Chipewyan language

Chipewyan
Dënesųłinë́
ᑌᓀ ᓱᒼᕄᓀ ᔭᕠᐁ Dënesųłinë́ yatié
Dënesųłinë́ sign at La Loche Airport
Pronunciation[tènɛ̀sũ̀ɬìné jàtʰìɛ́]
Native toCanada
RegionNorthern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba; southern Northwest Territories and Nunavut
Ethnicity30,910 Chipewyan people (2016 census)
Native speakers
11,325, 41% of ethnic population (2016 census)
Dialects
  • Dënesųłinë́ yatié
  • Dënedédliné yatié
  • Tthetsánót’iné yatié
  • Tetsǫ́t’iné yatié
Official status
Official language in
Canada (Northwest Territories)
Language codes
ISO 639-2chp
ISO 639-3chp
Glottologchip1261
ELPDënesųłiné
PeopleDënesųłinë́
LanguageDënesųłinë́ yatıé
CountryDënesųłinë́ nëné,
Denendeh
ᑌᓀᐣᑌᐧ

Chipewyan /ˌɪpəˈwən/ or Dënesųłinë́ (ethnonym: Dënesųłinë́ yatié [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 eight other aboriginal languages: Cree, Tlicho, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey and South Slavey.

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.