Lipan language

Lipan
Ndé miizaa
Native toMexico, United States
RegionChihuahua, Coahuila, New Mexico, Texas
EthnicityLipan Apache people
Native speakers
(undated figure of 110 in Mexico)
Latin
Official status
Official language in
 Mexico
Regulated byInstituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas
Language codes
ISO 639-3apl
Glottologlipa1241
ELPLipan
Lipan was classified as Extinct by the 2010 UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. It was classified in 2023 as at "muy alto riesgo de desaparición" ("very high risk of disappearance") by the Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas of Mexico.
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Lipan (Lipan Apache: ndé miizaa) is an Eastern Southern Athabaskan language spoken by the Lipan Apache in the states of Coahuila and Chihuahua in northern Mexico, some reservations of New Mexico and parts of southern Texas. Lipan belongs to the Na-Dene languages family and it is closely related to the Jicarilla language, which is also part of the Eastern Southern Athabaskan languages.

History

In 1981, it was reported that in New Mexico there were only 2 or 3 elderly speakers still alive.

On March 22, 2023, a speech in Lipan was given in the tribune of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico. This speech was by an anthropologist and Lipan, Iván Alexander de León Aguirre, from Coahuila. The speech explained that Lipan and their language continues to exist in Mexico.: 42 

In the wake of this speech, on July 22, 2023, the Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas reported that the Lipan community estimated that there were one hundred and ten speakers of Lipan in Mexico, but that a community-based language planning council had been formed to revitalize the language.: 42  It presented and validated an official alphabet for Lipan in the Assembly Hall of Casas Grandes, Chihuahua.[citation needed] In 2025, De León was quoted as saying that Lipan people had teachers ready to teach their language, but required facilities from which to do it.

Distribution

In Mexico, Lipan is traditionally spoken in some native communities in the states of Coahuila and Chihuahua: In Coahuila it was mainly spoken in Los Lirios and San Antonio de Alanzas in Arteaga Municipality, El Remolino and Zaragoza in Zaragoza Municipality, Sierra de Santa Rosa de Lima and Múzquiz in Múzquiz Municipality and the cities of Sabinas and Saltillo. In Chihuahua it is mainly spoken in Ciudad Juarez, the city of Chihuahua and other native towns.

Lipan was spoken in New Mexico in the Mescalero Reservation and in Texas near the Mexico–U.S. border.

Phonology

Consonants

There are 30 consonants in Lipan Apache:

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain sibilant lateral
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩
Stop prenasal ⁿd ⟨nd⟩
voiceless p ⟨b⟩ t ⟨d⟩ ts ⟨dz⟩ tɬ ⟨dl⟩ tʃ ⟨j⟩ k ⟨g⟩ ʔ ⟨'⟩
aspirated tʰ ⟨t⟩ tsʰ ⟨ts⟩ tɬʰ ⟨tł⟩ tʃʰ ⟨ch⟩ kʰ ⟨k⟩
ejective tʼ ⟨t'⟩ tsʼ ⟨ts'⟩ tɬʼ ⟨tł'⟩ tʃʼ ⟨ch'⟩ kʼ ⟨k'⟩
Fricative voiceless s ⟨s⟩ ɬ ⟨ł⟩ ʃ ⟨sh⟩ x ⟨x⟩ h ⟨h⟩
voiced z ⟨z⟩ ʒ ⟨zh⟩ ɣ ⟨gh⟩
Approximant l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩

Vowels

There are 16 vowels in Lipan Apache:

  Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close oral i ⟨i⟩ iː ⟨ii⟩        
nasal ĩ ⟨į⟩ ĩː ⟨įį⟩        
Mid oral e ⟨e⟩ eː ⟨ee⟩     o ⟨o⟩ oː ⟨oo⟩
nasal ẽ ⟨ę⟩ ẽː ⟨ęę⟩     õ ⟨ǫ⟩ õː ⟨ǫǫ⟩
Open oral     a ⟨a⟩ aː ⟨aa⟩    
nasal     ã ⟨ą⟩ ãː ⟨ąą⟩    

Tone

Tones are represented as high [V́], low [V̀], falling [V́V̀], and rising [V̀V́]. Rising and falling tones only occur on long vowels.

Toponymy

The Lipan people preserve their own toponymic names to name important places within their history and culture that are part of the Ndé Bikéyaa ("Ndé land" in Lipan):

Mexico Mehigu
Chihuahua City Ją’éłąyá
Ciudad Juárez Tsé Tahu’aya / Yaa tu enéé
Coahuila Nacika

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Lengua N'dee/N'nee/Ndé
  2. ↑ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 11.
  3. ↑ "Lengua N'dee/N'nee/Ndé". www.inali.gob.mx (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2026-06-07. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  4. ↑ 1981 R. W. Young
  5. ↑ "Hablante de lengua nde' mizaa, pronuncia discurso en la tribuna de la Cámara de Diputados".
  6. 1 2 Santino A. Arellano, "Lipan Dream Work: Narrative Sovereignty in the Novels of Darcie Little Badger" (unpublished master's thesis, UCLA, 2025).
  7. ↑ "Apaches de Coahuila piden inclusión en programas sociales para preservar su cultura". Vanguardia (in Mexican Spanish). 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  8. ↑ "Historia de la lengua y cultura n'dee/n'nee/ndé; Ndé miizaa".
  9. ↑ "Toponimia en lengua Ndé".