Native American languages: Nadene and Penutian

The Nadene languages form another linguistic family; its branches include Athabascan, Haida, and Tlingit. The Haida and Tlingit tongues are spoken in parts of Canada and Alaska. As a whole, the Nadene languages have tones that convey meaning and some degree of polysynthesism. The verb is characterized by a reliance on aspect and voice rather than on tense.

The Penutian linguistic stock includes several branches, such as the Maidu, Wintun, and Yokuts language groups, all of which are native to California. Probably also in the Penutian family are the Sahaptin, Chinook, and Tsimshian languages of the Pacific Northwest coast, as well as other tongues in Mexico and parts of Central America. Penutian languages resemble those of the Indo-European family in several ways (for example, they have true cases for the noun).

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Influence and Survival
• Writing and Sign Language
• Languages of South America and the West Indies
• Languages of Mexico and Central America
• Aztec-Tanoan
• Hokan-Siouan
• Nadene and Penutian
• Algonquian-Wakashan
• Languages of North America
• Characteristics
• Classification
• Bibliography

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