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Ahtna language

Ahtna or Ahtena (/ˈɑːtnə/, from At Na "Copper River")[4] is the Na-Dené language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska. The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy.

Ahtna
Koht’aene Kenaege', Atnakenaege’
Native toUnited States
RegionAlaska (Copper River region)
Ethnicity500 Ahtna (1995)[1]
Native speakers
15 (2020)[1]
30 (2011)[2]
Latin (Ahtna alphabet)
Official status
Official language in
 Alaska[3]
Language codes
ISO 639-3aht
Glottologahte1237
ELPAhtna
Pre-contact distribution of Ahtna
Ahtna is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
Coordinates: 62°10′N 143°49′W / 62.167°N 143.817°W / 62.167; -143.817

The Ahtna language consists of four different dialects: Upper, Central, Lower, and Western. Three of the four are still spoken today. Ahtna is closely related to Dena'ina.

The similar name Atnah occurs in the journals of Simon Fraser and other early European diarists in what is now British Columbia as a reference to the Tsilhqot'in people, another Northern Athapaskan group.[citation needed]

Classification

Eyak-Athabaskan, Athabaskan, Northern Athabaskan.[5]

History

Ahtna is one of the eleven Athabaskan languages native to Alaska. The Ahtna language comes from the proto-Athabaskan language possibly evolving 5,000 to 10,000 years ago when humans migrated from Eurasia to The New World over the Bering Sea floor (Beringia) when it was dried up and exposed creating a natural land bridge. Many indigenous Native American languages are to have derived from this proto-Athabaskan language, Navajo is one language derived from this early language and consequently Ahtna and Navajo have many similarities. The Ahtna Language has changed very much and very often, it is still changing today. Within the past century more than one hundred words have made their way into the Ahtna vocabulary mostly due to Euro-American influences. Contact with Russians influenced the Ahtna language with many Russian loanwords being introduced. With contact from English speakers, especially recently, English words have also been introduced. Some words are also borrowed from the Alaskan Tlingit and Alutiiq native people.[4]

Geographic distribution

The Ahtna region consists of the Copper River Basin and the Wrangell Mountains. The Ahtna Region is bordered by the Nutzotin river in the Northeast and the Alaska Range in the North. The Talkeetna Mountains are to the Chugach Mountains are to the South.[6] The Upper Ahtna live on the upper portion of the Copper River, The Middle or Central Ahtna live slightly down river from there, The Lower Ahtna live near the mouth of the Copper River, which opens into the Gulf of Alaska, and the Western Ahtna live to the West of the River.

The Ahtna people live on and near traditional villages. There are eight villages within the Ahtna Region: Cantwell, Chistochina, Chitina, Copper Center, Gakona, Gulkana, Mentasta and Tazlina. They are all recognized federally.[7]

Use and revitalization efforts

There are 15 elderly speakers out of a population of 500, and the language is facing extinction.

The subsistence and fishing-rights activist Katie John (1915–2013) of Mentasta helped develop an Ahtna alphabet in the 1970s[8] and recorded a pronunciation guide of the Mentasta dialect.[9][10]

In 2012 a facing-bilingual collection of poetry in Ahtna and English, The Indian Prophet, was published by poet John Smelcer.

In a revitalization program, the Ya Ne Dah Ah School in Sutton, Alaska teaches the Ahtna language as a part of its curriculum.[11][12]

As of 2010, a digital archiving project of Ahtna was underway.[13]

Dialects and bands

There are four main dialect divisions and eight bands (tribal unions):[14]

  • Lower Ahtna (endonym Atnahwt'aene)
    • Chitina/Taral Band
    • Tonsina/Klutina Band
  • Central Ahtna or Middle Ahtna (endonym Dan'ehwt'aene)
    • Gulkona/Gakona Band
  • Western Ahtna (own name Tsaay Hwt'aene)
    • Tyone/Mendeltna Band
    • Cantwell/Denali Band
  • Upper Ahtna (endonym Tatl'ahwt'aene)
    • Sanford River/Chistochina Band [15]
    • Slana/Batzulnetas Band
    • Mentasta Band [9]

