Gosiute dialect
Gosiute is a dialect of the endangered Shoshoni language historically spoken by the Goshute people of the American Great Basin in modern Nevada and Utah. Modern Gosiute speaking communities include the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation and the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians. Status Historical 20th century Research by Wick R. Miller documenting the use of Gosiute in family settings on the Goshute Reservation in the 1960s reported the dialect to remain in use as primary means of communication and described comparatively low displacement by English, a fact attributed to the reservation's geographic isolation. Miller additionally reported that younger speakers tended to use Gosiute most, though noted that such a tendency could be a function of the development of English proficiency with age. Monolingual speakers of Gosiute were reported as recently as 1970. By 1994, language transmission to youth on the under 18 on the Goshute Reservation had become uncommon although fluent speakers represented the majority of the tribal members over 26 years of age. 21st century An estimated 20 to 30 fluent speakers of the dialect remain including only four in the Skull Valley band, though a number more are passive speakers. Although a few children in