Background
Western Apache (apw) is a Southern Athabaskan language, spoken primarily in the state of Arizona. Of the Apache languages, Western Apache is the only one spoken in Arizona. It is spoken on all five of the state’s Apache reservations: Fort Apache-White Mountain Reservation, the San Carlos Apache reservation, the Yavapai-Apache reservation, the Tonto Apache reservation, and the Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache reservation. The Ethnoglogue defines the language as 6b, threatened; Of the 20,200 ethnic Western Apache, approximately 14,00 speak the language. Western Apache contains three main geographical varieties (dialects): White Mountain dialect, San Carlos dialect, and Dilzhe’e dialect (formerly called Tonto). All three of these varieties are mutually intelligible.
Phoneme Inventory
Table 1: Consonants
| - | Bilabial | Alveolar | Post Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive: [+asp] | ph | th | - | - | kh | ? |
| Plosive: [-asp] | p | t | 3 | - | k | - |
| Plosive: [+ejective][-asp} | - | t' | - | - | k' | - |
| Fricatives: | - | s z | S | - | x X | h |
| Lateral Fricatives | - | ł | - | - | - | - |
| Affricates: [-ejectives] | ts dz tł | tS d3 | - | - | - | - |
| Affricates: [+ejectives] | tł' dz' | d3' | - | - | - | - |
| Nasals: | m | n | - | - | - | - |
| Liquids: | - | l | - | - | - | - |
| Glides | (w) | - | - | j | (w) | - |
- ’m = quick succession of the glottal stop and /m/, almost pronounced simultaneously.
- ’n = quick succession of the glottal stop and /n/, almost pronounced simultaneously,
Table 2: Vowels
| Front: | Central: | Back: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High: | I,II | - | - |
| Mid: | ɛ, ɛɛ | - | o,oo |
| Low: | - | a, aa | - |
• Any Apache vowel can be long or short.
• Any Apache vowel can be nasal or non-nasal
• Any Apache vowel can have on of three tones: low, mid, and high.
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