How I learned the language: The pedagogical structure of the Taltan language.

This thesis investigates the morphological structure of Tāl̸tān, a northern Athapaskan language. This thesis does not examine the morphemic properties of Tāl̸tān from a linguistic perspective. Instead, this thesis focuses on the pedagogical structure, which has been neglected and misunderstood in the previous research and literature, from a second language learning translation language. This thesis also examines the cultural differences between Tāl̸tān and English, the translation language. Based on the morphemic findings, and observed behavior governing syllable structure, I argue that the Tāl̸tān Language is structured around the pronouns in a way that is patterned into the paradigms with a consistency that simplified the learning process when a second language learner understand how it works. The thesis also points out how deeply the cultural understanding of the universe is embedded in the structure and nature of the language. --Leaf i.