Vocabulary comparison

The comparison of some animal names in the three Athabaskan languages:[16]

Ahtna Tanacross Lower Tanana meaning
udzih wudzih bedzeyh caribou
ggax gah gwx rabbit
tsa' tsá' tso' beaver
dzen dzenh dzenh muskrat
niduuyi niidûuy niduuy lynx
debae demee deba Dall sheep
sos shos sresr bear
dliigi dlêg dlega squirrel
łuk'ae łuk'a łuk'a salmon

Phonology

Athabaskan languages are primarily prefixing. Many prefixes are presented together. There is limited suffixation and often one word has as much meaning as an English language sentence. Verbs are very complex therefore creating many different meanings or analysis of verbs. Some verbs include syntactic principles in addition to and/or replacement of morphological principles when constructing a word.[17]

Consonants

The consonants in Kari's IPA phonology and practical orthography are shown in the following table.[18]

Labial Alveolar Velar Uvular Glottal
plain sibilant lateral
Nasals m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Plosive/
affricate
plain p ⟨b⟩ t ⟨d⟩ ts ⟨dz⟩ ⟨dl⟩ k ⟨g⟩ q ⟨gg⟩ ʔ ⟨'⟩
aspirated ⟨p⟩ ⟨t⟩ tsʰ ⟨ts⟩ tɬʰ ⟨tl⟩ ⟨c⟩ ⟨k⟩
ejective ⟨t'⟩ tsʼ ⟨ts'⟩ tɬʼ ⟨tl'⟩ ⟨c'⟩ ⟨k'⟩
Fricatives voiceless ⟨hw⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ɬ ⟨ł⟩ x ⟨yh⟩ χ ⟨x⟩ h ⟨h⟩
voiced v ⟨v⟩ z ⟨z⟩ l ⟨l⟩ ɣ ⟨y⟩ ʁ ⟨gh⟩

Vowels

The vowels in Kari's practical orthography and phonology are as follows.[18]

Front Back
Short Long Short Long
High ɪ ⟨i⟩ ⟨ii⟩ ʊ ⟨u⟩ ⟨uu⟩
Mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ ɔ ⟨o⟩ ⟨oo⟩
Low ɐ ⟨a⟩ æ ⟨ae⟩ ɑː ⟨aa⟩

There is some variation in pronunciation of words according to dialect.

Grammar

Possessives

Possession is indicated by prefixes such as s- "my", u- or yu'- "his/her", ne- "our"; as in snaan "my mother", unaan (or yu'naan) "his/her mother", nenaan "our mother".[4]

Verb themes

Verbs are primarily prefixing. There are often six or more prefixes before the stem and then one or more suffixes. (1a) displays a surface form in Ahtna spelling while (1b) is the verb theme. Three prefixes are present that have to be listed with the stem to make up the form. Anything adjacent in a verb theme can be separated by morphemes in the forms surface.[17] Verb themes display what elements should be listed in a dictionary for a speaker to be able to reconstruct the verb. '#' displays an important word-internal boundary known as a disjunct boundary. '+' indicates a morpheme boundary.[17]

(1)
Tadeldlo'

ta

into water

#

#

d

QUAL

+

+

l

CL

+

+

dlok'

laugh

 

(lexical listing: verb theme)

ta # d + l + dlok'

{into water} # QUAL + CL + laugh

"Water is gurgling." (surface form)

In the Ahtna language the verb typically goes after the noun.

