Indigenous languages Canada is home to a rich variety of
indigenous languages, most of which are spoken nowhere else. There are 14 indigenous
language groups in Canada with about 100 distinct languages and dialects, including many sign languages. Almost all indigenous languages in Canada are considered
endangered, with the exception of
Inuktitut,
Inuinnaqtun, and the Cree varieties
Naskapi,
Atikamekw,
East Cree, and
Plains Cree. Prior to
colonization,
multilingualism was common across indigenous nations, many of whom often seasonally migrated. However, the
reserve system created more permanent stationary
bands, which have generally selected only one of their various ancestral languages to try to preserve in the face of increasing
Anglicization,
Francization, or Amslanization (the process by which
American Sign Language replaces local
sign languages). In addition, the
residential school system attempted to institutionally exterminate languages and cultures from coast to coast to coast. The cruel methods (such as
physical and
sexual abuse, as well as death rates as high as one in twenty children) resulted in a sharp declines in language use across all nations, including amongst
deaf and
signing communities.
Robert Falcon Ouellette, a Cree Member of Parliament, played a pivotal role in promoting indigenous languages within the
Canadian Parliament and
Canadian House of Commons. He was instrumental in obtaining unanimous consent from all political parties to change the standing orders to allow indigenous languages to be spoken in the House of Commons, with full translation services provided. This historic change enabled Ouellette to deliver a speech in Cree, marking the first use of an indigenous language in the House on Jan 28, 2019. Furthermore, Bill C-91, the Indigenous Languages Act passed in 2019, was enacted to support and revitalize indigenous languages across Canada. This legislation, aims to reclaim, revitalize, and maintain indigenous languages through sustainable funding and the establishment of the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages. Ouellette was the chair of the indigenous caucus in the House of Commons and helped ensure it passage before the election of 2019. Two of Canada's
territories give official status to native languages. In
Nunavut, Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun, known collectively as
Inuktut, are official languages alongside the national languages of English and French, and Inuktitut is a common
vehicular language in territorial government. In the
Northwest Territories, the
Official Languages Act declares that there are eleven different languages: Cree,
Dënësųłıné,
Dene Yatıé / Dene Zhatıé, English, French,
Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut,
Inuvialuktun,
Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́ / K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́ / Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́, and
Tłįchǫ. Awaiting
royal assent in October 2022 on
Treaty Day,
Nova Scotia has affirmed
Mi'kmawi'simk as the "First Language" of the province through a bill titled the "Mi'kmaw Language Act" (No. 148). The Act establishes a language committee co-developed and co-run by
Miꞌkmaw Kinaꞌmatnewey as well as ensuring "government support for the preservation, revitalization, promotion and protection of the Mi’kmaw language for generations to come," collaboratively developing strategy between the
Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia and the
Government of Nova Scotia. Whilst most Canadian indigenous languages are endangered and their current speaker numbers are frequently low, the number of speakers has grown and even outpaced the number with an indigenous mother tongue, indicating that many people continue to learn the languages even if not initially raised with them. Given the destruction of indigenous state structures, academics usually classify indigenous peoples of Canada by region into "
culture areas", or by their language family. •
Arctic cultural area (
Inuit languages, including
Inuit Sign Language) •
Subarctic culture area (
Na-Dene and
Algonquian languages) •
Eastern Woodlands (Northeast) cultural area (Algonquian and
Iroquoian languages) •
Plains cultural area (Algonquian,
Plains Sign, and
Siouan languages) •
Northwest Plateau cultural area (
Ktunaxa, Na-Dene, and
Salishan languages, including
Secwepemcékst and
Plateau Sign Language) •
Northwest Coast cultural area (
Haida, Salishan,
Tsimshianic, and
Wakashan languages, possibly including
Coast Salish Sign Language Glottolog 4.3 (2020) counted 13 independent indigenous language families and/or isolates in Canada. A potential fourteenth family, that of the
sign languages of the Plateau, possibly hosting languages like
Secwepemcékst and
Ktunaxa Sign Language, remains unlisted by Glottolog. It remains unknown to academia the extent which sign languages are spoken and how they relate to and across linguistic families. the meagrely documented
Bungi Creole (also known as Bungee, Bungy, Bungie, Bungay, and as the Red River Dialect) is a mixed language predominantly anchored in English that evolved within the Prairie
Métis community, specifically the
Countryborn or Anglo-Métis. Due to the multicultural nature of the
Red River Settlement, Bungi was influenced by
Scottish English,
Nehiyawewin,
Nakawemowin, the
Orcadian dialect of
Scots,
Norn,
Scottish Gaelic, and
Canadian French. The vocabulary and word order were primarily English, but the speech was lilting like that of Gaelic speakers, with pronunciation and structural shifts coming from the
Cree languages, such as:
shawl becoming
sawl,
she becoming
see, and the popular greeting
I’m well, you but?. Bungi reached its peak in the nineteenth century, with about 5,000 Countryborn native speakers of the dialect in 1870. However, over the next century, standard Canadian English gradually replaced it; and by the late 1980s, only a handful of elderly speakers remained. It is generally considered to be
asleep today. Notable for its
code-switching between English and French, it is often popularly considered a variant of
Franglais, with examples such as: ''Espère-moi su'l'corner, j'traverse le ch'min pi j'viens right back'' (Wait for me at the corner, I'm crossing the road and I'll be right back) and ''On va amarrer ça d'même pour faire sûr que ça tchenne'' (We will tie it like this to make sure it stays).
Chinook Jargon In British Columbia,
Yukon and throughout the
Pacific Northwest, a pidgin language known as the
Chinook Jargon (also rendered "Chinook Wawa") emerged in the early 19th century that was a combination of
Chinookan,
Nootka,
Chehalis, French and English, with a smattering of words from other languages including
Hawaiian and
Spanish. Later in that century, it had creolized in the Pacific Northwest. Certain words and expressions remain current in
local use, such as
skookum,
tyee, and
saltchuck, while a few have become part of worldwide English ("high mucketymuck" or "high muckamuck" for a high-ranking and perhaps self-important official).
Franglais A
portmanteau language which is said to combine English and French syntax, grammar and lexicons to form a unique
interlanguage, is sometimes ascribed to mandatory basic French education in the Canadian anglophone school systems. Many unilingual anglophone Canadians, for instance, will borrow French words into their sentences. Simple words and phrases like "" (what is that?) or words like "" (stop) can alternate with their English counterparts. This phenomenon is more common in the
eastern half of the country where there is a greater density of Francophone populations.
Franglais can also refer to the supposed degradation of the French language thanks to the overwhelming impact Canadian English has on the country's Francophone inhabitants, though many linguists would argue that while English vocabulary can be freely borrowed as a stylistic device, the grammar of French has been resistant to influences from English and the same conservatism holds true in Canadian English grammar, even in Quebec City.
Haida Jargon A pidgin trade language based on Haida, known as
Haida Jargon, was used in the 1830s in and around
Haida Gwaii. It was used by speakers of English, Haida, Coast Tsimshian, Heiltsuk, and other languages.
Loucheux Jargon As a result of cultural contact between the
Gwich'in (formerly called "Loucheaux") and Europeans (predominately French
coureurs des bois and
voyageurs), a pidgin language was historically used across
Gwich'in Nành, Denendeh. The language is often called in English "Jargon Loucheux" using the traditional French syntax.
Michif Michif (also known as Mitchif, Mechif, Michif-Cree, Métif, Métchif, and French Cree) is a mixed language which evolved within the Prairie
Métis community that was oriented towards Cree and Franco-Catholic culture. It is based on elements of Cree and French along with elements of
Ojibwa and
Assiniboine. Michif is today spoken by fewer than 1,000 individuals in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and
North Dakota. At its peak, around 1900, Michif was understood by perhaps three times this number.
Nootka Jargon Based in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and likely one precursor to
Chinook Wawa,
Nootka Jargon was a trade language derived from
Nuučaan̓uł, English, Spanish, and Russian, as well as other local languages.
Slavey Jargon Also known as "Broken Slavey," this language was spoken until the mid-1900s, abruptly diminishing due to the influx of English into
Denendeh and
Inuit Nunangat. Documentation has also shown that the language was spoken by a range of fur traders, postmasters, and their wives, sisters, and daughters, who were often of Métis descent. The name "Souriquois" has an obscure history and most likely refers to region around
Souris and the
Basque suffix
koa, perhaps from
zurikoa “that of the whites."
