Kutenai language

Kutenai
Ktunaxa
Native toCanada, United States
RegionBritish Columbia, Montana, Idaho
Ethnicity1,536 Ktunaxa (2016 census)
Native speakers
345 (2010–2016)
Latin (Kutenai alphabet)
Ktunaxa Sign Language (ʔa·qanⱡiⱡⱡitnam)
Language codes
ISO 639-2kut
ISO 639-3kut
Glottologkute1249
ELPKtunaxa
Kutenai language
Kutenai is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
PeopleKtunaxa
LanguageKtunaxa,
ʔa·qanⱡiⱡⱡitnam
CountryKtunaxa ʔamakʔas

The Kutenai language (/ˈktn/ KOOT-nee), also Kootenai, Kootenay, Ktunaxa, and Ksanka, is the native language of the Kutenai people of Montana and Idaho in the United States and British Columbia in Canada. It is typically considered a language isolate, unrelated to the Salishan family of languages spoken by neighboring tribes on the coast and in the interior Plateau. The Kutenai also use ʔa·qanⱡiⱡⱡitnam, Ktunaxa Sign Language.