Shoshonean

American  

[shoh-shoh-nee-uhn, shoh-shuh-nee-uhn] / ʃoʊˈʃoʊ ni ən, ˌʃoʊ ʃəˈni ən /

noun

plural

Shoshoneans,

plural

Shoshonean

1. (in some, especially earlier, classifications) a grouping of four branches of the Uto-Aztecan language family including Numic, Hopi, and several languages of southern California.

2. a member of a group speaking a Shoshonean language.

---

adjective

1. of or relating to the Shoshonean-speaking peoples or their languages.

Shoshonean British  

/ ʃəʊˈʃəʊnɪən, ˌʃəʊʃəˈniːən /

noun

1. a subfamily of North American Indian languages belonging to the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken mainly in the southwestern US

---

Etymology

Origin of Shoshonean

First recorded in 1890–95; Shoshone + -an

Example Sentences

First came Wallace J. "Chief" Newman, a full-blooded Shoshonean Indian who coached 155-lb.

From Time Magazine Archive

During the periods of the fur trade and early emigration increasing amounts of information on Shoshonean and Mono-Bannock speakers became available.

From Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence and Society by Murphy, Robert F.

Tribes belonging to the great Shoshonean family held almost all the eastern border of the state as well as a large part of the southern desert and coast region.

From The Religion of the Indians of California by Kroeber, A. L.

The Uinta Valley is the ancient and present home of the Uinta Indians, a tribe speaking the Uinta language of the Shoshonean family.

From Canyons of the Colorado by Powell, John Wesley

Eventually he became the highest authority on the Shoshonean tribes.

From The Romance of the Colorado River The Story of its Discovery in 1840, with an Account of the Later Explorations, and with Special Reference to the Voyages of Powell through the Line of the Great Canyons by Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel