How do the Native Americans talk?

Answer 1

The there were hundreds of Native languages. Depending on how you count there were around 300. There were probably a higher number but some went extinct to early to be documented. They are grouped by linguists into 29 language families and 27 language isolates. An example of a language family is English is in Indo European which includes Hindi, Greek, Russian, Latin, German, and Persian and many others. Hebrew is in the same family as Arabic. Turkish is in a family with Kazakh and Finnish.

California alone had 74 languages in 18 families.

Linguists have long tried to ink these language families to ones in Asian with little success. Inuti languages have close relationships with speakers across the Bering sea in Russia. It is thought that Na Dene ( athabaskan) family is related to the Yenisei (like Ket) languages east of Lake Baikal.

The 19th century American folk belief that there is some relation to Hebrew has no basis in reality. It was incorporated into Mormon belief by Joseph Smith.

One can learn many native languages today from college classes, headstart classes, books, cds, dvds, apps and computer programs or visit a tribe such as Navajo or Hopi where the language is still living and used by many people.

Answer

Most Native Americans speak English. But some do not. On the Navajo Nation, in the southwest, it is estimated that about 2.9% of the people, mostly elderly are monolingual in Navajo. That would be about 5000 people. About 200,000 speak Navajo and English (2/3rds). Many elderly Yup'ik are monolingual as well. The last monolingual Chickasaw speaker died this year. There are about 50 monolingual Cherokee speakers. On the Crow nation about half the population speaks Crow (Apsáalooke). Cree speakers are about 70,000. Inuktitut are 36,000 (100,000 speakers of all Inuit languages). There are about 50,000 Ojibwe speakers. There are many more.

In Canada the Province of Nunavut has Inuit as its official language as well as English and French. About 69% of the population speaks it.

Also, one should note that not all Native American speaker are in the US and Canada. Mexico is also in North America and many people speak other languages than Spanish. Here are some estimates of speakers of the 12 biggest groups: Nahuatl-- 2 million, Mayan - 6 million, Mixtec-475,000, Zapotec--450,000, Otomi--285,000, Totonac--240,000, Mazatec--220,000, Chinantec- 135,000, Mixe--130,000, Purepecha--125,000, Tlapanec--120,000, Tarahumara--85,000.

Note that Native Americans do speak English but they have their own language as well. Native Americans consist of many tribes. Each Native American tribe has their own language and that tribe may or may not still speak it. There are 310 reservations in the United States but not all native American tribes have their own reservation.

Answer 2

The way the tribes communicated depended on what tribe it was. Some tribes knew how to read and write and also developed their own languages. Other tribes that were not as popular would communicate by making gestures to eachother. Example: A yawn meaning lets go to sleep now. Example: Poniting, showing you where something is located. These are just a few of the ways they communicated.

Answer 3

It is not clear if you are asking for just one example, or all of the thousands of words meaning "talk" in the native languages of North, Central and South America. Please specify more clearly what you mean.

Answer 4

Just like you do, they open their mouth's and push wind (air) through their vocal chords. Native American languages are considered "Guttural" languages, meaning they have a lot of rudimentary sounds.

Answer 5

Today, the majority of Native Americans speak only the national language of the country they live in. For example, in the United States, most native Americans speak only English.

There are over 700 different native American languages. Here is a partial list:

