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Glite Dictionary
🪶 A Native American group 🗣️ A native language
Nez Perce

Nez Perce

9.9
A Native American language spoken in the Pacific Northwest United States
  • noun
  • /nɛz pɜrs/
: idioma Nez Perce
  • She, too, was deeply religious—but she had been willing to learn the Nez Perce language, and she had accepted some of their ways as her own.

Examples

  • Many elders in the community are dedicated to preserving the Nez Perce language for future generations.

  • The students practiced speaking the Nez Perce language during their cultural studies class.

  • The Nez Perce language has unique sounds and grammar that reflect the tribe's heritage.

Synonyms

Nez Perce language
vsNez Perce
9.9

A Native American language spoken by the Nez Perce people in the northwestern United States

is the shorter ethnic name used alone rather than labeled as a language
Nimiipuu
vsNez Perce
9.9

The language spoken by the Nez Perce people

is the English exonym rather than the indigenous term

Surface Forms

Nez Perce singular
Nez Perces plural

Morphology

Nez + Perce

Nez Perce is a proper name for an indigenous people and their language, and its current meaning (the Shahaptian language/people) cannot be inferred from the literal meanings of the constituent words. Even if the parts reflect French roots ('nez' = nose, 'percé' = pierced), that etymology does not transparently convey the ethnonym to a B1 learner, so the expression is idiomatic/opaque.

Etymology

Nez Perce (the language) gets its name from the people: because French traders called the tribe Nez Perce, the tribe's own spoken language came to be called Nez Perce as well.