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Native American Languages
Information and translations for Native American languages. Please note each tribe has its own language, and there is no single "Native American" language.
1,626 Questions
The word Sioux has no meaning in any language - it is a shortened form of the Ojibwe term nadowe-is-iw-ug meaning a "small adder snake" or enemy. This could not be pronounced by French explorers, who only managed "is-iw" which they spelled as Sioux. The Ojibwe were long-term enemies of all the Sioux tribes, so it is not intended as a compliment.
Sioux is not the name of a tribe but a large number of related tribes such as the Oglala, Brule, Hunkpapa, Yankton, Sisseton and many more.
How many languages do native Canadians have?
While most linguists agree on the number of native language families in Canada (12: Algonquian, Athapaskan, Iroquoian, Wakashan, Salishan, Tsimshian, Tlingit, Haidian, Kootenaian, Siouan, Eskaleut, Beothuk), it is far more difficult to put a number on the languages within each of those groups. In fact it is next to impossible.
This is because there is no agreement on what constitutes a separate distinct language and what is simply a dialect of a language. For example, Naskapi is either a distinct Algonquian language closely related to Cree - or it is a Cree dialect; there are a very large number of Ojibwe dialects spoken across a vast area around the Great Lakes; the Blackfoot tribes each spoke their own dialect but are often grouped together as a single language; the tribes of the Iroquois League all spoke entirely different languages but many people lump them all together as if they were one.
One recent study puts the total number of native languages in Canada at 65, but if dialects are included the number reaches many hundreds. Another recent study lists just 11 language families and 50 languages - which underlines the difficulties of classification and of pinning down an accurate figure.
Answer:
The Ethnologue Catalog lists these 91 languages for Canada, but this list includes a few languages that are not native, such as English and French:
1. Abnaki, Western
2. Algonquin
3. American Sign Language
4. Assiniboine
5. Atikamekw
6. Babine
7. Beaver
8. Bella Coola
9. Blackfoot
10. Carrier
11. Carrier, Southern
12. Cayuga
13. Chilcotin
14. Chinese, Hakka
15. Chinook Wawa
16. Comox
17. Cree
18. Cree, Moose
19. Cree, Northern East
20. Cree, Plains
21. Cree, Southern East
22. Cree, Swampy
23. Cree, Woods
24. Dakota
25. Dene
26. Dogrib
27. English
28. French
29. German, Pennsylvania
30. Gitxsan
31. Gwich'in
32. Haida
33. Haida, Northern
34. Haida, Southern
35. Haisla
36. Halkomelem
37. Han
38. Heiltsuk
39. Hutterisch
40. Inuktitut
41. Inuktitut, Eastern Canadian
42. Inuktitut, North Alaskan
43. Inuktitut, Western Canadian
44. Kaska
45. Kutenai
46. Kwakiutl
47. Lakota
48. Lillooet
49. Malecite-Passamaquoddy
50. Maritime Sign Language
51. Michif
52. Micmac
53. Mohawk
54. Montagnais
55. Munsee
56. Naskapi
57. Nisga'a
58. Nootka
59. Ojibwa
60. Ojibwa, Central
61. Ojibwa, Eastern
62. Ojibwa, Northwestern
63. Ojibwa, Severn
64. Ojibwa, Western
65. Okanagan
66. Oneida
67. Onondaga
68. Ottawa
69. Plautdietsch
70. Potawatomi
71. Quebec Sign Language
72. Salish, Straits
73. Sarsi
74. Sechelt
75. Sekani
76. Seneca
77. Shuswap
78. Slave
79. Slavey, North
80. Slavey, South
81. Squamish
82. Stoney
83. Tagish
84. Tahltan
85. Tanana, Upper
86. Thompson
87. Tlingit
88. Tsimshian
89. Tuscarora
90. Tutchone, Northern
91. Tutchone, Southern
Why were the conquistadors so successful in conquering native Americans?
- Superior technology: professional soldiers armed with cannons, iron swords, armor and horses against foot warriors armed with spears and maces.
- Disease resistance: American natives didn't have resistance to diseases such as smallpox. This was the reason they died by the millions.
How do you say thunderheart in lakota language?
The Lakota word for thunder is wakina. The Thunderbird spirit is wakinyan
When did native Americans come here?
We don't know most of the history are theroys
Answer:
Science indicates that there were several migrations of Asian peoples into North America starting some 14,000 years ago. These original immigrants spread southwards from Alaska by land or along the coast.
First Nations' traditions indicate that their people were formed here ab initio by the creative deities of their specific religions.
What languages were spoken by the Incas?
The language the Incas spoke was called Quechua, pronounced like 'catch-wa'. Quechua still exists as a language today in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru with 10.4 million speakers.
Do native Americans have a written language?
Yes, most of them do. I have a friend that lives in New Mexico and is part of a Native American Indian tribe. She speaks English but has a accent. Many of the Indians were born learning their tribal language and have learned English over the years.
What languages were spoken by Adena Indians?
The Adena Indians are a culture which dates back into prehistoric times. Very little is known about them outside of the archaeological findings which have been unearthed. No one is sure what language the ancient Adena people may have spoken.
How do native Americans make jewelry?
Depending on where you live, Natives in your country may have used different things to make jewelry. In North America, Native Americans originally used natural things like dulled porcupine quills, stones, and other natural substances found in the forest. When the first French explorer, Jacques Cartier, arrived in eastern Canada in the early 1500's, he traded with the Mi'kmaq and the Haudenousaunee for furs and other natural things found in North America. In exchange, Cartier gave the tribes glass and clay beads which they used to further decorate their jewelry with.
I hope that this answer helped you! You may also want to look at different textbooks or Wikipedia articles for more information. :)
What is the American word of flat?
The American word for "flat" typically refers to something level or lacking elevation. It can also describe a surface that is smooth and even. In certain contexts, "flat" can refer to a type of tire that has lost air or is deflated. Additionally, in slang, "flat" can mean dull or lacking in excitement.
Which Native Americans built large structures before the arrival of the Europeans?
Many, including:
Aztecs
Mayas
Inca
Pueblo Indians
Mesa Indians
Paiutes
What is the Native American word for dinosaur or dragon?
There are more than 700 different Native American languages spoken in North and South America. You will have to be more specific. If you are not sure which language you are talking about, here is a partial list of the most common Native American languages in North America:
- Abnaki, Eastern
- Achumawi
- Afro-Seminole Creole
- Ahtena
- Alabama
- Aleut
- Alsea
- Angloromani
- Apache, Jicarilla
- Apache, Kiowa
- Apache, Lipan
- Apache, Mescalero-Chiricahua
- Apache, Western
- Arapaho
- Arikara
- Assiniboine
- Atakapa
- Atsugewi
- Barbareño
- Biloxi
- Blackfoot
- Caddo
- Cahuilla
- Carolina Algonquian
- Carolinian
- Catawba
- Cayuga
- Chamorro
- Chehalis, Lower
- Chehalis, Upper
- Cherokee
- Chetco
- Cheyenne
- Chickasaw
- Chimariko
- Chinook
- Chinook Wawa
- Chippewa
- Chitimacha
- Choctaw
- Chumash
- Clallam
- Cocopa
- Coeur d'Alene
- Columbia-Wenatchi
- Comanche
- Coos
- Coquille
- Cowlitz
- Cree, Plains
- Crow
- Cruzeño
- Cupeño
- Dakota
- Degexit'an
- Delaware
- Delaware, Pidgin
- Esselen
- Evenki
- Eyak
- Galice
- Gros Ventre
- Gwich'in
- Halkomelem
- Han
- Havasupai-Walapai-Yavapai
- Hawai'i Creole English
- Hawai'i Pidgin Sign Language
- Hawaiian
- Hidatsa
- Ho-Chunk
- Holikachuk
- Hopi
- Hupa
- Ineseño
- Inupiaq
- Inupiatun, North Alaskan
- Inupiatun, Northwest Alaska
- Iowa-Oto
- Jemez
- Jingpho
- Kalapuya
- Kalispel-Pend D'oreille
- Kansa
- Karkin
- Karok
- Kashaya
- Kato
- Kawaiisu
- Keres, Eastern
- Keres, Western
- Kickapoo
- Kiowa
- Kitsai
- Klamath-Modoc
- Koasati
- Koyukon
- Kumiai
- Kuskokwim, Upper
- Kutenai
- Lakota
- Luiseño
- Lumbee
- Lushootseed
- Mahican
- Maidu, Northeast
- Maidu, Northwest
- Maidu, Valley
- Makah
- Malecite-Passamaquoddy
- Mandan
- Mattole
- Menominee
- Meskwaki
- Miami
- Michif
- Micmac
- Mikasuki
- Miwok, Bay
- Miwok, Central Sierra
- Miwok, Coast
- Miwok, Lake
- Miwok, Northern Sierra
- Miwok, Plains
- Miwok, Southern Sierra
- Mohave
- Mohawk
- Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett
- Mokilese
- Molale
- Mono
- Muskogee
- Nanticoke
- Natchez
- Navajo
- Nawathinehena
- Nez Perce
- Nisenan
- Nooksack
- Nottoway
- Obispeño
- Ofo
- Ohlone, Northern
- Ohlone, Southern
- Okanagan
- Omaha-Ponca
- Oneida
- Onondaga
- Osage
- Ottawa
- Paiute, Northern
- Pawnee
- Piro
- Piscataway
- Plains Indian Sign Language
- Pomo, Central
- Pomo, Eastern
- Pomo, Northeastern
- Pomo, Northern
- Pomo, Southeastern
- Pomo, Southern
- Potawatomi
- Powhatan
- Purepecha
- Purisimeño
- Quapaw
- Quechan
- Quileute
- Quinault
- Salinan
- Salish, Southern Puget Sound
- Salish, Straits
- Sea Island Creole English
- Seneca
- Serrano
- Shasta
- Shawnee
- Shoshoni
- Siuslaw
- Skagit
- Snohomish
- Spanish
- Spokane
- Takelma
- Tanacross
- Tanaina
- Tanana, Lower
- Tanana, Upper
- Tenino
- Tewa
- Tillamook
- Timbisha
- Tiwa, Northern
- Tiwa, Southern
- Tlingit
- Tohono O'odham
- Tolowa
- Tonkawa
- Tsimshian
- Tübatulabal
- Tunica
- Tuscarora
- Tutelo
- Tututni
- Twana
- Umatilla
- Unami
- Ute-Southern Paiute
- Ventureño
- Wailaki
- Walla Walla
- Wampanoag
- Wappo
- Wasco-Wishram
- Washo
- Wichita
- Wintu
- Wiyot
- Wyandot
- Yakima
- Yaqui
- Yokuts
- Yuchi
- Yuki
- Yurok
- Zuni
How do the Native Americans talk?
