Ahtna language
| Ahtna | |
|---|---|
| Atnakenaege’ | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Alaska (Copper River region) |
| Coordinates | 62°10′N 143°49′W / 62.167°N 143.817°W |
| Ethnicity | 500 Ahtna (1995) |
|
Native speakers
|
80 (2007) 30 |
| Latin (Ahtna alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog |
ahte1237 (Ahtena)
|
Pre-contact distribution of Ahtna
|
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Ahtna or Ahtena is the Na-Dené language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska. The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy.
The Ahtna language consists of four different dialects: Upper, Central, Lower, and Western. Three of the four are still spoken today. Ahtna is closely related to Dena'ina.
The similar name "Atnah" occurs in the journals of Simon Fraser and other early European diarists in what is now British Columbia as a reference to the Tsilhqot'in people, another Northern Athapaskan group.
Eyak-Athabaskan, Athabaskan, Northern Athabaskan
Ahtna is one of the eleven Athabaskan languages native to Alaska. It is part of a language family called Diné. The Ahtna language comes from a primitive Athabaskan language possibly evolving 5,000 to 10,000 years ago when humans migrated from Eurasia to The New World over the Bering Sea floor (Beringia) when it was dried up and exposed creating a natural land bridge. Many indigenous Native American languages are to have derived from this proto-Athabaskan language, Navajo is one language derived from this early language and consequently Ahtna and Navajo have many similarities. The Ahtna Language has changed very much and very often, it is still changing today. Within the past century more than one hundred words have made their way into the Ahtna vocabulary mostly due to Euro-American influences. Contact with Russians influenced the Ahtna language with many Russian loanwords being introduced. With contact from English speakers, especially recently, English words have also been introduced. Some words are also borrowed from the Alaskan Tlingit and Alutiiq native people.
The Ahtna region consists of the Copper River Basin and the Wrangell Mountains. The Ahtna Region is bordered by the Nutzotin river in the Northeast and the Alaska Range in the North. The Talkeetna Mountains are to the Chugach Mountains are to the South. The Upper Ahtna live on the upper portion of the Copper River, The Middle or Central Ahtna live slightly down river from there, The Lower Ahtna live near the mouth of the Copper River, which opens into the Gulf of Alaska, and the Western Ahtna live to the West of the River.
There are about 1000 people today who refer to themselves as Ahtna, and about 50 speakers. The Ahtna people live on and near traditional villages. There are eight villages within the Ahtna Region: Cantwell, Chistochina, Chitina, Copper Center, Gakona, Gulkana, Mentasta and Tazlina' They are all recognized federally.
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