Chitimacha language

Chitimacha (/ˌtʃɪtᵻməˈʃɑː/ CHIT-i-mə-SHAH or /tʃɪtᵻˈmɑːʃə/, chit-i-MAH-shə) is a language isolate historically spoken by the Chitimacha people of Louisiana, United States. It became extinct in 1940 with the death of the last fluent speaker, Delphine Ducloux.

Although no longer spoken, it is fairly extensively documented in the early 20th-century work (mostly unpublished) of linguists Morris Swadesh and John R. Swanton. Swadesh in particular wrote a full grammar and dictionary, and collected numerous texts from the last two speakers, although none of this is published.

Language revitalization efforts are underway to teach the language to a new generation of speakers. Tribal members have received Rosetta Stone software for learning the language. As of 2015, a new Chitimacha dictionary is in preparation, and classes are being taught on the Chitimacha reservation.

Chitimacha has recently been proposed to be related to, or a member of, the hypothetical Totozoquean language family. An earlier, more speculative, proposal suggested an affinity with the also hypothetical group of Gulf languages.