1. Abnaki, Eastern
2. Achumawi
3. Afro-Seminole Creole
4. Ahtena
5. Alabama
6. Aleut
7. Alsea
8. Angloromani
9. Apache, Jicarilla
10. Apache, Kiowa
11. Apache, Lipan
12. Apache, Mescalero-Chiricahua
13. Apache, Western
14. Arapaho
15. Arikara
16. Assiniboine
17. Atakapa
18. Atsugewi
19. Barbareño
20. Biloxi
21. Blackfoot
22. Caddo
23. Cahuilla
24. Carolina Algonquian
25. Carolinian
26. Catawba
27. Cayuga
28. Chamorro
29. Chehalis, Lower
30. Chehalis, Upper
31. Cherokee
32. Chetco
33. Cheyenne
34. Chickasaw
35. Chimariko
36. Chinook
37. Chinook Wawa
38. Chippewa
39. Chitimacha
40. Choctaw
41. Chumash
42. Clallam
43. Cocopa
44. Coeur d'Alene
45. Columbia-Wenatchi
46. Comanche
47. Coos
48. Coquille
49. Cowlitz
50. Cree, Plains
51. Crow
52. Cruzeño
53. Cupeño
54. Dakota
55. Degexit'an
56. Delaware
57. Delaware, Pidgin
58. Esselen
59. Evenki
60. Eyak
61. Galice
62. Gros Ventre
63. Gwich'in
64. Halkomelem
65. Han
66. Havasupai-Walapai-Yavapai
67. Hawai'i Creole English
68. Hawai'i Pidgin Sign Language
69. Hawaiian
70. Hidatsa
71. Ho-Chunk
72. Holikachuk
73. Hopi
74. Hupa
75. Ineseño
76. Inupiaq
77. Inupiatun, North Alaskan
78. Inupiatun, Northwest Alaska
79. Iowa-Oto
80. Jemez
81. Jingpho
82. Kalapuya
83. Kalispel-Pend D'oreille
84. Kansa
85. Karkin
86. Karok
87. Kashaya
88. Kato
89. Kawaiisu
90. Keres, Eastern
91. Keres, Western
92. Kickapoo
93. Kiowa
94. Kitsai
95. Klamath-Modoc
96. Koasati
97. Koyukon
98. Kumiai
99. Kuskokwim, Upper
100. Kutenai
101. Lakota
102. Luiseño
103. Lumbee
104. Lushootseed
105. Mahican
106. Maidu, Northeast
107. Maidu, Northwest
108. Maidu, Valley
109. Makah
110. Malecite-Passamaquoddy
111. Mandan
112. Mattole
113. Menominee
114. Meskwaki
115. Miami
116. Michif
117. Micmac
118. Mikasuki
119. Miwok, Bay
120. Miwok, Central Sierra
121. Miwok, Coast
122. Miwok, Lake
123. Miwok, Northern Sierra
124. Miwok, Plains
125. Miwok, Southern Sierra
126. Mohave
127. Mohawk
128. Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett
129. Mokilese
130. Molale
131. Mono
132. Muskogee
133. Nanticoke
134. Natchez
135. Navajo
136. Nawathinehena
137. Nez Perce
138. Nisenan
139. Nooksack
140. Nottoway
141. Obispeño
142. Ofo
143. Ohlone, Northern
144. Ohlone, Southern
145. Okanagan
146. Omaha-Ponca
147. Oneida
148. Onondaga
149. Osage
150. Ottawa
151. Paiute, Northern
152. Pawnee
153. Piro
154. Piscataway
155. Plains Indian Sign Language
156. Pomo, Central
157. Pomo, Eastern
158. Pomo, Northeastern
159. Pomo, Northern
160. Pomo, Southeastern
161. Pomo, Southern
162. Potawatomi
163. Powhatan
164. Purepecha
165. Purisimeño
166. Quapaw
167. Quechan
168. Quileute
169. Quinault
170. Salinan
171. Salish, Southern Puget Sound
172. Salish, Straits
173. Sea Island Creole English
174. Seneca
175. Serrano
176. Shasta
177. Shawnee
178. Shoshoni
179. Siuslaw
180. Skagit
181. Snohomish
182. Spanish
183. Spokane
184. Takelma
185. Tanacross
186. Tanaina
187. Tanana, Lower
188. Tanana, Upper
189. Tenino
190. Tewa
191. Tillamook
192. Timbisha
193. Tiwa, Northern
194. Tiwa, Southern
195. Tlingit
196. Tohono O'odham
197. Tolowa
198. Tonkawa
199. Tsimshian
200. Tübatulabal
201. Tunica
202. Tuscarora
203. Tutelo
204. Tututni
205. Twana
206. Umatilla
207. Unami
208. Ute-Southern Paiute
209. Ventureño
210. Wailaki
211. Walla Walla
212. Wampanoag
213. Wappo
214. Wasco-Wishram
215. Washo
216. Wichita
217. Wintu
218. Wiyot
219. Wyandot
220. Yakima
221. Yaqui
222. Yokuts
223. Yuchi
224. Yuki
225. Yupik, Central
226. Yupik, Central Siberian
227. Yupik, Pacific Gulf
228. Yurok
229. Zuni