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| Pacific Coast Athabascan | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | California,Oregon |
| Linguistic classification | Dené–Yeniseian?
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | paci1277 |
Pacific Coast Athabaskan is a geographical and possibly genealogical grouping of theAthabaskan language family.
Often the Mattole and Wailaki-speaking groups together are calledSouthern Athapaskans. Their languages were similar to each other, but differed from the northern California tribes whose languages were also part of the Athapaskan family. They are not to be confused with the Apachean peoples (theApache andNavajo)—also known as Southern Athabascans—of theSouthwestern United States andNorthern Mexico, who speak theSouthern Athabaskan languages.
The family has also been calledCalifornian Dene.[2]
Linguists differ on the classification of the Lower Rogue River, Upper Rogue River, and Chetco-Tolowa branches as being either separate languages, or dialects of one macrolanguage, comprising a dialect continuum centered on the Lower Rogue River dialect group with the Chetco-Tolowa and Upper Rogue River groups being peripheral.[3] The latter view is common among tribal elders andlanguage revitalizationists, who note a high degree of mutual intelligibility and shared cultural identity. In the absence of a single, unambiguous English name for the dialect group, some learner-speakers refer to it in English asNuu-wee-ya', anendonym common to all three varieties meaning "our language".[4]