NaDene Language Family

The Na-Dené (also called Athabascan or Athapascan) language family includes 47 distantly related languages that are spoken over a large area spanning from northwestern Canada and Alaska south to the Rio Grande. With 180,000 speakers, it is the second largest language family in North America in terms of number of languages and the number of speakers after the Uto-Aztecan language family. The name Athabaskan comes from the Cree name for Lake Athabasca in Canada.

The Dene-Yeniseian hypothesis proposes a genetic relationship between the Athabascan-Eyak-Tlingit (or Dene) languages of North America and the Yeniseian languages of Central Siberia. Recent research links the Ket, an endangered Yenisenian language spoken along the Yenisei River in western Siberia by less than 1,000 people, and the Na-Dené anguages that encompasses the Athabascan tribes in Alaska, the Tlingit and Eyak people. The only other established link between Siberian and North American language families is the case of Yupik, a variety of Eskimo-Aleut spoken across the Bering Strait.

The Na-Dené language family is made up of three branches: Athabaskan-Eyak which comprises 43 languages, Haida, and Tlingit (Ethnologue). The latter two branches have one language each.The two single languages are Haida (40 speakers) and Tlingit (700 speakers). The genetic relationship of Tlingit, Eyak and Athabaskan is widely accepted, while the inclusion of Haida is a subject of continued controversy.

Athabaskan-Eyak (43 languages) Spoken in the Northwest Territory, the Yukon, and adjacent parts of Canada, west to Cook Inlet in Alaska; in two isolated areas of the Pacific coast (southwestern Oregon and northern California); and in the southwestern United States (mostly in New Mexico and Arizona).
Apachean (this includes Navajo) (6 varieties of which 1 is almost extinct)	163,875
Canadian (13 varieties of which 3 are almost extinct)	13,638
Ingalik-Koyukon (3 varieties of which 2 are almost extinct)	350
Pacific Coast (9 varieties of which 5 are extinct and 4 are almost extinct)	20-15
Tahitan-Kaska (3 varieties of which 2 are almost extinct)	437
Tanaina-Ahtna (2 varieties with less than 100 speakers each)	155
Tanana-Upper Kuskokwim (4 varieties 3 of which have fewer than 50 speakers each)	200
Tutchone (2 varieties)	400
Tsetsaut	extinct
Eyak	extiinct

 

Status

All Na-Dené languages, except for Apache with 12,000 speakers and Navajo with 149,000 speakers, are seriously endangered or on the verge of extinction. Navajo, the largest Na-Dené languages spoken in Arizona and New Mexico, is one of the few North American Indian languages with a growing number of speakers.

 

Structure

Sound system

Na-Dené languages generally have a small inventory of vowels and a large inventory of consonants.

 

Vowels

• Na-Dené languages have a relatively small number of vowels
• Vowels can be long or short.
• In some languages, such as Navajo, vowel nasalization can make a difference in word meaning.

 

Consonants

• Na-Dené languages have large inventories of consonants which include stops, fricatives, and affricates.
• Stops and affricates can be plain, aspirated or ejective.
• Velar tops can be labialized, such as in Navajo.

 

Tone

Na-Dené languages use tones to distinguish Navajo has 4 tones, while Apache and Gwich’in have two tones.

 

Grammar

Na-Dené languages are polysynthetic, i.e., they are characterized by a very high number of morphemes per word. They tend to have very long words that correspond to complete sentences in less synthetic languages such as English. However, Na-Dené languages are less polysynthetic than Algonquian or Eskimo-Aleut languages.

 

Vocabulary

Here are some basic words in five Na-Dené languages.

	Navajo	Western Apache	Koyukon	Haida	Tlingit
one	Láá’íí	Dalaa	K’eel	Sgwáansang	Tléix’
two	Naaki	Naki	Neteeh	Sdáng	Déix
three	Taá’	Táági	Tokk’ee	Hlgúnahl	Nús’k
four	Dii’	Dii’i	Denk’ee	Stánsang	Dax’ón
five	Ashdla’	Ashdla’i	K’eelts’ednaale	Tl’éihl	Keijín
man	Hastiin	Ndeen	Denaa	Iihlangaa	Káh
woman	Asdzáán	Izdzán	Solt’aanh	Jáadaa	Shawút
sun	Shá	Yá’i	So	Juuyáay	Gugán
moon	Tl’éhonaa’éí	Tl’e’gona’ái	Dolt’ol	Kúng	Dís
water	Tó	Tú	Too	Gántl	IÍsh

 

Writing

Until the arrival of European settlers and missionaries, Na-Dené languages were unwritten. To translate the Bible, missionaries used the Roman alphabet to develop orthographies for these languages that often missed or misinterpreted important sound features of the languages.

Below is the text of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Navajo which has a standardized orthography.

Łáaʼii Góneʼ Biyiʼ Yisdzohígíí Bilaʼashdaʼii tʼáá ałtsoh yiníkʼehgo bidizhchįh dóó aheełtʼeego ílį́į́go bee baahóchįʼ. Eíí háníʼ dóó hánítshakees hwiihdaasyaʼ eíí binahjį́ʼ ahidiníłnáhgo álíleekʼehgo kʼé bee ahił niidl.

Article 1 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

• Long vowels are written with double letters, e.g., ee represents long /e/.
• áá = high tone; aa = low tone; áa = rising tone; aá = falling tone.
• Nasal vowels are marked with a cedilla, e.g., ą represents nasal /a/.

 

Difficulty