Nganasan language

Nganasan
няˮ сиәде njaʔ siəde
Pronunciation[nʲaʔ siəðʲe]
Native toRussia
RegionTaymyr Autonomous Okrug
Ethnicity687 Nganasans (2021 census)
Native speakers
c.30 (2019–2024)
420 (2020 census)
Dialects
  • Avam
  • Vadeyev
Cyrillic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3nio
Glottologngan1291
ELPNganasan
Geographic distribution of Nganasan at the beginning of the 20th century and currently
Nganasan is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010).

The Nganasan language (formerly called тавгийский, tavgiysky, or тавгийско-самоедский, tavgiysko-samoyedsky in Russian; from the ethnonym тавги, tavgi) is a moribund Samoyedic language spoken by about 30 of the Nganasan people. It is notable for its unusual characteristics among the Samoyedic languages, as well among the greater Uralic languages.