Page Type: languageChoctaw | Ethnologue

CHO ISO 639-3

Choctaw

Chahta, Chahta Anumpa Autonym

A language of United States

ISO 639
cho
Autonym
Chahta, Chahta Anumpa
Population
9,640 (2015 census), decreasing. Ethnic population: 20,000 (Golla 2007). In Oklahoma.
Location:
Louisiana; Mississippi: east central; Oklahoma: McCurtain county; Tennessee.
Language Status
6b (Threatened). Language of registered tribe: Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana.
Classification
Muskogean, Western Muskogean
Dialects
None known. Choctaw find Chickasaw [cic] unintelligible.
Language Use
Prominent in church. Some young people, all adults. All ages in Mississippi, middle-aged and older in Oklahoma. Most also use English [eng]. Used as L2 by Koasati [cku].
Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 5%–10%. Literacy rate in L2: 75%–100%. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1848. Language preservation activities emphasize distance learning (Golla 2007).
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Choctaw
Writing
Latin script [Latn].
Other Comments
The Houma are 12,000 racially mixed descendants of a Choctaw subgroup in southern Louisiana who speak a dialect of Cajun French [frc], and no longer speak Choctaw.

Also Spoken in

Map

Location: Louisiana; Mississippi: east central; Oklahoma: McCurtain county; Tennessee.