Noun modification

In the Ahtna language, modifiers usually go after the noun they modify. Examples of this include the name of the deity or trickster figure Saghani Ggaay, where saghani is the noun "raven" and ggaay the adjective "little, small" or in the term nen ten "permafrost", a combination of nen "land, ground" and ten "frozen". This word order is also seen in place names such as Dghelaay Ce'e "Denali/Mount McKinley", literally "Biggest Mountain", and Ben Ce'e "Lake Susitna", literally "Big Lake".[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "2020 Biennial Report to the Governor and Legislature" (PDF). The Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory Council. 2020-01-01.
  2. ^ Directional Reference, Discourse, and Landscape in Ahtna. Berez, Andrea L. (2011) "There are about thirty first-language speakers still alive today (all 60+ years of age)"
  3. ^ "Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official : The Two-Way : NPR".
  4. ^ a b c d Smelcer, John (1998). Ahtna Noun Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide 2nd Edition. United States of America: The Ahtna Heritage Foundation. ISBN 0-9656310-2-8.
  5. ^ Ahtna language at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  6. ^ "Ahtna Land and Resource Department | Ahtna". ahtna-inc.com. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  7. ^ "Ahtna Villages | Ahtna". ahtna-inc.com. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  8. ^ "Fishing Rights, Language and Culture Advocate, Katie John, Walks On". Indian Country Today Media Network. 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2013-07-07.
  9. ^ a b . Yukon Native Language Centre. 2008. Archived from the original on 2017-05-20. Retrieved 2013-07-07.
  10. ^ Mary Beth Smetzer, "Katie John, advocate for indigenous Rights, Dies", Fairbanks News-Miner, May 31, 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  11. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-06-24. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  12. ^ . Chickaloon Village Traditional Council. Archived from the original on 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2013-07-07.
  13. ^ . Ahtna Heritage Foundation Cultural Center Projects. Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. Retrieved 2013-07-07.
  14. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2011-03-18.
  15. ^ Ahtna language, Chistochina Dialect 2012-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Ahtna Noun Dictionary" by John E. Smelcer (2009)
  17. ^ a b c Tuttle, Siri G. (2008). "Phonetics and Word Definition in Ahtna". Linguistics. doi:10.1515/LING.2008.015. S2CID 144375935.
  18. ^ a b Kari, James (1990). Ahtna Athabaskan Dictionary. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. p. 12. ISBN 1-55500-033-9.

External links

  • Ahtna basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
  • Endangered Language Project: Ahtna

