Na-Dene Languages - Family Division

Family Division

In its non-controversial core, Na-Dene consists of two branches, Tlingit and Athabaskan–Eyak:

• Tlingit: 700 speakers (Michael Krauss, 1995)
• Athabaskan–Eyak
  • Eyak: extinct in 2008
  • Athabaskan
    • Northern
    • Pacific Coast
    • Southern

For linguists who follow Edward Sapir in connecting Haida to the above languages, the Haida isolate represents an additional branch, with Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit together forming the other. Dene or Dine (the Athabaskan languages) is a widely distributed group of Native languages spoken by associated peoples in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Alaska, parts of Oregon, northern California, and the American Southwest as far as northern Mexico.

The southwestern division of Athabaskan is also called Southern Athabaskan or Apachean, and includes Navajo and all the Apache dialects. Eyak was spoken in south-central Alaska; the last speaker died in 2008. Navajo is by far the most widely spoken language of the Na-Dene family, spoken in Arizona, New Mexico, and other regions of the American Southwest.