Western Apache | |
---|---|
Ndee biyáti' / Nṉee biyáti' | |
Native to | Mexico and United States |
Region | Sonora, Chihuahua and south-east Arizona |
Ethnicity | Western Apache |
Native speakers | 13,445, 65% of population (2013)[1] |
Dené–Yeniseian?
| |
Latin | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Mexico |
Recognised minority language in | San Carlos Apache Nation, Arizona |
Regulated by | Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | apw |
Glottolog | west2615 |
ELP | Western Apache |
Western Apache is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[2] | |
The Western Apache language is a Southern Athabaskan language spoken among the 14,000 Western Apaches in Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua and in east-central Arizona. There are approximately 6,000 speakers living on the San Carlos Reservation and 7,000 living on the Fort Apache Reservation.[3] In Mexico, they mainly live in Hermosillo, Sonora, and other native communities in Chihuahua.[4]