Western Apache: A Language of Arizona

Who speaks Western Apache, and what do they call it?

Western Apache is spoken in San Carlos, White Mountain and Verde Valley communities in Arizona. Nnee Biyáti’ is its San Carlos name; Dil’zhe’e names the Apache people of the Yavapai-Apache Nation. The nation also includes Yavapai speakers, whose language belongs to the Yuman family.

How many people speak Western Apache worldwide?

The Endangered Languages Project records fewer than 14,000 native speakers worldwide, from a reference published in 2008. The collection year is unspecified, so this is a historical estimate.

Where did Western Apache come from, and who spoke it in the past?

Western Apache belongs to Southern Athabaskan, or Apachean. Its ancestry connects it with Athabaskan peoples of the western Subarctic; the timing and route south remain debated.

In 1875, the United States forcibly moved Yavapai and Apache people from the Camp Verde Reservation to San Carlos. An early written record is John B. White's Apache vocabulary collected at San Carlos in 1873–1875.

Which Western Apache words might an English speaker already recognise?

The White Mountain word shúgé, “sugar,” comes from English sugar. bésoh, “money,” comes from Spanish peso.

How does Western Apache vary from region to region?

The Apache Language Consortium's dictionary project distinguishes San Carlos, White Mountain and Dilzhe’e. Cibecue, on the Fort Apache Reservation, has its own documented variety; Dilzhe’e is associated with the Verde Valley. The Yavapai-Apache Nation's communities include Tunlii, Middle Verde, Rimrock, Camp Verde and Clarkdale.

What is Standard Western Apache, and where is it used?

College materials, community dictionaries and school resources use local spellings. The Dilzhe’e dictionary presents a proposed system, with some choices still unsettled. At San Carlos Apache College, Apache appears in teaching materials and a bilingual welcome poem.

Which alphabet does Western Apache use, and what might surprise an English speaker?

The Dilzhe’e dictionary's Latin-based alphabet lists 56 symbols, including six parenthesized entries. Consonant combinations and short, long and nasal vowel forms count as entries; tone marks do not add entries.

Doubled vowels mark length, a hook below marks nasal pronunciation, and an acute accent marks high pitch. The apostrophe represents a throat closure like the break in English uh-oh.

Does Western Apache have grammatical gender?

Western Apache does not divide nouns into masculine and feminine classes. The San Carlos pronoun Bīī covers both “he” and “she.”

How do you say hello and thank you in Western Apache?

In San Carlos:

• Dagot’éé — greetings.
• Ahíyi’é — thank you.

What are some memorable Western Apache sayings?

• In White Mountain, “full of money” means wealthy. One speaker rejected using it about oneself because boasting could invite trouble.

What everyday customs might surprise a visitor?

In 1960s Cibecue, new acquaintances could take time to become familiar before speaking. Keith Basso recorded two men working alongside each other at a cattle roundup for several days before conversing. Their companions did not press them; speaking too quickly could suggest wanting something.

Which Western Apache-language song and film offer a cultural introduction?

Folkways released Western Apache: Sunrise Song in 1951. The Apache-language recording features Gin Riley on chorus and drums, with Herbert Tessay among the other drummers.

Apache 8 (2011), directed by Sande Zeig, follows women from the White Mountain Apache firefighting crew. The 57-minute documentary uses English and Apache; the Docuseek edition lists English subtitles.

What is available for someone curious about the language now?

Whiteriver Unified School District's speaking dictionary grew out of Alchesay High School students' work on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. Its phrase recordings cover destinations and weather. An online dictionary is available for Dilzhe’e.

The San Carlos Apache Vocab Builder combines recorded words and pictures. The tribal language program's 2023 description includes free classes, family outreach, work with elders and a master-and-apprentice program.

Annette Ayze's A Warm Welcome to My Apache People, in the college's 2024–2025 catalog, appears in Apache and English. It thanks students and pictures them taking what they have learned on a journey.

Fun Facts

• Grandfather is more specific than one English word suggests. The White Mountain school dictionary distinguishes shiwóyé hastiin, a mother's father, from shichoo, a father's father.
• One short entry can carry a whole English phrase. The same dictionary gives nabíí'ees for “she is having a sunrise dance.”