Tanacross (Nee’aandeg’ / Dihtaad Xt’een Aandeg’)

Tanacross is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken in the village of Tanacross on the Tanana River in eastern Alaska. The word Tanacross, an abbreviation of Tanana Crossing, refers both to the village and the Tanacross people. There are also some Tanacross speakers in the nearby town of Tok, and in Fairbanks. In 2007 there were about 60 speakers of Tanacross, most of whom are over 50 years old.

The language is also known as Copper River Kolchan and Transitional Tanana. Tanacross is closely related to Upper Tanana, which is spoken further up the Tanana river, and the two languages have a high level of mutual intelligibility.

A practical alphabet for Tanacross was devised in 1973. The language is taught in the school in Tanacross village, and other efforts are being made to revitalize it. A dictionary and grammar of Tanacross have been published, and Tanacross is officially recognized under the Official Languages of Alaska Law of 2014.

Tanacross alphabet and pronunciation

Notes

[e] and [ə] are not usually distinguished in spelling
Tanacross has tone that can be indicated as follows: high (á), rising (ǎ), falling (â) or extra-high (á́) tone. The low tone is unmarked.

Download an alphabet chart for Tanacross (Excel)

Sample phrases in Tanacross

Nts’é t’ínt’eh? = How are you? (sg)
Nts’é t’áht’eh? = How are you? (pl)
Ihsᶙᶙ = I’m well
Tsín’ęę = Thank you
Tsíná’ęę = Thank you very much

Sample video in Tanacross

Links

Information about the Tanacross language and culture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanacross_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/tcb
https://www.uaf.edu/anlc/tanacross/
http://www.native-languages.org/tanacross.htm
https://www.alaskanativelanguages.org/tanacross
https://www.tananachiefs.org/about/communities/tanacross/

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: 23.04.21

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