Sign languages Alongside the numerous and varied oral languages, Canada also boasts several
sign languages. Currently, Canada is home to some five or more
sign languages (that number rising with the probability that
Plains Sign Talk is actually a language family with several languages under its umbrella), belonging to four to six distinct
language families, those being: the
Francosign family, the
BANZSL family, the
Plains Sign family, the
Inuit Sign isolate, perhaps the
Coast Salish Sign isolate, and perhaps a
Plateau Sign family composed of
Secwepemcékst and
Ktunaxa Sign Language. As with all sign languages around the world that developed naturally, these are natural, human languages distinct from any oral language. As such,
American Sign Language (unlike
Signed English) is no more a derivation of English than Russian is, all being distinct languages from one another. Some languages present here were
trade pidgins which were used first as a system of communication across national and linguistic boundaries of First Nations, however, they have since developed into mature languages as children learned them as a first language. The sign languages of Canada share extremely limited rights within the country in large due to the general population's misinformation on the subject. Ontario is the only province or territory to formally make legal any sign language, enabling the use of American Sign Language,
Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) and "First Nation Sign Language" (which could refer to Plains Sign Talk,
Oneida Sign Language, or any other language) in only the domains of education, legislation and judiciary proceedings. The only other language afforded any other rights is Inuiuuk, which sees interpretation in the
Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. There have been efforts to make LSQ an official language of Quebec, but all efforts have failed.
American Sign Language The most utilized sign language in Canada,
American Sign Language or ASL, can be found across the country in mostly anglophone regions. The ties with anglophone Canada are not due to ASL and English's similarity, but to cultural similarities and linguistic history (as several ASL words are borrowed from English). As such, ASL can be found in areas where English is not the primary language, such as
Montreal or
Nunavut. ASL is part of the
French Sign Language (Francosign) family, originating on the
East Coast of the United States from a mix of
Langue des signes françaises (LSF) and other local languages.
Black American Sign Language Amongst the
Black communities of Canada,
Black American Sign Language (BASL) is also spoken.
Coast Salish Sign Language There is evidence that Coast Salish citizens speak a distinct sign language. It was used for all international relations, trade, and diplomacy across much of the continent until
colonization. across the continent and the language stretched across the provinces down through Mexico. Its name comes from the language itself ("HANDS" + "TO-TALK-TO") and is preferred by Indigenous communities over other terms like "Plains Sign Language" or "First Nations Sign Languages". In fact, Hand Talk is a complex of several languages, with variants in the Northeast Woodlands, Great Basin, Southwest, and the Great Plains. Onʌyota'a:ká (or Oneida) Sign Language is a young and growing language, spreading especially amongst deaf Oneida citizens.
Maritime Sign Language Maritime Sign Language is a BANZSL language. It was used as the language of education for Deaf populations in
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and
Prince Edward Island before ASL became available in the mid-20th century. It is still remembered by some elderly people but is
moribund. The language, living alongside ASL, has produced a unique dialect of ASL in
the Maritimes due to mixing of the languages. The exact number of speakers is unknown.
Plateau Sign Language Another international language,
Plateau Sign Language was/is spoken in the
Columbia Plateau and surrounding regions of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho instead of Plains Sign Talk. There are few speakers left, mostly Elders.
Ktunaxa Sign Language Called
ʾa·qanⱡiⱡⱡitnam in the
Ktunaxa language, Ktunaxa Sign Language has historically been spoken in Ktunaxa ɁamakaɁis (Ktunaxa Country).
Secwépemc Sign Language Perhaps related to or descended from the old Plateau Sign Language, Secwepemcékst or Secwépemc Sign Language is spoken by a small number of
Secwépemc citizens.
Canadian dialects of European languages Acadian French Acadian French is a unique form of
Canadian French which incorporates not only distinctly Canadian phrases but also nautical terms, English
loanwords,
linguistic features found only in older forms of French as well as ones found in the
Maritimer English dialect.
Brayon French A sub-dialect of
Acadian French, Brayon French is spoken by those in
Madawaska County of
New Brunswick. The language is a mix of Acadian and Quebec French with influence from the local
Mi'kmaw and
Maliseet languages, with only slight differentiation from the more standard Acadian French.
Québec French As the most spoken variety of French in Canada,
Québec French contains a significant number of dialects, generally grouped in two: the "old" dialects of the territories at the time of the
British conquest and the "new" dialects that arose post-conquest.
Chaouin French Around 1615 as the
coureurs des bois moved past
the city of Quebec, those who settled in
Ndakinna (
Abenaki land) developed unique features still found today, especially in the
Bois-Francs region South of the
St. Lawrence.
