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Athabaskan
Athabaskan ( ; also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large branch of the Na-Dene language family of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific Coast and Southern (or Apachean). Kari and Potter (2010:10) place the total territory of the 53 Athabaskan languages at . Chipewyan is spoken over the largest area of any North American native language, while Navajo is spoken by the largest number of people of any native language north of Mexico. The word ''Athabaskan'' is an anglicized version of a Cree language name for Lake Athabasca ( ' herethere are reeds one after another') in Canada. Cree is one of the Algonquian languages and therefore not itself an Athabaskan language. The name was assigned by Albert Gallatin in his 1836 (written 1826) classification of the languages of North America. He acknowledged that it was his choice to use this name for the language family and the ...
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Proto-Athabaskan Language
Proto-Athabaskan is the reconstructed ancestor of the Athabaskan languages. Phonology The reconstruction of Proto-Athabaskan phonology is still under active debate. This section attempts to summarize the less controversial parts of the Proto-Athabaskan sound system. Symbols As with many linguists working on Native American languages, Athabaskanists tend to use an Americanist phonetic notation system rather than IPA. Although some Athabaskanists prefer IPA symbols today, the weight of tradition is particularly heavy in historical and comparative linguistics, hence the Americanist symbols are still in common use for descriptions of Proto-Athabaskan and in comparisons between members of the family. In the tables in this section, the proto-phonemes are given in their conventional Athabaskanist forms with IPA equivalents following in square brackets. Since transcription practices in Americanist phonetic notation are not formally standardized, there are different symbols in use for ...
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Na-Dene Languages
Na-Dene ( ; also Nadene, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit, Tlina–Dene) is a family of Native American languages that includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. Haida was formerly included but is now generally considered a language isolate. By far the most widely spoken Na-Dene language today is Navajo, also the most spoken indigenous language north of Mexico. Some linguists have proposed that the Na-Dene family is related to the Yeniseian languages of central Siberia, creating a Dene–Yeniseian family.Dene–Yeniseic Symposium
, University of Alaska Fairbanks, February 2008, accessed 30 Mar 2010
However, this proposal has not been accepted by some linguists.


Etymology



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Navajo Language
Navajo or Navaho ( ; Navajo: or ) is a Southern Athabaskan languages, Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dene languages, Na-Dené family, through which it is related to languages spoken across the western areas of North America. Navajo is spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States, especially in the Navajo Nation. It is one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages of the Americas#Northern America, Native American languages and is the most widely spoken north of the Mexico–United States border, with almost 170,000 Americans speaking Navajo at home as of 2011. The language has struggled to keep a healthy speaker base, although this problem has been alleviated to some extent by extensive education programs in the Navajo Nation. In World War II, speakers of the Navajo language joined the military and developed a code for sending secret messages. These Code talker#Navajo, code talkers' messages are widely credited with saving many lives and winning some of the ...
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Southern Athabaskan Languages
Southern Athabaskan (also Apachean) is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States (including Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas. The languages are spoken in the northern Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and to a much lesser degree in Durango and Nuevo León. Those languages are spoken by various groups of Apache and Navajo peoples. Elsewhere, Athabaskan is spoken by many indigenous groups of peoples in Alaska, Canada, Oregon and northern California. Self-designations for Western Apache and Navajo are ''N'dee biyat'i,'' and or , respectively. There are several well-known historical people whose first language was Southern Athabaskan. Geronimo (Goyaałé) who spoke Chiricahua was a famous raider and war leader. Manuelito spoke Navajo and is famous for his leadership during and after the Long Walk of the Navajo. Family division The seven Southern Athabaskan languages ca ...
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Eyak Language
Eyak is an extinct Na-Dené language, historically spoken by the Eyak people, indigenous to south-central Alaska, near the mouth of the Copper River. The name Eyak comes from a Chugach Sugpiaq name () for an Eyak village at the mouth of the Eyak River.Michael E. Krauss 200A history of Eyak language documentation and study: Fredericæ de Laguna in Memoriam. ''Arctic Anthropology'' 43 (2): 172-217 The closest relatives of Eyak are the Athabaskan languages. The Eyak–Athabaskan group forms a basic division of the Na-Dené language family, the other being Tlingit. Numerous Tlingit place names along the Gulf Coast are derived from names in Eyak; they have obscure or even nonsensical meanings in Tlingit, but oral tradition has maintained many Eyak etymologies. The existence of Eyak-derived Tlingit names along most of the coast towards southeast Alaska is strong evidence that the prehistoric range of Eyak was once far greater than it was at the time of European contact. This co ...
