en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabaskan_languages
2 corrections found
Ethnologue still gives the Athabaskan family as a relative of Haida in their definition of the Na-Dene family
This is outdated. Current Ethnologue classifies Haida separately from Eyak-Athabaskan rather than treating Haida as part of Na-Dene alongside Athabaskan.
Full reasoning
Current Ethnologue no longer does what this sentence says it "still" does.
On Ethnologue's current country pages, Athabaskan languages are grouped under the family Eyak-Athabaskan, while Haida is listed separately as its own family in Canada and the United States. That directly contradicts the statement that Ethnologue still treats Athabaskan as related to Haida in its definition of Na-Dene.
So the problem is not the historical note that Ethnologue once used a broader Na-Dene classification; the problem is the present-tense claim "still gives", which is no longer accurate in the current Ethnologue edition.
2 sources
- Canada Languages, Literacy, & Maps (CA) | Ethnologue Free
Families ... Eyak-Athabaskan (20) ... Haida (2) ... Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Alison J. Robinson (eds.). 2026. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-ninth edition.
- United States Languages, Literacy, & Maps (US) | Ethnologue Free
Families ... Eyak-Athabaskan (31) ... Haida (1) ... Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Alison J. Robinson (eds.). 2026. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-ninth edition.
Eyak
Eyak is misplaced here. It is an Alaska Native language, but it is not an Athabaskan language; it is a separate sister branch to Athabaskan within Athabaskan-Eyak.
Full reasoning
In this table, Eyak is presented under the heading "Alaskan Athabaskan languages", which implies Eyak itself is Athabaskan. That is incorrect.
The Alaska Native Language Archive explicitly states: "Eyak is not an Athabaskan language" and describes it instead as "a coordinate sub-branch to Athabaskan as a whole in the Athabaskan-Eyak branch". In other words, Eyak is closely related to Athabaskan, but it is not one of the Athabaskan languages.
So Eyak can properly appear in a list of Alaska Native languages, or in discussion of the broader Athabaskan-Eyak / Na-Dene family, but not as an item in a table specifically labeled Alaskan Athabaskan languages.
1 source
- Overview | Alaska Native Language Archive | Alaska Native Language Archive
Eyak is not an Athabaskan language, but a coordinate sub-branch to Athabaskan as a whole in the Athabaskan-Eyak branch of the Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit language family.