{{Short description|Extinct Chukotko-Kamchatkan language of northeast Russia}} {{Expand language|topic=|langcode=ru|otherarticle=Керекский язык|date=March 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox language | name = Kerek | states = Russia | region = Chukotka Autonomous Okrug | ethnicity = Kereks | extinct = 2005, with the death of Ekaterina Khatkana<ref name="65bcb9089a794788c65d99b2">{{cite web|archive-date=2024-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204082726/https://www.rbc.ru/society/04/02/2024/65bcb9089a794788c65d99b2|url-status=live |date=2024-02-04 |title=Перепись населения насчитала в России шесть вымерших и заснувших языков |url=https://www.rbc.ru/society/04/02/2024/65bcb9089a794788c65d99b2 |work=РБК}}</ref> | nativename = {{lang|krk|аӈӄалҕакку}} {{tlit|krk|angqalghakku}} | ref = e18 | familycolor = Paleosiberian | fam1 = Chukotko-Kamchatkan | fam2 = Chukotkan | iso3 = krk | glotto = kere1280 | glottorefname = Kerek | map = Chukotko-Kamchatkan map.svg | mapcaption = Pre-contact distribution of Kerek (dark orange) and other Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages | map2 = Lang Status 01-EX.svg | mapcaption2 = {{center|Kerek is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger'' (2010).}} | dia1 = Maino-Pilgin | dia2 = Khatyr | speakers2 = 4 (2020)<ref>[https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab7_VPN-2020.xlsx Том 5. «Национальный состав и владение языками». Таблица 7. Население наиболее многочисленных национальностей по родному языку]</ref> }}

'''Kerek''' ({{langx|ru|link=no|Керекский язык|Kereksky yazyk}}) is an extinct indigenous language in Russia of the Chukotkan branch of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages. Before its extinction, it was spoken by the Kereks of the Russian Far East. It went extinct in 2005 with the death of Ekaterina Khatkana.

== Classification == On historical linguistic grounds it is most closely related to Koryak (both languages have a merger of the Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan phonemes /*ð/ and /*r/ with /*j/). The next closest relative is Chukchi (/*ð/ and /*r/ are merged, but not /*j/).

== Dialects == There were two dialects, the Maino-Pilgin and Khatyr dialects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=КЕРЕКСКИЙ ЯЗЫК • Большая российская энциклопедия - электронная версия |url=https://old.bigenc.ru/linguistics/text/5229835 |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=old.bigenc.ru}}</ref>

== Usage == In 1997 there were still two speakers remaining, but in 2005 the language went extinct, with the death of Ekaterina Khatkana.<ref>{{Cite web |title=О КМНС |url=https://mobile.atlaskmns.ru/page/ru/people_kereki_persona_1.html |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=mobile.atlaskmns.ru}}</ref><ref>Fortescue, Michael 2005. ''Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary''. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter.</ref> According to the 2010 census,<ref>[http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/per-itog/tab6.xls 2010 census]</ref> there were 10 people claiming Kerek as their native language, believed to only consist of partial speakers and non-speakers who claim the language as part of their ethnic heritage. In 2020, that number decreased to 4. Over the 20th century, many members of the Kerek ethnic group shifted to Chukchi, the language of the majority ethnic group in the area, but now most Chukchis and Kereks speak Russian.

== Phonology ==

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" border="1" style="text-align:center;" |+Vowels of Kerek ! !Front !Central !Back |- !Close |{{IPAlink|i}} | |{{IPAlink|u}} |- !Mid | |{{IPAlink|ə}} |{{IPAlink|o}} |- !Open | |{{IPAlink|a}} | |} Vowels may be long.

=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+Consonants of Kerek !&nbsp; !Bilabial !Dental !Palatal !Velar !Uvular !Pharyngeal !Glottal |- !Plosive |{{IPAlink|p}} |{{IPAlink|t}} | |{{IPAlink|k}} |{{IPAlink|q}} | |{{IPAlink|ʔ}} |- !Affricate | | |{{IPAlink|tʃ}} | | | | |- !Fricative | | | | | |{{IPAlink|ʕ}} | |- !Nasal |{{IPAlink|m}} |{{IPAlink|n}} | |{{IPAlink|ŋ}} |&nbsp; |&nbsp; |&nbsp; |- !Sonorant |{{IPAlink|w}} |{{IPAlink|l}} |{{IPAlink|j}} | | | | |} Consonants may also be long, {{IPAblink|l}} is palatalized intervocalically, and {{IPAblink|tʃ}} is pronounced as {{IPAblink|s}} by some.<ref>Volodin, 1997</ref>

== Grammar == Kerek is an agglutinative language, meaning that the morphemes build on each other to have different meanings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lingsib.iea.ras.ru/en/languages/kerek.shtml|title=Endangered Languages of Siberia – The Kerek Language|website=lingsib.iea.ras.ru|access-date=10 February 2017}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.tooyoo.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/Russia/bibl/Kerek.html Bibliography]

{{Paleosiberian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerek Language}} Category:Agglutinative languages Category:Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages Category:Languages of Russia Category:Extinct languages of Asia Category:Extinct languages of Russia