ahtna, language, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, december, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Ahtna language news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Ahtna or Ahtena ˈ ɑː t n e fromAt Na Copper River 4 is the Na Dene language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy AhtnaKoht aene Kenaege Atnakenaege Native toUnited StatesRegionAlaska Copper River region Ethnicity500 Ahtna 1995 1 Native speakers15 2020 1 30 2011 2 Language familyDene Yeniseian Na DeneAthabaskanNorthern AthabaskanAhtnaWriting systemLatin Ahtna alphabet Official statusOfficial language in Alaska 3 Language codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code aht class extiw title iso639 3 aht aht a Glottologahte1237ELPAhtnaPre contact distribution of AhtnaAhtna is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World s Languages in DangerCoordinates 62 10 N 143 49 W 62 167 N 143 817 W 62 167 143 817The Ahtna language consists of four different dialects Upper Central Lower and Western Three of the four are still spoken today Ahtna is closely related to Dena ina The similar name Atnah occurs in the journals of Simon Fraser and other early European diarists in what is now British Columbia as a reference to the Tsilhqot in people another Northern Athapaskan group citation needed Contents 1 Classification 2 History 3 Geographic distribution 4 Use and revitalization efforts 5 Dialects and bands 6 Vocabulary comparison 7 Phonology 7 1 Consonants 7 2 Vowels 8 Grammar 8 1 Possessives 8 2 Verb themes 8 3 Noun modification 9 References 10 External linksClassification EditEyak Athabaskan Athabaskan Northern Athabaskan 5 History EditAhtna is one of the eleven Athabaskan languages native to Alaska The Ahtna language comes from the proto Athabaskan language possibly evolving 5 000 to 10 000 years ago when humans migrated from Eurasia to The New World over the Bering Sea floor Beringia when it was dried up and exposed creating a natural land bridge Many indigenous Native American languages are to have derived from this proto Athabaskan language Navajo is one language derived from this early language and consequently Ahtna and Navajo have many similarities The Ahtna Language has changed very much and very often it is still changing today Within the past century more than one hundred words have made their way into the Ahtna vocabulary mostly due to Euro American influences Contact with Russians influenced the Ahtna language with many Russian loanwords being introduced With contact from English speakers especially recently English words have also been introduced Some words are also borrowed from the Alaskan Tlingit and Alutiiq native people 4 Geographic distribution EditThe Ahtna region consists of the Copper River Basin and the Wrangell Mountains The Ahtna Region is bordered by the Nutzotin river in the Northeast and the Alaska Range in the North The Talkeetna Mountains are to the Chugach Mountains are to the South 6 The Upper Ahtna live on the upper portion of the Copper River The Middle or Central Ahtna live slightly down river from there The Lower Ahtna live near the mouth of the Copper River which opens into the Gulf of Alaska and the Western Ahtna live to the West of the River The Ahtna people live on and near traditional villages There are eight villages within the Ahtna Region Cantwell Chistochina Chitina Copper Center Gakona Gulkana Mentasta and Tazlina They are all recognized federally 7 Use and revitalization efforts EditThere are 15 elderly speakers out of a population of 500 and the language is facing extinction The subsistence and fishing rights activist Katie John 1915 2013 of Mentasta helped develop an Ahtna alphabet in the 1970s 8 and recorded a pronunciation guide of the Mentasta dialect 9 10 In 2012 a facing bilingual collection of poetry in Ahtna and English The Indian Prophet was published by poet John Smelcer In a revitalization program the Ya Ne Dah Ah School in Sutton Alaska teaches the Ahtna language as a part of its curriculum 11 12 As of 2010 a digital archiving project of Ahtna was underway 13 Dialects and bands EditThere are four main dialect divisions and eight bands tribal unions 14 Lower Ahtna endonym Atnahwt aene Chitina Taral Band Tonsina Klutina Band Central Ahtna or Middle Ahtna endonym Dan ehwt aene Gulkona Gakona Band Western Ahtna own name Tsaay Hwt aene Tyone Mendeltna Band Cantwell Denali Band Upper Ahtna endonym Tatl ahwt aene Sanford River Chistochina Band 15 Slana Batzulnetas Band Mentasta Band 9 Vocabulary comparison EditThe comparison of some animal names in the three Athabaskan languages 16 Ahtna Tanacross Lower Tanana meaningudzih wudzih bedzeyh caribouggax gah gwx rabbittsa tsa tso beaverdzen dzenh dzenh muskratniduuyi niiduuy niduuy lynxdebae demee deba Dall sheepsos shos sresr beardliigi dleg dlega squirrelluk ae luk a luk a salmonPhonology EditAthabaskan languages are primarily prefixing Many prefixes are presented together