Na-Dene languages

Na-Dene
Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit
Geographic
distribution
North America
Linguistic classificationOne of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions
Language codes
ISO 639-5xnd
Glottologatha1245
Distribution of Na-Dene languages

Na-Dene (/ˌnɑːdɪˈn/ NAH-dih-NAY; also Nadene, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit, Tlina–Dene) is a family of Native American languages that includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. Haida was formerly included but is now considered doubtful. By far the most widely spoken Na-Dene language today is Navajo, also the most spoken indigenous language north of Mexico.

In February 2008, a proposal connecting Na-Dene (excluding Haida) to the Yeniseian languages of central Siberia into a Dené–Yeniseian family was published and well received by a number of linguists.[1] It was proposed in a 2014 paper that the Na-Dene languages of North America and the Yeniseian languages of Siberia had a common origin in a language spoken in Beringia, between the two continents.[2]

  1. ^ Dene–Yeniseic Symposium Archived 2018-11-15 at the Wayback Machine, University of Alaska Fairbanks, February 2008, accessed 30 Mar 2010
  2. ^ Sicoli, Mark A.; Holton, Gary (12 March 2014). "Linguistic Phylogenies Support Back-Migration from Beringia to Asia". PLOS ONE. 9 (3): e91722. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...991722S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091722. PMC 3951421. PMID 24621925.