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Glite Dictionary
Paiute language

Paiute language

1 9.9
A language spoken by the Paiute people in the western United States
  • noun
  • Specialized
: lengua paiute
  • Many elders are working to preserve the Paiute language for future generations.

Examples

  • Bilingual signs in the reservation include both English and the Paiute language.

  • The Paiute language is rich in cultural history.

  • She took a college course to learn the basics of the Paiute language.

  • Many young people are learning the Paiute language today.

  • The children learned basic phrases in the Paiute language during their cultural studies class.

  • He is studying the Paiute language to connect with his heritage and communicate with older relatives.

  • During the festival, speakers shared stories in the Paiute language to preserve their cultural traditions.

Surface Forms

Paiute language singular
Paiute languages plural

Morphology

Paiute + language

The phrase is fully compositional: 'Paiute' names the people/ethnic group and 'language' denotes their tongue, so together it straightforwardly means the language spoken by the Paiute. This noun + noun naming pattern is cross-linguistically common and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Paiute language is named after the Paiute people and the word language, which means 'the way a group speaks.' Imagine elders teaching words to children in the western United States; so Paiute language simply means the speech used by the Paiute people.