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.
Read more about this topic: Na-Dene Languages
Famous quotes containing the words family and/or division:
“Having a thirteen-year-old in the family is like having a general-admission ticket to the movies, radio and TV. You get to understand that the glittering new arts of our civilization are directed to the teen-agers, and by their suffrage they stand or fall.”
—Max Lerner (b. 1902)
“For a small child there is no division between playing and learning; between the things he or she does “just for fun” and things that are “educational.” The child learns while living and any part of living that is enjoyable is also play.”
—Penelope Leach (20th century)