Ahtna language

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Ahtna
Koht’aene Kenaege', Atnakenaege’
Native to	United States
Region	Alaska (Copper River region)
Ethnicity	500 Ahtna (1995)[1]
Native speakers	15 (2020)[1] 30 (2011)[2]
Language family	Dené–Yeniseian? Na-Dené Athabaskan Northern Athabaskan Ahtna
Writing system	Latin (Ahtna alphabet)
Official status
Official language in	Alaska[3]
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aht
Glottolog	ahte1237
ELP	Ahtna
Pre-contact distribution of Ahtna
Ahtna is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
Coordinates: 62°10′N 143°49′W / 62.167°N 143.817°W / 62.167; -143.817

Ahtna or Ahtena (/ˈɑːtnə/, from At Na "Copper River")^[4] is the Na-Dené language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska. The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy.

The Ahtna language consists of four different dialects: Upper, Central, Lower, and Western. Three of the four are still spoken today. Ahtna is closely related to Dena'ina.

The similar name Atnah occurs in the journals of Simon Fraser and other early European diarists in what is now British Columbia as a reference to the Tsilhqot'in people, another Northern Athapaskan group.^{[citation needed]}