Dane-zaa (Dane-zaa Ẕáágéʔ / ᑕᓀᖚ ᖚᗀᐥ)

Dane-zaa is an Athabaskan language spoken in parts of British Columbia and Alberta in Canada by about 160 people in 2014. The language is also known as Beaver, which comes from Tsa-dane ("beaver people"), the native name of one of the Dane-zaa bands. The native name of the language is Danezaa ZaageɁ / ᑕᓀᖚ ᖚᗀᐥ, which means "language of the true people". Other spellings of Dane-zaa include Danezaa, Daneza, Dunne-za, Dunneza, Tsaa-dane, Tsattine, Tsa-tinne and Tza-tinne.

Dane-zaa is closely related to Alberta Slavey (Dene Dháh), Sekani, Tsuut'ina, Chipewyan (Dene Sųłiné) and Kaska (Dene Zā́gé').

There are a number of dialects of Dane-zaa: Boyer River and Child Lake are spoken in Alberta by the Beaver First Nation. Prophet River, Blueberry River, Doig River (Hanás̱ Saahgéʔ), Halfway River and West Moberly Lake are spoken in British Columbia by groups named after these rivers and lake.

Since the 1980s English has become the dominant language in formerly Dane-zaa-speaking communities. Few children speak the language any more, and most remaing speakers are elderly.

During the 1800s missionaries developed ways to write Dane-zaa using the Latin alphabet. A syllabic script, originally developed for Ojibwe, was also adapted to write Dane-zaa. Since 1962, Marshall and Jean Holdstock, and Dane-zaa speakers from Doig River have worked to analyze the sounds of Dane-zaa and develop a new orthography for it. They have also worked with Wycliff Bible Translators and SIL to produce a dictionary and other books. Since 1999 more has been done to document the language and keep it alive.

Dane-zaa alphabet and pronunciation

Dane-zaa alphabet and pronunciation

Hear the sounds of Dane-zaa at
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/danewajich/english/resources/pronuciation_guide.php

Download an alphabet chart for Dane-zaa (Excel)

Sample text

Aadzęhdǫ́h tǫ́hch’iidǫ́h jii, Madátsʼatlʼǫje dane yéhjii. Dane yadááhdzéʔ háá ghędaa. Dane yadááḏẕé dáánejiilh.

Translation

A long time ago, they called this Madáts’atl’ǫje [Snare Hill]. People depended on this place to live. People depended on this place to survive.

Source: http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/danewajich/english/stories/stories.php

Details by Michael Peter Füstumum

Sample videos in and about Dane-zaa

Information about Dane-zaa | Numbers

Links

Information about Dane-zaa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dane-zaa_language
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/bea
http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Tsaa_Dane/welcome
http://www.native-languages.org/beaver.htm
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/danewajich/english/resources/language.php

Na-Dené languages

Ahtna, Apache (Western), Babine-Witsuwit'en, Chilcotin, Chipewyan, Deg Xinag, Dena’ina, Dane-zaa (Beaver), Eyak, Gwich'in, Hän, Hupa, Jicarilla, Kaska, Koyukon, Lipan Apache, Lower Tanana, Mescalero-Chiricahua, Navajo, North Slavey, Sekani, South Slavey, Tahltan, Tanacross, Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib), Tolowa, Tsuut'ina (Sarcee), Tutchone, Upper Kuskokwim, Upper Tanana

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 14.04.24

[top]


Green Web Hosting - Kualo

You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.

 

Learn a Language with gymglish

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

 

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

[top]

iVisa.com