Athabaskan languages Totally Explained

Everything about Athabaskan Language totally explained

Athabaskan or Athabascan (also Athapascan or Athapaskan) is the name of a large group of closely related Native American peoples, also known as the Athabasca Indians or Athapaskes, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family. The Athabaskan family is the second largest family in North America in terms of number of languages and the number of speakers, following the Uto-Aztecan family which extends into Mexico. In terms of territory, only the Algic language family covers a larger area.
The word Athabaskan is an anglicized version of the Woods Cree name for Lake Athabasca (aðapaskāw, “[where] there are plants one after another”) in Canada. The name was assigned by Albert Gallatin in his 1836 (written 1826) classification of the languages of North America. He acknowledged that the name for these related languages was entirely his own individual preference, writing:
ť "I have designated them by the arbitrary denomination of Athabascas, which derived from the original name of the lake." (1836:116-7)

Languages

The 31 Northern Athabaskan languages are spoken throughout the interior of Alaska and the interior of northwestern Canada in the Yukon and Northwest Territories as well as in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Several Athabaskan languages are official languages in the Northwest Territories, including Dene Suline, Dogrib or Tlicho, Gwich’in, and Slavey.
The seven Pacific Coastal Athabaskan languages are spoken in southern Oregon and northern California. Isolated from the northern and coastal languages, the six Southern Athabaskan languages, including the different Apache peoples and Navajo, are spoken in the American Southwest and the northwestern part of Mexico. Eyak and Athabaskan together form a genetic grouping called Athabaskan-Eyak. Tlingit is distantly related to this group to form the Na-Dené stock (also known as Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit).

Family division

Overview

The Athabaskan language family has three main geographic groupings: Northern, Pacific Coast, and Southern. There is discussion of whether the Pacific Coast languages actually forms a valid genetic grouping. The Northern group is particularly problematic. Due to the failure of the usual criteria of shared innovation and systematic phonetic correspondences to provide well-defined subgroupings, the Athabaskan family (especially the Northern languages) has been called a "cohesive complex" by Michael Krauss (1973, 1982). Therefore, the Stammbaumtheorie model (family tree) of genetic classification may be inappropriate. The languages of the Southern branch are much more homogeneous and are the only clearly genetic subgrouping.
Below is an outline of the family showing only the major branches of the family. This outline follows mostly the classification of Keren Rice as seen in Goddard (1996) and Mithun (1999).

Southern Alaska
Central Alaska-Yukon
Northwestern Canada
Tsetsaut
Central British Columbia
Sarsi
Kwalhioqua-Tlatskanai
Pacific Coast Athabaskan
Apachean

Branches 1-7 are the Northern Athabaskan (areal) grouping. Kwalhioqua-Tlatskanai (#7) has often been considered part of the Pacific Coast grouping, but a recent consideration by Krauss doesn't find it very similar to these languages.
A different classification by Jeff Leer is the following (Tuttle & Hargus 2004:72-74):

Alaskan (Ahtna, Dena’ina, Deg Hit’an, Koyukon, Kolchan, Lower Tanana, Tanacross, Upper Tanana, Gwich’in, Han)

Yukon (Tsetsaut, N. Tutchone, S. Tutchone, Tagish, Tahltan, Kaska, Sekani, Dunneza)

British Columbia (Babine-Witsuwit’en, Dakelh, Chilcotin)

Eastern (Dene Suline, Slavey, Dogrib)

Southernly (Tsuut’ina, Apachean, Pacific Coast Athabaskan) At this time, the details of the Athabaskan family tree should be regarded as tentative.
For detailed lists including languages, dialects, and subdialects, see the respective articles on the 3 major groups (that is, Northern Athabaskan, Pacific Coast Athabaskan, Southern Athabaskan).

