Western Apache language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Western Apache Ndee biyati' / Nnee biyati' |
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Spoken in: | United States | |
Region: | Primarily south-east Arizona | |
Total speakers: | ~14,000 | |
Language family: | Na-Dene Athabaskan Southern Southwestern Western Apache |
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Language codes | ||
ISO 639-1: | none | |
ISO 639-2: | nai | |
ISO/FDIS 639-3: | apw | |
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. |
The Western Apache language is a Southern Athabaskan language spoken by the Western Apache peoples living primarily in east central Arizona. Goodwin (1938) claims that Western Apache can be divided into five dialect groupings:
- Cibecue,
- Northern Tonto,
- Southern Tonto,
- San Carlos
- White Mountain
Other researchers do not find any linguistic evidence for five groups, but rather three main varieties with several subgroupings:
- San Carlos,
- White Mountain
- Tonto
Western Apache is most closely related to other Southern Athabaskan languages like Navajo, Chiricahua Apache, Mescalero Apache, Lipan Apache, Plains Apache, and Jicarilla Apache.
[edit] References & Recommend Reading
For the references, see the subarticle: Western Apache/Bibliography.
[edit] External links
- American Indian Language Development Institute (has children's video of Catcus Boy story in Western Apache)
- Western Apache-English Dictionary (White Mountain)
- Simplied Apache Pronunciation
- Apache Texts
- Issues in Language Textbook Development: The Case of Western Apache
- White Mountain Apache Language: Issues in Language Shift, Textbook Development, and Native Speaker-University Collaboration
- Western Apache vocabulary word list