Tunica language

The Tunica (or Tonica, or less common form Yuron) language was a language isolate spoken in the Central and Lower Mississippi Valley in the United States by Native American Tunica peoples. There are no known speakers of the Tunica language remaining.

When the last known fluent speaker Sesostrie Youchigant died in the mid-20th century, the language became extinct. Linguist Mary Haas worked with Youchigant to describe what he remembered of the language, and the description was published in A Grammar of the Tunica Language in 1941. This was followed by Tunica Texts in 1950 and Tunica Dictionary in 1953.

By the 17th century, the people had suffered a high rate of fatalities due to Eurasian infectious diseases, warfare and social disruption. The reduced Tunica tribe lived close to the Ofo and Avoyelles tribes in present-day Louisiana. They communicated by the Mobilian Jargon or French. Due to this circumstance of small population and use of a jargon, the linguist Haas noted that the eventual deterioration of the Tunica language was inevitable.