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.
What is your name Sharon in American Indian language?
There are about 700 different Native American languages.
But there is no such language as "Indian".
What does Courtney mean in native American language?
Courtney is a Unisex name of English origin meaning 'From The Court'. Courtney comes from an aristocratic English surname which was derived either from the French place name Courtenay.
How do the Native Americans say hello?
There are multiple different Native American languages. The Cherokee language is the only Native language to have its own syllabary, created by Chief Sequoyah. The Cherokee syllabary was invented by George Guess/Gist, a.k.a. Chief Sequoyah, of the Cherokee, and was developed between 1809 and 1824. If you wanted to say "Hello." in Cherokee, you would say "Osiyo", pronounced "Oh-see-yo".
What are some words in the crow language?
Crow is classified as a Siouan language, although it takes a language expert to demonstrate the connections between Crow and Lakota or Crow and Assiniboine.
There are some difficult sounds in Crow that you don't find in English: for example the letter X is used for a throaty khsound and the letter l can sound like l,d,n, or r. Here are a few words in the Crow language:
isaa.........................large
aapa.......................leaf
cheeta....................wolf
bia..........................woman
apa.........................bird
aluuta.....................arrow
balaxxii...................bow, weapon
iittaashtee..............shirt
bitchii......................knife
iichiili.......................horse
maxpe....................sacred
daxpitse.................bear
baapaatua.............sign language
iis...........................face
kahe......................welcome
shipita....................black
shua.......................blue, green
chia.........................white
hisshi......................red
alaxchii....................war deeds, coups
ahu.........................many
bachee....................man
bishka.....................dog
ashi........................teepee
tatee......................good
bili..........................water
bii...........................stone
shiili.......................yellow
It is feature of the Crow language that when referring to the name of a person, you add -sh to the end. So taking the words alaxchii and ahu above you can make the name Alaxchia-ahush, or Plenty Coups (Many War Achievements), a famous Crow chief.
Most people today believe that Native Americans used the term "White Men" to describe the settlers, explorers, soldiers and other newcomers. In the Crow language, the term is baashchiili,literally "yellow-person".
Why do Native Americans speak a variety of languages today?
It is estimated that around 500 different languages were originally spoken on the North American continent; add those in Central and South America and the number is in the thousands.
The view of language experts is that there was not just a single wave of migrations from Asia into the Americas, but many migrations over a very long period of time, by many different prehistoric peoples. Some of these would have been on foot, followings herds of animals to be hunted, others would have been by boat down the west coast.
How do you say willow in Cree?
In the Cree language the word for a willow tree or bush is nîpisîy, a willow stick is nîpisîhtak, and a red willow is mihkwâpemak.
What do native Americans of the great plains eat?
As with all Native tribes, the Plains tribes lived off the land. Although the buffalo was their main staple, they did hunt deer, elk and small game. Also the women would gather berries, roots and nuts. In addition, they would trade with other tribes for different kinds of food.
What languages were spoken by Wyandot Indians?
The Menominee tribe spoke the Algonquian language in Northern Wisconsin and Michigan. Not much people speak it anymore though, only elders and people who wish to know more of their culture. But this is what I know.
What is the native American word for Wabash?
Early French explorers met the Illinois tribe and tried to communicate with them without any clear understanding of their language. When they asked the name of a major river, the natives said ouabouskigou, which the French did not understand and the nearest they could pronounce it was "oubache".
The meaning of the native word is unknown - it may not even be the name of the river, but some comment about the French explorers! Later English-speaking Americans changed it to Wabash, which has been applied to both a river and a city in Indiana.
What were early European explorers who came to the new world looking for?
My a. noob's Answer
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Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the New Wold in the hope of finding an easy water route to the Pacific. Another expedition funded by John Jacob Astor took place around 1810. He was hoping to make money by setting up a fur-trading project. His project was not a success. hi i like cheese. to find out more go to infinitycomics.ca!!!!!
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