awakening

Awakening

Awakening

Discussion

Join the community

Suggest information or improvement

Download language data

Sources of information

Compare Sources