ABSTRACT

N avajo, also spelled Navaho, belongs to the Apachean sub-group of the A thabaskan branch of the Na-Dene family. The Navajo call themselves faa dine ‘the people’, and the language is dine bizaad (saad ‘words’: bi.zaad ‘his words’). Navajo is spoken by about 130,000 Indians in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and South-East U tah. Almost alone among North American Indian languages it is on the increase, being widely used in the conduct of affairs in the Navajo R eservation, and in its local media, radio, journalism, and some literature.