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Comanche (pronounced /kəˈmæntʃi/) is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Comanche people. The Comanche split off from the Shoshone soon after they acquired horses around 1705. The Comanche language and the Shoshone language are therefore quite similar although certain low-level consonant changes in Comanche have inhibited mutual intelligibility.
The name "Comanche" comes from the Ute word kɨmmantsi meaning "enemy, stranger".. Their own name for the language is Nʉmʉ tekwapu which means "Language of the people".
Although efforts are now being made to ensure its survival, most speakers of the language are elderly, and less than one percent of the Comanches can speak the language. In the late 19th century, Comanche children were placed in boarding schools where they were discouraged from speaking their native language, and even severely punished for doing so. The second generation then grew up speaking English, because of the belief that it was better for them not to know Comanche.
During World War II, a group of seventeen young men referred to as the Comanche Code Talkers were trained and used by the U.S. Army to send messages conveying sensitive information that could not be..... full article at Wikipedia |
