Chipewyan language
Chipewyan /ˌtʃɪpəˈwaɪən/ or Dënesųłinë́ (ethnonym: Dënesųłinë́ yatié IPA: [tènɛ̀sũ̀ɬìné jàtʰìɛ́]), often simply called Dëne, is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of northwestern Canada. It is categorized as part of the Northern Athabaskan language family. It has nearly 12,000 speakers in Canada, mostly in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. It has official status only in the Northwest Territories, alongside 8 other aboriginal languages: Cree, Tlicho, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey and South Slavey.
| Chipewyan | |
|---|---|
| Dënesųłinë́ | |
| ᑌᓀ ᓱᒼᕄᓀ ᔭᕠᐁ (Dënesųłinë́ yatié) | |
Dënesųłinë́ sign at La Loche Airport | |
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | Northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba; southern Northwest Territories and Nunavut |
| Ethnicity | 30,910 Chipewyan people (2016 census) |
Native speakers | 11,325, 41% of ethnic population (2016 census) |
| Dialects |
|
| Official status | |
Official language in | Canada (Northwest Territories) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | chp |
| ISO 639-3 | chp |
| Glottolog | chip1261 |
| ELP | Dënesųłiné |
| People | Dënesųłinë́ |
|---|---|
| Language | Dënesųłinë́ yatıé |
| Country | Dënesųłinë́ nëné, Denendeh ᑌᓀᐣᑌᐧ |
Most Chipewyan people now use Dëne and Dënesųłinë́ to refer to themselves as a people and to their language, respectively. The Saskatchewan communities of Fond-du-Lac, Black Lake, Wollaston Lake and La Loche are among these.