Dena'ina language

Dena’ina /dɨˈnaɪnə/, also Tanaina, is the Athabaskan language of the region surrounding Cook Inlet. It is geographically unique in Alaska as the only Alaska Athabaskan language to include territory which borders salt water. Four dialects are usually distinguished:

1. Upper Inlet, spoken in Eklutna, Knik, Susitna, Tyonek
2. Outer Inlet, spoken in Kenai, Kustatan, Seldovia
3. Iliamna, spoken in Pedro Bay, Old Iliamna, Lake Iliamna area
4. Inland, spoken in Nondalton, Lime Village

Of the total Dena'ina population of about 900 people, only 75-95 members still speak Dena’ina. James Kari has done extensive work on the language since 1972, including his edition with Alan Boraas of the collected writings of Peter Kalifornsky in 1991. Joan Tenenbaum also conducted extensive field research on the language in the 1970s.

Ethnonym

The word Dena'ina is composed of the dena, meaning 'person' and the human plural suffix ina. While the apostrophe which joins the two parts of this word ordinarily indicates a glottal stop, most speakers pronounce this with a diphthong, so that the second syllable of the word rhymes with English 'nine' (as in the older spelling Tanaina).

	Dena'ina Gladys Evanoff pronouncing Dena'ina
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Phonology

Dena'ina is one of seven Alaska Athabaskan languages which does not distinguish phonemic tone.

Consonants

The consonants of Dena’ina in practical orthography, with IPA equivalents indicated in square brackets.

[ɹ] is only found in English loanwords.

Vowels

The 4 vowels of Dena’ina. Note that close vowels are more open in the environment of a uvular consonant.

Generally, the vowels i, a, and u, are considered 'long' vowels and are fully pronounced in words, however the e is considered a reduced vowel similar to the English schwa.

Syllable structure

In the Inland dialect, syllables at the end of a semantic unit are often longer, lower in pitch, and have longer rhymes. The onset of a syllable has consonant clusters of up to three, such as CCCVC, though these are rare and more commonly, a syllable onset is one or two consonants.

Morphology

Dena'ina is a polysynthetic language where a single word can mean the entirety of an English sentence.

Example:
English sentence "I will see you again."
Dena'ina word: nuntnghel'ił
Dena'ina word parts: nu-n-t-n-gh-sh-l-'ił
Word part meanings: again-you-FUTURE-see-FUTURE-I-CLASSIFIER-see/FUTURE

Verbs are the most elaborate part of speech in the Dena'ina language, which vary in verb paradigms which vary by subject, object, or aspect. The following example is of -lan the verb "to be" in the imperfective aspect and in the Nondalton dialect.

References

Bibliography

• Balluta, Alex & Gladys Evanoff. 2004. Dena'ina Qenaga Du'idnaghelnik (Dena'ina Words Sound Pretty). Dena'ina Phrases 1: Nondalton Dialect, ed. by Olga Müller. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center; Anchorage: Alaska Native Heritage Center. 'ina/phrases/
• Chickalusion, Maxim, et al. 1980. Q'udi Heyi Niłch'diluyi Sukdu'a: "This Years Collected Stories.(Dena'ina Stories from Tyonek and Illiamna Lake). Anchorage: National Bilingual Materials Development Center.
• Ellanna, Linda & Andrew Balluta. 1992. Nuvendaltin Quht'ana: The People of Nondalton. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
• Johnson, Walter. 2004. Sukdu Neł Nuhtghelnek: I'll Tell You A Story: Stories I Recall From Growing Up On Iliamna Lake. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center.
• Kalifornsky, Peter. 1991 "K'tl'egh'i Sukdu, A Dena'ina Legacy: The Collected Writings of Peter Kalifornsky" edited by James Kari and Alan Boraas. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center.
• Kari, James. 1975. A classification of the Tanaina dialects. Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska 17:49-55.
• Kari, James. 2007. Dena'ina Topical Dictionary. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. ISBN 978-1-55500-091-2.
• Kari, James, Priscilla Russell Kari and Jane McGary. 1983. Dena’ina Ełnena: Tanaina Country. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Includes good bibliography and many photographs
• Kari, Priscilla Russell. 1987. Tanaina Plantlore: Dena’ina K’et’una. 2nd ed. Anchorage: Alaska Park Service. Ethnobotany and much other cultural information.
• Mithun, Marianne. 1999. The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
• Osgood, Cornelius. 1937. Contributions to the Ethnography of the Tanaina. Yale University Publications in Anthropology, 16.
• Stephan, Sava. 2005. Upper Inlet Dena’ina Language Lessons, ed. by James Kari. Anchorage: Alaska Native Heritage Center.
• Tenenbaum, Joan. 1978. Morphology and semantics of the Tanaina verb. (Doctoral dissertation, Columbia University).
• Tenenbaum, Joan. 2006. Dena'ina Sukdu'a 3rd ed. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. ISBN 1-55500-090-8.
• Townsend, Joan B. 1981. “Tanaina.” In June Helm, ed., Subarctic: Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 6. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
• Wassillie, Albert. 1980. Nuvendaltun Ht’ana Sukdu’a: Nondalton People’s Stories. Anchorage: National Bilingual Materials Development Center.

External links

• Alaska Native Language Center
• 'ina/ Dena'ina Language Guide
• 'ina/phrases/ Dena'ina Qenaga Du'idnaghelnik (Dena'ina Phrasebook
• Dena'ina Qenaga Website
• An introduction to Dena'ina
• Dena'ina basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• Wrangell's 1839 Comparative Word-List of Alaskan languages (includes Dena'ina)

v t e Languages of Alaska English Spanish Ninilchik Aleut Alutiiq Central Yup'ik Siberian Yupik Iñupiaq Tlingit Eyak Ahtna Dena’ina Deg Xinag Holikachuk Upper Kuskokwim Koyukon Lower Tanana Tanacross Upper Tanana Tsetsaut Hän Gwich'in Haida Tsimshian