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Northern Athabaskan Languages
Northern Athabaskan is a geographic sub-grouping of the Athabaskan language family spoken by indigenous peoples in the northern part of North America, particularly in Alaska ( Alaskan Athabaskans), Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. The sprachraum of Northern Athabaskan languages spans the interior of Alaska to the Hudson Bay in Canada and from the Arctic Circle to the Canadian-US border. Languages in the group include Dane-zaa, Chipewyan, Babine-Witsuwitʼen, Carrier, and Slavey;. The Northern Athabaskan languages consist of 31 languages that can be divided into seven geographic subgroups. Classification * Northern Athabaskan ** Southern Alaskan *** Ahtna (also known as Atna, Ahtena, Copper River) **** Central Copper River Ahtna **** Lower Copper River Ahtna **** Mentasta (also known as Upper Ahtna) **** Western Ahtna *** Dena’ina (also known as Tanaina) **** Lower Inlet Dena’ina ***** Outer Inlet ***** Iliamna ***** Inland **** Upper Inlet Dena’ina ** Central ...
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Pacific Coast Athabaskan Languages
Pacific Coast Athabaskan is a geographical and possibly genealogical grouping of the Athabaskan language family. California Athabaskan * California Athabaskan ** Hupa (dining'-xine:wh, a.k.a. Hoopa-Chilula) *** dialects: **** Hupa **** Tsnungwe ***** tse:ning-xwe ***** tł'oh-mitah-xwe **** Chilula-Whilkut ***** Chilula ***** Whilkut ** Mattole–Bear River *** dialects: **** Mattole **** Bear River ** Wailaki ("Eel River", spoken by the Eel River Athapaskan peoples) *** dialects: **** Sinkyone **** Wailaki **** Nongatl **** Lassik ** Cahto (a.k.a. Kato) (sometimes included in Eel River) Often the Mattole and Wailaki-speaking groups together are called Southern Athapaskans. Their languages were similar to each other, but differed from the northern California tribes whose languages were also part of the Athapaskan family. They are not to be confused with the Apachean peoples (the Apache and Navajo) - also known as Southern Athabascans - of the Southwestern United ...
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Apachean
The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan homelands in the north into the Southwest between 1000 and 1500 CE. Apache bands include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Salinero, Plains, and Western Apache ( Aravaipa, Pinaleño, Coyotero, and Tonto). Today, Apache tribes and reservations are headquartered in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, while in Mexico the Apache are settled in Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and areas of Tamaulipas. Each tribe is politically autonomous. Historically, the Apache homelands have consisted of high mountains, sheltered and watered valleys, deep canyons, deserts, and the southern Great Plains, including areas in what is now Eastern Arizona, Northern Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahua) and New Mexico, West Texas, and Southern Colorado. These areas a ...
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Chipewyan Language
Chipewyan or Dënesųłinë́ (ethnonym: ), often simply called Dëne, is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of northwestern Canada. It is categorized as part of the Northern Athabaskan language family. It has nearly 12,000 speakers in Canada, mostly in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.Statistics Canada: 2006 Census
Sum of 'Chipewyan' and 'Dene'.
It has official status only in the Northwest Territories, alongside eight other
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Slavey Language
Slavey ( ; also Slave, Slavé) is a group of Athabaskan languages and a dialect continuum spoken amongst the Dene peoples of Canada in the Northwest Territories – or central Denendeh – where it also has official status.Northwest Territories Official Languages Act, 1988
(as amended 1988, 1991-1992, 2003)
The languages are primarily written using a modified Latin script, with some using Canadian Aboriginal syllabics. In their own languages, these languages are referred to as: Sahtúgot’įné Yatı̨́ (spoken by the Sahtu, Sahtu Dene), K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́ (the Hare Dene dialect) and Shíhgot’įne Yatı̨́ (the Mountain dialect) in the North, and Dené Dháh (primarily by the Dene Tha' First Nation, Dene Tha' in Alberta), Dene Yatıé or Dene Zhatıé in the South.
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Alaska Native Language Center
The Alaska Native Language Center, established in 1972 in Fairbanks, Alaska, is a research center focusing on the research and documentation of the Native languages of Alaska. It publishes grammars, dictionaries, folklore collections and research materials, as well as hosting an extensive archive of written materials relating to Eskimo–Aleut languages, Eskimo, Northern Athabaskan languages, North Athabaskan and related languages. The Center provides training, materials and consultation for educators, researchers and others working with Alaska Native languages. The closely affiliated Alaska Native Language Program offers degrees in Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Central Yup'ik and Inupiat language, Inupiaq at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and works toward the documentation and preservation of these languages. Language map In 1974, Michael E. Krauss, Michael Krauss published a language map of Alaska, which he later updated in 1982. It has remained the standard since then. ...
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North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. The region includes Middle America (Americas), Middle America (comprising the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico) and Northern America. North America covers an area of about , representing approximately 16.5% of Earth's land area and 4.8% of its total surface area. It is the third-largest continent by size after Asia and Africa, and the list of continents and continental subregions by population, fourth-largest continent by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. , North America's population was estimated as over 592 million people in list of sovereign states and dependent territories in North America, 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's popula ...
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