Sahaptian languages


Sahaptian is a two-language branch of the Plateau Penutian family spoken by Native American peoples in the Columbia Plateau region of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho in the northwestern United States.

Family division

Sahaptian includes two languages:
Nez Perce has two principle dialects, Upper and Lower. Sahaptin has somewhat greater internal diversity, with its main dialects being Umatilla and Yakima.
Note that the terms Sahaptian and Sahaptin have often been confused and used interchangeably in the literature.