Nahenic Language Family

Introduction

The Nahenic Language Family consists of four recognised globally dispersed languages that despite their distribution, have been determined to descend from a common proto-language. This proto-language has been named "Nahenic", from a reconstruction of the ancestral word for "man", na'hen. The members of this language group, in order of number of speakers, are listed below:

1. Minhast, estimated to be spoken as a first language by 26 million in Minhay proper, and an additional 3 million speakers in expatriate countries abroad. These estimates are based off of the 2000 National Census, but this is likely an undercount, as the total population of Minhast is estimated to have now reached close to 34 million speakers due to improved health care leading to longer life expectancy, and an ever-increasing food supply from imports and its own native agricultural revolution.
2. Nahónda, spoken by approximately 60,000 speakers in the First Nations Federation of North America.
3. Nankôre, spoken by an estimated 2,000 speakers in Nanhoshka Kôya, an island off of the coast of the Haida Nation in the Pacific Northwest of North America.
4. Na'ena, also known by its Nivx neighbours by the exonym Neina. Current population estimates are on the high end are around one thousand speakers, but more plausible estimates hover around six hundred speakers, mostly from the ages of forty or older, and fewer children are being taught the language. The language is thus considered highly endangered.

Phonology

Consonant Inventory

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Cognates

The following tables contain demonstrated or putative cognates between the daughter languages and Proto-Nahenic. Items marked with an asterisk (*) indicate items that remain tentative.