DR. JOHN SMELCER'S ALASKA NATIVE DICTIONARIES, BILINGUAL CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK, LANGUAGE POSTERS, & ESSAY ON THE ORIGIN OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES

 

As part of a global preservation effort, the author/editor encourages readers to preserve the dictionaries in any format in an attempt to safeguard the survival of these languages for the future. Consider printing, binding and donating these dictionaries to local school, public and college libraries or linking or posting them on relevant websites.

 

Follow the links below to watch two interviews with Dr. Smelcer as he talks about endangered indigeneous languages worldwide and innovative projects to protect them in special segments produced by the University of Missouri-Columbia's Global Journalists Program:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzsBSbXzN3g&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S4KjQf9GAQ&feature=youtu.be

 

Dr. Smelcer has created an innovative YouTube project called "Ahtna 101" in which he teaches nouns common in the Ahtna language in brief 2-3 minute episodes. He envisions that there will one day be almost 100 episodes. Eventually, he plans to create "Ahtna 201: Introduction to Conversational Ahtna." Click on the YouTube icon below to go to the page. It is recommended that you download the  free The Ahtna Noun Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide (below) and follow along with the YouTube episodes so that you learn how to spell Ahtna words as well as how to pronounce them.

 

Map of Alaska Native Languages, University of Alaska Fairbanks' Alaska Native Language Center

(note Ahtna in red.)

The Ahtna Noun Dictionary
Ahtna Dictionary.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [2.0 MB]


Click on the PDF  icon above to download for free The Ahtna Noun Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide, Revised January 2016 (1.97 MB, PDF)  Compiled and edited by Dr. John Smelcer (Assoc. editors James Kari & Millie Buck)

Foreword Comments by Noam Chomsky, Steven Pinker, Ken Hale, and James Welch
World Conservators: The Alaska State Library's Historical Collection. Contains a lexicon of common nouns in the Ahtna language of Alaska.

 

Dr. Smelcer updates the dictionary annually, especially as tribal members sometimes contact him about words that do not appear in the dictionary, for example, though bison roam our tribal region, we do not have a traditional name for them because bison were not indigenous to Alaska; they were transplanted in the 1950s.

To watch an interview with Dr. Smelcer talking about Ahtna as part of the Endangered Language Project, click on: http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/761

Click on the icon below to download a PDF of WALK ABOUT: LIFE IN AN ATHABASKAN VILLAGE, John Smelcer's bilingual (Ahtna/English) children's picture book. Parents and grandparents: Use this book to help teach children how to speak and write in Ahtna.

Walk About: Life in an Ahtna Athabaskan Village
Life in an Ahtna Athabaskan Village.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [1.0 MB]

Ahtna language posters created by Dr. John Smelcer (published by the Ahtna Heritage Foundation, 1997, 1998). Click on any image to see it larger.

Human Migrations and Language Diffusion in the Americas: The Origins of American Indian Languages (PDF) by Dr. John Smelcer (periodically updated; last update April 25, 2013)
Also translated into Marathi and published in India. Arun Prabhune, Ed. Delhi: Padmagandha Prakashan, 2009. Received the 2009 Best Book Award from the Chandrakumar Public Library, Maharashtra, India. Click on the icon below to download the article.

Human Migration into the New World and Diffusion of American Indian Languages
Nat Am Languages.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [460.5 KB]
The Alutiiq Noun Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide
Alutiiq Dictionary.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [1.0 MB]

Click on the icon above to download The Alutiiq Noun Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide, Revised Dec. 2011 (1.1MB, PDF)  Compiled and edited by Dr. John Smelcer

Foreword Comments by H. H. The Dalai Lama, Dale Seeds and Chief Marie Smith Jones
World Conservators: The Alaska State Library's Historical Collection. Contains nouns common in Prince William Sound and Kenai Peninsula Region Alutiiq (Excluding Kodiak Island).


ALUTIIQ POSTERS created by Dr. John Smelcer (with Robert Wooten) while he was Director of the Chenega Language and Cultural Preservation Project, c. 2004-2008. Click on any image to see it larger.

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