Which Native American language has the most speakers?
Table of Contents
Which Native American language has the most speakers?
Navajo
Navajo is far and away the most commonly spoken Native language in the U.S. with nearly 170,000 speakers, or almost 10 times as many speakers as each of the two languages with the next highest numbers: Yupik and Sioux.
170,000
It is one of the most widely spoken Native American languages and is the most widely spoken north of the Mexico–United States border, with almost 170,000 Americans speaking Navajo at home as of 2011….Navajo language.
| Navajo | |
|---|---|
| Region | Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado |
| Ethnicity | 332,129 Navajo (2021) |
| Native speakers | 170,000 (2015 census) |
Today, the Navajo language – or Diné Bizaad in Navajo – has been designated as “vulnerable” by UNESCO. She told us the Diné language is disappearing for two reasons. First, during boarding school era – a period that lasted from the 1860s to 1978 – many Navajos were forbidden to speak their own language.
Is Navajo difficult to learn?
Plainly said: The Navajo language is one of the most difficult for an English-speaking person to master. And the complex formation and meaning of words defies the best efforts of most outsiders to acquire even the simplest rudiments of spoken Navajo.
What is the status of the Navajo language?
Navajo 1 Status. With some 170,000 speakers, Navajo is one of the few North American Indian languages with a growing population of speakers ( Ethnologue ). 2 Dialects. There are some slight regional variations in pronunciation and vocabulary among the varieties of Navajo spoken in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. 3 Structure.
The Navajo language was one of the keys to the U.S. victory in the Pacific . Early in the war, the Japanese began using English-speaking soldiers to intercept American communications. In response, the U.S. military began using codes so complex that it took hours to decode a message.
One major university that teaches classes in the Navajo language is Arizona State University. In 1992, Young and Morgan published another major work on Navajo: Analytical Lexicon of Navajo, with the assistance of Sally Midgette (Navajo). This work is organized by root, the basis of Athabaskan languages.
What is the most widely spoken Native American language?
Navajo is spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States, especially on the Navajo Nation. It is one of the most widely spoken Native American languages and is the most widely spoken north of the Mexico–United States border, with almost 170,000 Americans speaking Navajo at home as of 2011.