Joual French Originally the dialect of the French-speaking
working class in
Montréal, the cultural renaissance connected to the
Quiet Revolution have resulted in Joual being spoken by people across the educational and economic spectrum.
Màgoua French Possibly deriving from the
Atikamekw word for "
loon" (
makwa; standard French:
huard), the French spoken by the Magoua community is one of the most conservative French dialects in North America. This
basilectal dialect is found in
Nitaskinan as the
Trois-Rivières region became the first stronghold of the
coureurs des bois outside the
city of Quebec in 1615. Magoua French preserves the sontaient ("étaient") characteristic of Métis French and Cajun French, has a creole-like past tense particle tà, and has old present-tense contraction of a former verb "to be" that behave in the same manner as subject clitics.
Métis French Alongside
Michif and
Bungi, the
Métis dialect of French is one of the traditional languages of the Métis people, and the French-dialect source of the Michif language. Métis French is a variety of
Canadian French with some added characters
Ññ,
Áá,
Óó, and
Ææ (from older French spellings), such as: English: "there is no birthmark on this boy." As a general rule, Métis individuals tend to speak one or the other, rarely both. In places like Toronto where there is a large population of
Afro-Caribbean descendants and newcomers, localized varieties of Black English take on elements of
Caribbean English, as well as mixing with
African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). Although AAVE is not nearly as widespread in Canada as it is across the United States, Black Canadians have various lines of connection to the dialect. Sometimes that connection is historical, such as with Black Nova Scotians; sometimes it is hegemonic, where Afro-Canadians adopt speech mannerisms from the larger United States; sometimes it is
diasporic, where communities of African-American newcomers or African-American descendants coalesce, especially in larger cities.
Afro-Nova Scotian English African Nova Scotian English is spoken by descendants of
Black Nova Scotians, black immigrants from the
United States. Though most
African American freedom seekers in Canada ended up in Ontario through the
Underground Railroad, only the dialect of African Nova Scotians retains the influence of West African pidgin. In the 19th century, African Nova Scotian English would have been indistinguishable from English spoken in
Jamaica or
Suriname. However, it has been increasingly de-creolized since this time, due to interaction and influence from the white Nova Scotian population.
Desegregation of the province's school boards in 1964 further accelerated the process of de-creolization. The language is a relative of the
African-American Vernacular English, with significant variations unique to the group's history in the area. There are noted differences in the dialects of those from
Guysborough County (Black Loyalists), and those from
North Preston (Black Refugees), the Guysborough group having been in the province three generations earlier. The dialect was extensively studied in 1992 by Shana Poplack and Sali Tagliamonte from the University of Ottawa.
Cascadian English The English language in British Columbia shares numerous features with the neighbouring states of
Washington and
Oregon, such as the /æɡ/ raising (found words such as bag, vague and bagel). Boreal Cascadian English speakers exhibit more vowel retraction of /æ/ before nasals than people from Toronto, and younger speakers in the Greater Vancouver area do not raise /aʊ/ as much, but keep the drop in intonation, causing "about" to sound slightly like "a baht." The "o" in such words as holy, goal, load, know, etc. is pronounced as a close-mid back rounded vowel, [o], but not as rounded as in the Prairies where there are strong Scandinavian, Slavic and German influences, which can lend to a more stereotypical "Canadian" accent.
