page_title: Slavey language
section_title: North Slavey and South Slavey
hierarchical_section_title: Slavey language / North Slavey and South Slavey
context_page_description: Slavey is an Athabaskan language spoken among the Slavey and Sahtu people of Canada in the Northwest Territories where it also has official status. The language is written using Canadian Aboriginal syllabics or the Latin script.
context_section_description: North Slavey (Sahtúot’ı̨nę Yatı̨́) is spoken by the Sahtu (North Slavey) people in the Mackenzie District along the middle Mackenzie River from Tulita (Fort Norman) north, around Great Bear Lake, and in the Mackenzie Mountains of the Canadian territory of Northwest Territories. The dialect has around 800 speakers.
  Northern Slavey is an amalgamation of three separate dialects: 
  ᑲᑊᗱᑯᑎᑊᓀ K’áshogot’ıné (Hare, spoken by the Gahwié got’iné - “Rabbitskin People" or K’áshogot’ıne - “Great Hare People", referring to their dependence on the varying hare for food and clothing, also called Peaux de Lievre or Locheaux)
  ᓴᑋᕲᒼᑯᑎᑊᓀ Sahtúgot’ıné (Bear Lake, spoken by the Sahtu Dene or Sahtú got’iné - “Bear Lake People", also known as Gens du Lac d'Ours)
  ᗰᑋᑯᑎᑊᓀ Shıhgot’ıne (Mountain, spoken by the Shıhgot’ıné, Shuhtaot'iné or Shotah Dene - “Mountain People" or Mountain Indians, also called Nahagot’iné, Nahaa or Nahane Dene - “People of the west", so called because they lived in the mountains west of the other Slavey groups, between the Mackenzie Mountains and the Mackenzie River, from the Redstone River to the Mountain River)
  South Slavey (ᑌᓀ ᒐ Dene-thah, Dené Dháh or Dene Zhatıé) is spoken by the Slavey people, which were also known as Dehghaot'ine, Deh Cho, Etchareottine - “People Dwelling in the Shelter", in the region of Great Slave Lake, upper Mackenzie River (Deh Cho - “Big River") and its drainage, in the District of Mackenzie, northeast Alberta, northwest British Columbia.
  Some communities are bilingual, with the children learning Slavey at home and English when they enter school. Still other communities are monolingual in Slavey  The dialect has around 1000 speakers.
  Alternate names: Slavi, Slave, Dené, Mackenzian
  The division of Slavey dialects is based largely on the way each one pronounces the old Proto-Athapaskan sounds *dz *ts *ts’ *s and *z.
caption: Sahtu (North Slavey) communities in the Northwest Territories