Editing Tlingit language (section)

{{Short description|Na-Dene language of Alaska and Canada}}
{{More footnotes|date=February 2023}}
{{use dmy dates |date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Tlingit
| nativename       = {{lang|tli|Lingít}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|/ɬɪ̀nkɪ́tʰ/}}
| states           = [[United States]], [[Canada]]
| region           = [[Alaska]], [[British Columbia]], [[Yukon]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]
| ethnicity        = 10,000 [[Tlingit]] (1995)<ref name=e25>{{e25|Tlingit}}</ref>
| speakers         = ~170 total
| date             = 2016–2020
| ref              = 
| speakers2        = ~50 highly-proficient L1 speakers, 10 highly-proficient L2 speakers (2020, United States)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/Portals/4/pub/ANLPAC/ANLPAC%202020%20Report%20to%20the%20Governor%20and%20Legislature.pdf |access-date=11 March 2024 |title=2020 Biennial Report to the Governor and Legislature |publisher=The Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory Council |page=6 }}</ref><br>120 in Canada (2016 census)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016022/98-200-x2016022-eng.cfm|title=Census in Brief: The Aboriginal languages of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|date=25 October 2017|language=en|publisher=Statistics Canada|access-date=2017-11-01}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Na-Dené
| fam1             = [[Dene-Yeniseian languages|Dene-Yeniseian]]?
| fam2             = [[Na-Dene languages|Na-Dene]]
| script           = [[Tlingit alphabet]] ([[Latin script]])
| nation           = {{flag|Alaska}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/21/305688602/alaska-oks-bill-making-native-languages-official|title=Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official|newspaper=NPR|date=21 April 2014|last1=Chappell|first1=Bill}}</ref>
| iso2             = tli
| iso3             = tli
| notice           = IPA
| glotto           = tlin1245
| glottorefname    = Tlingit
| map              = Tlingit-map.png
| mapscale         = 
| map2             = Lang Status 20-CR.svg
| mapcaption2      = {{center|{{small|Tlingit is classified as Critically Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''}}}}
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|root=[[Tlingit|Lingít]]<br/><small>"People of the Tides"</small>|person=|people=[[Tlingit]]|language=Lingít|country=[[Southeast Alaska|Tlingit Aaní]]}}
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Lgeik'i and Naakil.aan speaking Lingít.webm|thumb|Two Tlingit speakers, recorded in the [[United States]].]]
The '''Tlingit language''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|audio=Tlingit English pronunciation.mp3|ˈ|k|l|ɪ|ŋ|k|ɪ|t}} {{respell|KLING|kit}};<ref>Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh</ref> ''{{lang|tli|Lingít}}'' {{IPA|tli|ɬɪ̀nkɪ́tʰ}})<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Maddieson |first1=Ian |last2=Smith |first2=Caroline L. |last3=Bessell |first3=Nicola |date=2001 |title=Aspects of the Phonetics of Tlingit |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30028779 |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=135–176 |jstor=30028779 |issn=0003-5483}}</ref> is an Indigenous language of the northwestern coast of North America, which is spoken by the [[Tlingit]] people of [[Southeast Alaska]] and [[Western Canada]] and is a branch of the [[Na-Dene languages|Na-Dene language family]]. Extensive effort is being put into revitalization programs in Southeast [[Alaska]] to revive and preserve the Tlingit language and culture.

Missionaries of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] were the first to develop a written version of Tlingit by using the [[Cyrillic script]] to record and translate it when the [[Russian Empire]] had contact with Alaska and the coast of North America down to [[Sonoma County, California]]. After the [[Alaska Purchase]], English-speaking missionaries from the [[United States]] developed a written version of the language with the [[Latin alphabet]].