There is no single Apache language
The title of this page speaks of “the tribe’s tongues”, and the plural is the important part. The Apache peoples are not one tribe, and they have never spoken one language. Several Apache nations exist today, each with its own history, homeland and way of speaking. Their languages belong to one close-knit group, usually called Apachean, but linguists count more than one language within it. The idea of a single “Apache language” is a simplification that this guide sets out to correct.
This page is an independent educational overview. It does not speak for any nation. Each nation’s own language program is the authority on its speech, and readers who want to learn a language should look to those official sources.
How the languages are grouped
Apachean languages are part of the larger Athabaskan family, which has relatives in Alaska, western Canada and on the Pacific Coast. Within that family, the Apachean branch is often called Southern Athabaskan. The Navajo language belongs to the same branch, which is one reason Navajo and Apache speech share so many patterns. The Navajo people are a separate nation, and their language is counted as its own language rather than as an Apache one.
The usual classification of the Apache languages, with the caveat that scholars draw some lines differently, runs as follows.
| Language | Where it is associated with | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Western Apache | Central and eastern Arizona | Includes several named dialects, such as the speech of the White Mountain, San Carlos, Cibecue and Tonto communities |
| Chiricahua | Chiricahua descendants in New Mexico and Oklahoma | Very closely related to Mescalero, and often grouped with it |
| Mescalero | Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico | Often treated together with Chiricahua as one language with two varieties |
| Jicarilla | Northern New Mexico | Associated with the Jicarilla Apache Nation |
| Lipan | Historically Texas and northern Mexico | Now very rarely spoken |
| Plains Apache | Southwestern Oklahoma | Historically called Kiowa Apache; spoken today by very few people |
Some references list Chiricahua and Mescalero as two languages and others as one, which shows that the boundary between “language” and “dialect” is a matter of judgment rather than a fixed rule.
Languages or dialects?
Linguists often use mutual understanding as a rough test. If two speakers can follow each other with little effort, their speech is more likely to be counted as dialects of one language. By that test, the varieties within Western Apache are dialects, and Chiricahua and Mescalero are very close. Beyond those pairings, understanding becomes partial, and the differences in sounds, word forms and vocabulary are large enough that the groups are counted as separate languages.
Mutual understanding is not a clean measure. People who live near each other, or who have married across communities, may understand each other better than the grammar alone would predict. Politics and identity also play a part, because a community may regard its speech as its own language whatever a classification says. The separate article on Apache dialect differences looks at the actual sound and vocabulary contrasts in more detail.
What the languages share
The Apachean languages have a recognizable family resemblance. Three features are often noted.
- Sound inventory. The languages use sounds that English lacks, including glottalized or “popped” consonants and a voiceless “l” sound that is commonly written with a barred letter. Most are also described as tonal. Anyone interested in the Apache sound system will find that tone, vowel length and nasalization all affect meaning.
- Verb-centred grammar. Much of the meaning sits in the verb, which is built from a chain of prefixes and a stem. A single verb can carry information that English spreads across several words.
- Shared vocabulary. Many everyday words are recognizably similar across the Apachean languages, which is what points to a common ancestor.
Names for the people and the languages
English speakers use “Apache” for all of these nations, but the word is not a term from the languages themselves. Many Apachean speakers use a form of a word meaning “the people” for themselves, such as the Nde self-name, with variants in different communities. The Navajo use a related form, Diné. Where a nation has a preferred name for itself and its language, that name is the one to use.
The older names can also mislead. The Plains Apache were long called Kiowa Apache because of their close association with the Kiowa people, although their language is Apachean and not related to Kiowa. The history behind that label is covered in the article on the Kiowa Apache name.
Where each language stands today
The situation differs sharply from one language to the next. Western Apache has traditionally been the most widely spoken Apachean language apart from Navajo, though even there younger children increasingly grow up with English as their first language. Mescalero and Jicarilla have smaller numbers of speakers, and Chiricahua is held by very few. Lipan and Plains Apache are in the most precarious position, with few or no fluent first-language speakers reported in recent decades.
Precise figures vary by source and date, and they change as elders pass away and as learners gain skill, so this guide does not quote them. The article on Apache language speaker numbers discusses the range of estimates and what endangerment categories mean. Readers should not take any of this to mean the languages are gone. As the piece on whether the Apache language is still spoken explains, there are living communities of speakers and many learners.
Why the distinctions matter
Treating the Apache peoples as one group with one language erases real differences. A Jicarilla language class, a Mescalero immersion camp and a Western Apache school program each serve a different community with different needs. The single tribe myth also leads to practical mistakes, such as assuming a phrase from one community can stand in for another.
The same caution applies to the nations themselves. The Western Apache peoples include several distinct groups, and the Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan and Plains Apache each have their own history. Their languages carry those histories. Place names, kinship terms and stories are all anchored in a particular language and landscape, which is part of why Apache language revitalization is so closely tied to cultural continuity.
Learning more responsibly
Some language knowledge, particularly knowledge connected to ceremonies, is not shared publicly, and that choice belongs to the communities. For general learning, the most reliable sources are the language and cultural programs run by the nations themselves, tribal schools and colleges, and materials published with the communities’ involvement. Older word lists compiled by outside researchers can contain errors, and spellings differ widely between them. Where possible, check a word or phrase with a program from the specific nation it concerns, and consult the nations’ official websites for current information on classes and resources.