Chitimacha language
| Chitimacha | |
|---|---|
| Sitimaxa, Čitimaaša | |
| Pronunciation | [t͡ʃitimaːʃa] |
| Native to | USA |
| Region | Southern Louisiana |
| Ethnicity | Chitimacha |
| Extinct | 1940, with the death of Delphine Ducloux |
| Revival | learned by children through immersion program |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ctm |
| Glottolog | chit1248 |
| ELP | Chitimacha |
 Historical distribution of Chitimacha language | |
Chitimacha (/ˌtʃɪtɪməˈʃɑː/ CHIT-i-mə-SHAH or /tʃɪtɪˈmɑːʃə/ chit-i-MAH-shə, Sitimaxa) 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Although no longer spoken, it is fairly extensively documented by the linguists' work (mostly unpublished) of Morris Swadesh and John R. Swanton.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 that has been published.
Language revitalization efforts are underway to teach the language to a new generation of speakers. Tribal members have received Rosetta Stone software to learn the language. As of 2015, a new Chitimacha dictionary is in preparation, and classes are being taught on the Chitimacha reservation.