Endangered Languages Project

Kerek used to be classified as a dialect of Chukchee, but it has idiosyncratic features suggesting, on the one hand, a non-Chukchee-Koryak (probably Eskimo-Aleut) substrate, and, on the other hand, transitionality towards Koryak; the superficial similarity of Kerek with Chukchee can also be due to secondary Chukchee areal influence on Kerek.

ALSO KNOWN AS		керекский язык
CLASSIFICATION		Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Chukotkan
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		krk
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Khatyrka Mainypilgino
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Red Book on Endangered Languages: Northeast Asia” . Juha Janhunen; Tapani Salminen (2000)

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<10
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
<100
CHILDREN
0
YOUNG ADULTS
0?
OLDER ADULTS
0?
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
In the early 1950s there were still approx. 100 speakers.

DATE OF INFO: 1993

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
TRANSMISSION
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: degree of speakers' competence: rudimentary, with strong interference from Chukchee, the language which has ultimately absorbed Kerek, as well as from Russian, the language today dominant over Chukchee

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: previously in a large belt along the Bering Sea coast between the Olyutor Bay and the Anadyr Bay, today only as a relict in a single locality, Maino-Pil'gyn (Mojno-Pil'gino), within the Bering raion of the Chukchee Autonomous District of Magadan Oblast, Russia

Dormant
No known speakers
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
8
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
No known speakers. There were 200 to 400 in 1900 but language now has no remaining speakers. Ethnic population: 8

PLACES: Russia;

Ethnic population
~100
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
'There is no official data on the number of Kereks. In 1934 they numbered 90 (S. Stebnitsky). Since then "about a hundred" has been repeatedly quoted (for example, Soviet Estonian Encyclopedia, 1968, 1979), but no more exact data exists. "Not more than 70" is the estimate given by V. Avorin in 1966. '

DATE OF INFO: 1979

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "The Kereks make up a small linguistic enclave near the Gulf of Ugolnaya and Navarin Cape on the coast of the Bering Sea in northeastern Siberia. The administrative unit to which they belong is called the Bering District of the Chukchi Autonomous Territory which is part of the Magadan Region of the Russian Federation. Their habitat is the Artic region with its permafrost tundra and harsh climate. "

Critically endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2
Native speakers worldwide

		2000	Red Book on Endangered Languages: Northeast Asia				UNESCO	http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/nasia_report.html	Juha Janhunen; Tapani Salminen	Juha Janhunen; Tapani Salminen. 2000. "UNESCO RED BOOK ON ENDANGERED LANGUAGES: NORTHEAST ASIA." Online: http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/nasia_report.html		0?	<100	0?	<10	1993	1-9	In the early 1950s there were still approx. 100 speakers.		Chukchee, Russian	degree of speakers' competence: rudimentary, with strong interference from Chukchee, the language which has ultimately absorbed Kerek, as well as from Russian, the language today dominant over Chukchee	Critically Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	15		previously in a large belt along the Bering Sea coast between the Olyutor Bay and the Anadyr Bay, today only as a relict in a single locality, Maino-Pil'gyn (Mojno-Pil'gino), within the Bering raion of the Chukchee Autonomous District of Magadan Oblast, Russia
			World Oral Literature Project					http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.					2		1-9					Critically Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
9985-936922		1993	The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire	Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits				http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook		"The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire." edited by Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits. Online: http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook.			~100			1979		'There is no official data on the number of Kereks. In 1934 they numbered 90 (S. Stebnitsky). Since then "about a hundred" has been repeatedly quoted (for example, Soviet Estonian Encyclopedia, 1968, 1979), but no more exact data exists. "Not more than 70" is the estimate given by V. Avorin in 1966. '	"...the language for education and cultural life is Russian"	Chucki; Russian						"The Kereks make up a small linguistic enclave near the Gulf of Ugolnaya and Navarin Cape on the coast of the Bering Sea in northeastern Siberia. The administrative unit to which they belong is called the Bering District of the Chukchi Autonomous Territory which is part of the Magadan Region of the Russian Federation. Their habitat is the Artic region with its permafrost tundra and harsh climate. "
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.																	62.25,175.0
	16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)	M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX		http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub		8		No known speakers			No known speakers. There were 200 to 400 in 1900 but language now has no remaining speakers. Ethnic population: 8				Dormant			Russia;

Kerek

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<10

Dormant

No known speakers

Critically endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2

Discussion

Kerek

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<10

Dormant

No known speakers

Critically endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2

Discussion

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