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Some Native American languages are described as "tone languages." What this means is that information about grammar or word meaning is conveyed by the pitch of a speaker's voice. Chinese languages are probably the most famous tone languages in the world. The same syllable in Chinese can have four different meanings depending on whether the speaker's tone is high, low, rising, or falling. While some Native American languages, such as Mixtec, have a similarly complex tone system with four or six different tones, most Native American tone languages use only two distinct tones. Here is a partial list of Native American tone languages:
Andoque | Achumawi | Apache | Barasana | Bari | Beaver | Bora | Bribri |
Cacua | Caddo | Carapana | Chatino | Cherokee | Chiapanec | Chichimec | Chilcotin |
Chimila | Chinantec | Chipewyan | Chocho | Cora | Coreguaje | Cubeo | Cuicatec |
Desano | Dogrib | Guanano | Gwich'in | Haida | Han | Heiltsuk | Huave |
Huichol | Iquito | Karok | Kaska | Keres | Kiowa | Koasati | Macuna |
Matlatzinca | Maya | Mazahua | Mazatec | Mixtec | Muinane | Nambikwara | Navajo |
Ocaina | Oneida | Orejon | Otomi | Pame | Pech | Piraha | Piratapuyo |
Popoloca | Quileute | Resigaro | Retuara | Sarcee | Secoya | Sekani | Shasta |
Siona | Siriano | Slavey | Takelma | Tanacross | Tanana | Tatuyo | Tlamelula |
Tepehuan | Tewa | Ticuna | Tiwa | Tlapanec | Tlingit | Tonkawa | Trique |
Tsetsaut | Tucano | Tuscarora | Tuyuca | Tzotzil | Uspanteco | Uwa | Yagua |
Xinca | Zapotec | Zuni |
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