There is limited suffixation and often one word has as much meaning as an English language sentence Verbs are very complex therefore creating many different meanings or analysis of verbs Some verbs include syntactic principles in addition to and or replacement of morphological principles when constructing a word 17 Consonants Edit The consonants in Kari s IPA phonology and practical orthography are shown in the following table 18 Labial Alveolar Velar Uvular Glottalplain sibilant lateralNasals m m n n ŋ ng Plosive affricate plain p b t d ts dz tɬ dl k g q gg ʔ aspirated pʰ p tʰ t tsʰ ts tɬʰ tl kʰ c qʰ k ejective tʼ t tsʼ ts tɬʼ tl kʼ c qʼ k Fricatives voiceless hʷ hw s s ɬ l x yh x x h h voiced v v z z l l ɣ y ʁ gh Vowels Edit The vowels in Kari s practical orthography and phonology are as follows 18 Front BackShort Long Short LongHigh ɪ i iː ii ʊ u uː uu Mid ɛ e ɔ o oː oo Low ɐ a ae ae ɑː aa There is some variation in pronunciation of words according to dialect Grammar EditPossessives Edit Possession is indicated by prefixes such as s my u or yu his her ne our as in snaan my mother unaan or yu naan his her mother nenaan our mother 4 Verb themes Edit Verbs are primarily prefixing There are often six or more prefixes before the stem and then one or more suffixes 1a displays a surface form in Ahtna spelling while 1b is the verb theme Three prefixes are present that have to be listed with the stem to make up the form Anything adjacent in a verb theme can be separated by morphemes in the forms surface 17 Verb themes display what elements should be listed in a dictionary for a speaker to be able to reconstruct the verb displays an important word internal boundary known as a disjunct boundary indicates a morpheme boundary 17 1 Tadeldlo tainto water dQUAL lCL dlok laugh lexical listing verb theme ta d l dlok into water QUAL CL laugh Water is gurgling surface form In the Ahtna language the verb typically goes after the noun Noun modification Edit In the Ahtna language modifiers usually go after the noun they modify Examples of this include the name of the deity or trickster figure Saghani Ggaay where saghani is the noun raven and ggaay the adjective little small or in the term nen ten permafrost a combination of nen land ground and ten frozen This word order is also seen in place names such as Dghelaay Ce e Denali Mount McKinley literally Biggest Mountain and Ben Ce e Lake Susitna literally Big Lake 4 References Edit a b 2020 Biennial Report to the Governor and Legislature PDF The Alaska Native Language Preservation amp Advisory Council 2020 01 01 Directional Reference Discourse and Landscape in Ahtna Berez Andrea L 2011 There are about thirty first language speakers still alive today all 60 years of age Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official The Two Way NPR a b c d Smelcer John 1998 Ahtna Noun Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide 2nd Edition United States of America The Ahtna Heritage Foundation ISBN 0 9656310 2 8 Ahtna language at Ethnologue 25th ed 2022 Ahtna Land and Resource Department Ahtna ahtna inc com Retrieved 2016 05 01 Ahtna Villages Ahtna ahtna inc com Retrieved 2016 05 01 Fishing Rights Language and Culture Advocate Katie John Walks On Indian Country Today Media Network 2013 06 03 Retrieved 2013 07 07 a b Ahtna Language Mentasta Dialect Recorded by Katie John Yukon Native Language Centre 2008 Archived from the original on 2017 05 20 Retrieved 2013 07 07 Mary Beth Smetzer Katie John advocate for indigenous Rights Dies Fairbanks News Miner May 31 2013 Retrieved 14 June 2014 Case Studies The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development Archived from the original on 2012 06 24 Retrieved 2012 09 09 Ahtna Athabascan Language Rejuvenation and Curriculum Program Chickaloon Village Traditional Council Archived from the original on 2013 05 30 Retrieved 2013 07 07 Digital Archive Project Ahtna Heritage Foundation Cultural Center Projects Archived from the original on 2011 03 24 Retrieved 2013 07 07 Native American Tribal Arts amp Architecture SUBARCTIC ARTS Archived from the original on 2012 09 29 Retrieved 2011 03 18 Ahtna language Chistochina Dialect Archived 2012 11 11 at the Wayback Machine Ahtna Noun Dictionary by John E Smelcer 2009 a b c Tuttle Siri G 2008 Phonetics and Word Definition in Ahtna Linguistics doi 10 1515 LING 2008 015 S2CID 144375935 a b Kari James 1990 Ahtna Athabaskan Dictionary Fairbanks Alaska Native Language Center p 12 ISBN 1 55500 033 9 External links EditAhtna basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database Ahtna Language Mentasta Dialect Ahtna language Chistochina Dialect An Ahtna language story Endangered Language Project Ahtna Ahtna Noun Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide 2nd Edition Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ahtna language amp oldid 1132780837, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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