Ethnicity Yuki people Language family Yuki–Wappo
Yuki Linguist list yuk Yuki proper | Extinct 20th century ISO 639-3 yuk (Yuki proper) | |
Region Eel River area (formerly) | ||
The Yuki language, also spelled Ukiah and also known as Ukomno'm, was a language of California, spoken by the indigenous American Yuki people, formerly in the Eel River area, the Round Valley Reservation, northern California. It became extinct some time in the 20th century. Yuki is generally thought to be distantly related to the Wappo language.
Yuki consisted of three dialects: Northern Yuki (Round Valley Yuki), Coast Yuki, and Huchnom (Clear Lake Yuki). These were at least partially mutually intelligible, but are sometimes counted as distinct languages.
Yuki had an octal (base-8) counting system, as the Yuki keep count by using the four spaces between their fingers rather than the fingers themselves. Yuki also had an extensive vocabulary for the plants of Mendocino County, California.