Indigenous English The varieties of English spoken by
indigenous people are
phonologically influenced by their first or traditional languages. This has resulted in an identifiable dialect spectrum distinct from other Canadian English dialects. Due to the ongoing
stigmatization of indigenous cultures, indigenous children could be wrongly diagnosed as having a speech impairment or a learning disability, when what is identified by medical professionals are simply the dialectal features. Some written works use indigenous English dialects. For example,
Maria Campbell's book
Stories of the Road Allowance People is a collection of Métis folktales. An excerpt from that work illustrates the type of speech used by Elders in rural Métis communities during her research, but some stories were collected in Cree or other languages and translated into dialectical English by Campbell:
Lunenburg English Spoken in
Lunenburg and
Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, this
moribund dialect is sometimes called "Lunenburg Dutch" due to its rooting in the large
Kurpfalzisch and
Württembergisch population who settled the town. Although the German language subsided significantly, the English of the town and county continue to be marked by its influence. Indeed, the pronunciation in Lunenburg county is the only Canadian community to be
non-rhotic. The accent features Canadian raising and so flight [ˈflʌɪt] has a different vowel from fly [ˈflɑɪ], and the noun house [ˈhoʊs] has a different vowel from the verb house [ˈhɑʊz]. In Lunenburg, the phrase
about a boat contains two identical stressed and two identical unstressed vowels: /əˌboʊt ə ˈboʊt/, rather than the Standard Canadian English /əˌbaʊt ə ˈboʊt/, with distinct stressed vowels. Due to German influence, there is a tendency to pronounce /w/ in
witch the same as /v/ as in
van. Another example is the lack of the dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/, which are replaced by the alveolar stops /t/ and /d/ (rendering "thank" and "tank" homophonous as /ˈtæŋk/), and the "t" at the end of words is usually silent: "get" becomes "ge." For example, here is a sample of a conversation between two people:
Maritime English Spoken across the provinces of
Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, and
PEI, this English dialect has been influenced by
British and
Irish English,
Irish and
Scottish Gaelic, and some Acadian French, as well as by
Mi'kmawi'simk.
Newfoundland English The initial European settlers to Newfoundland were fishermen from the various coastal villages of the English
West Country of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and Wiltshire beginning in the 1500s (previously they visited in summer and returned). This set the basic speech patterns for those settlers who fanned out into isolated coves and bays along the island's of coastline to take advantage of the scattered off-shore fishing areas.
Labrador, today the greater part of "Newfoundland", was then sparsely settled. The West Country dialects continued to be spoken in isolated coves and fjords of the island thus preserving varied dialects of what is today referred to as
Newfoundland English. It was not until the 1700s that social disruptions in Ireland sent thousands of Irish from the southeastern counties of Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, and Cork and to the Avalon peninsula in the eastern part of Newfoundland where significant Irish influence on the Newfoundland dialects may still be heard. Some of the Irish immigrants to
Newfoundland were native speakers of
Irish making Newfoundland the only place outside Europe to have
its own Irish dialect. Newfoundland was also the only place outside Europe to have its own distinct name in Irish:
Talamh an Éisc, which means 'land of the fish'. The Irish language is now extinct in Newfoundland. After 400 years, much of the dialectal differences between the isolated settlements has levelled out beginning in the 20th century when faster boats (using gas engines instead of oars or sails), and improved road connections provided easier social contact. As well, influences from mainland North America began to affect the local dialects beginning during WWII when US and Canadian servicemen were stationed in Newfoundland and accelerating after Newfoundland became a Canadian province in 1949. Lack of an official orthography, publications in dialect, speaker attrition and official disinterest in promoting the language has been contributing factors towards a decline of speakers of the older, traditional Newfoundland English in the original settlements.
Ottawa Valley Twang Ottawa Valley Twang is the
accent, sometimes referred to as a
dialect of English, that is spoken in the
Ottawa Valley, in Ontario. The Ottawa Valley is considered to be a
linguistic enclave within Ontario.
Quebec English The language of
English-speaking Quebecers generally aligns to
Standard Canadian English, however established ethnic groups retain certain, distinctive lexical features, such as the dialects spoken by
Mohawk,
Cree,
Inuit, Irish, Jewish, Italian, and Greek communities. Isolated fishing villages on the
Basse-Côte-Nord speak Newfoundland English, and many
Gaspesian English-speakers use Maritime English.
Toronto slang Spoken within the
Greater Toronto Area,
Toronto slang is the nuanced, multicultural English spoken in the city. This dialect is heavily influenced by the different communities present, most notably the Jamaican, Trinidadian, Guyanese, and other Caribbean communities and their ways of speaking. There is also influence from West African, East African, and South Asian communities.
Canadian Gaelic Canadian Gaelic was spoken by many immigrants who settled in
Glengarry County (Ontario) and
the Maritimes—predominantly in New Brunswick's
Restigouche River valley, central and southeastern Prince Edward Island, and across the whole of northern Nova Scotia—particularly
Cape Breton. While the
Canadian Gaelic dialect has mostly disappeared, regional pockets persist. These are mostly centred on families deeply committed to their Celtic traditions. Nova Scotia currently has 500–1,000 fluent speakers, mostly in northwestern Cape Breton. There have been attempts in Nova Scotia to institute Gaelic immersion on the model of
French immersion. As well, formal post-secondary studies in Gaelic language and culture are available through
St. Francis Xavier University,
Saint Mary's University, and
Cape Breton University In 1890, a private member's bill was tabled in the
Canadian Senate, calling for Gaelic to be made Canada's third
official language. However, the bill was defeated 42–7.
