Index of Variant Language Names

The First Nations languages of British Columbia are known by a sometimes bewildering variety of names. Names vary for a number of reasons, including:

• Names may come from a First Nations language, its neighbours, or Europeans
• Related languages and dialects may be grouped together or named individually.
• Names originally in a First Nations language may be adapted to English or French in different ways.
• Names may reflect pronounciations from different times in a language's history
• Names may be spelled differently.
• Meaningful names are sometimes translated, resulting in different names in English and French

The following index lists variant names for the First Nations languages of British Columbia. Each name is a link to information about the language to which it refers. Inclusion in this list is not meant to suggest that a name is correct. Indeed, some of them are unquestionably offensive or refer to languages that do not exist. It simply recognizes that the name is one that you might encounter.

Yinka Déné Language Institute © 2006-2007