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Glite Dictionary
🧑‍🦱 An indigenous person 🗣️ A language group
Athabascan

Athabascan

9.9
A group of related native languages spoken in Alaska, northwestern Canada, and the southwestern United States
  • noun
  • /ˌæθəˈbæskən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : idioma atabascan
  • Wilshusen says that southern Athabascan speakers ancestral to the Navajo and Apache arrived in the Southwest around 1450.

Examples

  • The Athabascan languages are notable for their complexity and are primarily spoken in Alaska and northern Canada.

  • Many Athabascan speakers maintain their cultural traditions despite the influence of modern society.

  • In classrooms across Alaska, students are taught to speak their native Athabascan language.

Synonyms

Athapaskan
vsAthabascan
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of related native languages spoken in northwest Canada, Alaska, and the southwestern United States

is the same meaning but spelled with a different accepted variant
Athabaskan
vsAthabascan
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of related Native American languages spoken in western North America, for example in Alaska and the southwest

is the same name but written using another spelling form
Athapascan
vsAthabascan
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of related Native American languages that people speak in Alaska, western Canada, and the US southwest

is identical in sense but appears under a variant spelling

Surface Forms

Athabascan singular
Athabascans plural

Morphology

Athabascan = Athabasca (transparent) = Athabasca + an

Formed by adding the demonym/language-forming suffix '-an' to the place name 'Athabasca', so the derivation is straightforward if the base is known.

Etymology

Athabascan for the language family is also named after the place Athabasca. Because many of these languages are spoken around that river and lake, the family name points to the region, and the place name itself means 'where there are reeds'.