Northern Athabaskan

Southern Alaskan subgroup ť 1. Ahtna

2. Dena’ina (also known as Tanaina)

Central Alaska – Yukon subgroup ť 3. Deg Xinag (also known as Deg Hit'an, Kaiyuhkhotana)

    4. Holikachuk (also known as Innoko) ť 5. Koyukon

    6. Kolchan (also known as Upper Kuskokwim) ť 7. Lower Tanana (also known as Tanana)

    8. Tanacross ť 9. Upper Tanana

    10. Southern Tutchone ť 11. Northern Tutchone

    12. Gwich’in (also known as Kutchin) ť 13. Hän (also known as Han)

Northwestern Canada subgroup ť A. Tahltan-Tagish-Kaska

   : 14. Tagish ť : 15. Tahltan

   : 16. Kaska ť 17. Sekani

    18. Dunneza (also known as Beaver) ť B. Slave-Hare (Southern and Northern Slavey)

   : 19. Slavey (also known as Slave) ť : 20. Mountain

   : 21. Bearlake ť : 22. Hare

    23. Dogrib ť 24. Dene Suline (also known as Chipewyan, Dëne Sųłiné, Dene Soun’liné)

Tsetsaut subgroup ť 25. Tsetsaut

Central British Columbia subgroup ť 26. Babine-Witsuwit'en (also known as North Carrier)

27. Dakelh (also known as Carrier) ť 28. Chilcotin (also known as Tsilhqot’in)

29. Nicola (also known as Stuwix)

Sarsi subgroup ť 30. Tsuut’ina (also known as Sarcee, Sarsi, Tsuu T’ina)

Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie subgroup ť 31. Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie (also known as Kwalhioqua-Tlatskanie)

Pacific Coast Athabaskan

California Athabaskan subgroup ť 32. Hupa (also known as Hoopa-Chilula)

33. Mattole-Bear River ť 34. Eel River

Oregon Athabaskan subgroup ť 35. Upper Umpqua

36. Rogue River (also known as Tututni) ť 37. Galice-Applegate

38. Tolowa

Southern Athabaskan (also known as Apachean)

Plains Apache subgroup ť 39. Plains Apache (also known as Kiowa-Apache)

Western Apachean subgroup ť A. Chiricahua-Mescalero

: 40. Chiricahua ť : 41. Mescalero

42. Navajo (also known as Navaho) ť 43. Western Apache (also known as Coyotero Apache)

Eastern Apachean subgroup ť 44. Jicarilla

45. Lipan

Areal list

List of the Athabaskan languages by their geographic locations.

Alaska: Ahtna, Deg Hit’an, Dena’ina, Gwich’in, Hän, Holikachuk, Kolchan, Koyukon, Lower Tanana, Tanacross, Tsetsaut, Upper Tanana

Yukon Territory: Gwich'in, Hän, Kaska, Mountain, Tagish, Northern Tutchone, Southern Tutchone, Upper Tanana

Northwest Territories: Bearlake, Dene Suline, Dogrib, Gwich’in, Hare, Mountain, Slavey

Nunavut: Dene Suline

British Columbia: Babine, Bearlake, Beaver, Chilcotin, Dakelh, Hare, Kaska, Mountain, Nicola, Sekani, Slavey, Tagish, Tahltan, Tsetsaut

Alberta: Beaver, Dene Suline, Slavey, Tsuut’ina

Saskatchewan: Dene Suline

Washington: Chilcotin, Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie (Willapa, Suwal), Nicola

Oregon: Applegate, Clatskanie, Galice, Rogue River (Chasta Costa, Euchre Creek, Tututni, Upper Coquille), Tolowa, Upper Umpqua

Northern California: Eel River, Hupa, Mattole-Bear River, Tolowa

Utah: Navajo

Colorado: Jicarilla, Navajo

Arizona: Chiricahua, Navajo, Western Apache

New Mexico: Chiricahua, Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan, Navajo

Texas: Mescalero, Lipan

Oklahoma: Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Plains Apache

Northwestern Mexico: Chiricahua