Editing Mohawk language (section)

{{short description|Iroquoian language spoken by Mohawks in the United States and Canada}}
{{About|the language spoken by the Mohawk people||Mohawk (disambiguation){{!}}Mohawk}}
{{Infobox language
|name = Mohawk
|nativename = {{lang|moh|Kanienʼkéha<br />Kanyenʼkéha}}
|pronunciation = {{IPA|moh|ɡa.njʌ̃ʔ.ˈɡe.ha|}}
|states = [[United States]], [[Canada]]
|region = [[Ontario]], [[Quebec]] and northern [[New York (state)|New York]]
|ethnicity = [[Mohawk people]]
|speakers = 3,875
|date = 2011–2016
|ref = <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/moh|title=Mohawk|work=Ethnologue|access-date=2018-06-09|language=en}}</ref><ref name="census">{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=112132&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=122&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|title=Aboriginal Mother Tongue (90), Single and Multiple Mother Tongue Responses (3), Aboriginal Identity (9), Registered or Treaty Indian Status (3) and Age (12) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data|last=Canada|first=Government of Canada, Statistics|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|date=28 March 2018|language=en|access-date=2018-06-09}}</ref>
|familycolor = American
|fam1 = [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquoian]]
|fam2 = Northern
|fam3 = Lake Iroquoian
|fam4 = Five Nations
|fam5 = Mohawk–[[Oneida language|Oneida]]
|iso2 = moh
|iso3 = moh
|glotto = moha1258
|glottorefname = Mohawk
|notice = IPA
|map = Mohawklang.jpg
|mapcaption = Current distribution of Mohawk speakers in the [[United States]]
}}

'''Mohawk''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|oʊ|h|ɔː|k|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Mohawk.wav}})<ref>Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh</ref> or {{lang|moh|'''Kanienʼkéha'''}} ("[language] of the Flint Place") is an [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquoian language]] currently spoken by around 3,500 people of the [[Mohawk people|Mohawk nation]], located primarily in current or former [[Haudenosaunee]] territories, predominately [[Canada]]  (southern [[Ontario]] and [[Quebec]]), and to a lesser extent in the [[United States]] (western and northern [[New York (state)|New York]]). The word "Mohawk" is an [[exonym]]. In the Mohawk language, the people say that they are from {{lang|moh|Kanien:ke}} ('Mohawk Country' or "Flint Stone Place") and that they are {{lang|moh|Kanienʼkehá꞉ka}} "People of the Flint Stone Place" or "People of the Flint Nation".<ref name="First3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstvoices.com/sections/Kanienkeha-Mohawk-EN|title=FirstVoices|website=www.firstvoices.com|access-date=Sep 3, 2020}}</ref>

The Mohawks were extremely wealthy traders, as other nations in their confederacy needed their flint for tool-making. Their Algonquian-speaking neighbors (and competitors), the People of ''Muh-heck Heek Ing'' ("food-area place"), a people called by the Dutch "[[Mohicans]]" or "Mahicans", called the People of Ka-nee-en Ka "Maw Unk Lin" or ''Bear People''. The Dutch heard and wrote that as "Mohawks" and so the People of Kan-ee-en Ka are often referred to as ''Mohawks''. The Dutch also referred to the Mohawk as ''Egils'' or ''Maquas''. The [[French people|French]] adapted those terms as ''Aigniers'' or ''Maquis'', or called them by the generic ''Iroquois''.{{Citation needed|date=May 2018}}