Apachean, also called Southern Athabaskan, is a subfamily of the Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit language family spoken across the southwestern United States and adjoining northern Mexico. It comprises seven languages spoken by Apache and Navajo peoples, divided into a Plains Apache branch and a Southwestern branch, the latter splitting further into Western languages (Navajo, Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero) and Eastern languages (Jicarilla, Lipan). Navajo remains one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages of North America, while several of its Apachean relatives are severely endangered or nearly extinct, with revitalization work underway in Mexico through the Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indigenas.
Facts
RegionSouthwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah), with outliers in Oklahoma and Texas, and the northern Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua and Coahuila 1 Proto-Language StatusA well-established subfamily of Athabaskan. The Apachean branch split off from the rest of Athabaskan, perhaps as early as the first millennium BC, and entered southwestern North America sometime between the 11th and 16th centuries. 1 In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Southern Athabaskan Languages
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia Southern Athabaskan languages, lead paragraph, sentence 1
Southern Athabaskan (also Apachean) is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States (including Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas.
Wikipedia Southern Athabaskan languages, lead paragraph, final sentence
the Apachean branch appears to have entered southwestern North America sometime between the 11th and 16th centuries
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