Ket language
| Ket | |
|---|---|
| Yenisei Ostyak | |
| остыганна ӄаʼ ostɯɣanna qaʼ | |
| Pronunciation | [ostɨ̀kanna qaˀ] |
| Native to | Russia |
| Region | Krasnoyarsk Krai |
| Ethnicity | 1,088 Ket (2021) |
Native speakers | 60 (2019–2024) 153 (2020 census) |
Dené–Yeniseian?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Cyrillic | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ket |
| Glottolog | kett1243 |
| ELP | Ket |
| Linguasphere | 43-AAA-a |
Map of pre-contact Yeniseian languages. | |
Ket is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The Ket (/ˈkɛt/ KET) language, or more specifically Imbak and formerly known as Yenisei Ostyak (/ˈɒstiæk/ OSS-tee-ak), is a Siberian language long thought to be an isolate, the sole surviving language of a Yeniseian language family. It is spoken along the middle Yenisei basin by the Ket people.
The language is threatened with extinction—the number of ethnic Kets that are native speakers of the language dropped from 1,225 in 1926 to 537 in 1989. According to the UNESCO census, this number has since fallen to 150. A 2005 census reported 485 native speakers, but this number is suspected to be inflated. According to a local news source, the number of remaining Ket speakers is around 10 to 20. Another Yeniseian language, Yugh, has recently become extinct.