Newfoundland Irish Newfoundland is home to the largest population of Irish-descendants in Canada and once hosted a thriving
Irish Gaelic linguistic community. Although steep declines around the 20th century meant that the Irish language on the Island hardly remains, there exists today strong interest with consistent efforts to revive the language. Newfoundland Irish has left an impact on the English spoken on the Island, including terms like
scrob "scratch" (Irish ),
sleveen "rascal" (Irish ) and
streel "slovenly person" (Irish ), along with grammatical features like the
"after" perfect as in "she's already after leavin (Irish ). As well, both Newfoundland (
Talamh an Éisc,
Land of the Fish) and
St. John's (
Baile Sheáin) have distinct names in the
Irish-language. The dialect of Irish spoken in Newfoundland is said to resemble the
Munster Irish of the 18th century. Events and institutions are increasingly supporting the language with ever larger
Céilithe móra, students participating in
Conradh na Gaeilge events, people playing
Gaelic sports, and Irish film festivals attracting English- and Irish-speakers alike. There is also an Irish language instructor, appointed every year by the Ireland Canada University Foundation, who works at
Memorial University in
St. John's, where the university's Digital Learning Centre provides resources for learning the Irish language.
Newfoundland Welsh Some
Welsh is found in Newfoundland. In part, this is as a result of Welsh settlement since the 17th century. Also, there was an influx of about 1,000
Patagonian Welsh, who migrated to Canada from
Argentina after the 1982
Falklands War. Welsh-Argentines are fluent in Spanish as well as English and Welsh.
Canadian Ukrainian Canada is also home to
Canadian Ukrainian, a distinct dialect of the
Ukrainian language, spoken mostly in
Western Canada by the descendants of first two waves of
Ukrainian settlement in Canada who developed in a degree of isolation from their cousins in what was then
Austria-Hungary, the
Russian Empire,
Poland, and the
Soviet Union.
Doukhobor Russian Canada's
Doukhobor community, especially in
Grand Forks and
Castlegar, British Columbia, has kept its
distinct dialect of
Russian. It has a lot in common with
South Russian dialects, showing some common features with Ukrainian. This dialect's versions are becoming extinct in their home regions of
Georgia and
Russia where the Doukhobors have split into smaller groups.
Deitsch A variety of
West Central German spoken by the
Old Order Amish,
Old Order Mennonites and other descendants of
German immigrants in Canada,
Pennsylvania Dutch or
Deitsch is closely related to the
Palatine dialects of the
Upper Rhine Valley. Of the estimated 300,000 speakers, most are found across several US states, whilst there is a sizable community within Ontario.
Hutterisch Centred in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, the
Hutterite communities maintain a
distinct form of the
German language descended from
Bavarian dialects spoken in
Tyrol (by founder
Jacob Hutter). The language shifted in the mid-18th century toward a more
Carinthian linguistic base upon the deportation of
Landler from
Austria to
Transylvania. There is only about a 50% intelligibility between
Pennsylvania Dutch speakers and
Hutterisch. Its speaker base belongs to the
Schmiedleit,
Lehrerleit, and
Dariusleit groups with a few speakers among the older generations of
Prairieleit (the descendants of those Hutterites who chose not to settle in colonies). Hutterite children who grow up in the colonies first learn and speak Hutterisch before learning English. Of the estimated 34,000 speakers in the world (as of 2003), 85% of them live in 370 communities in Canada. Canadian adults are generally literate in
Early New High German (also called "Biblical German", the predecessor to Standard German used by
Martin Luther) that they employ as the written form for Scriptures, however Hutterisch is, for the most part, an unwritten language.
Plautdietsch Plautdietsch is predominantly found in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario where
Mennonite communities settled. The Mennonites, or
Russian Mennonites as they are sometimes called, descend from
Low country Anabaptists who fled from what is today the Netherlands and Belgium in the 16th century to escape persecution and
resettled in the Vistula delta. Their language is a fusion of
Dutch,
West Frisian and
Dutch Low Saxon dialects which over time mixed with the
East Low German dialects of
Werdersch,
Nehrungisch and
Weichselisch. ==Official bilingualism==