Editing Shoshoni language (section)

==Classification and dialects==
Shoshoni is the northernmost member of the large [[Uto-Aztecan languages|Uto-Aztecan language]] family, which includes nearly sixty living languages, spoken in the Western United States down through [[Mexico–United States border|Mexico]] and into [[El Salvador]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/family|title=Summary by language family|work=Ethnologue|access-date=2018-04-18|language=en}}</ref> Shoshoni belongs to the [[Numic languages|Numic]] subbranch of Uto-Aztecan.<ref name=":1" /> The word ''Numic'' comes from the cognate word in all Numic languages for "person". For example, in Shoshoni the word is ''neme'' {{IPA|[nɨw̃ɨ]}} or, depending on the dialect, ''newe'' {{IPA|[nɨwɨ]}}, in Timbisha it is ''nümü'' {{IPA|[nɨwɨ]}}, and in Southern Paiute, ''nuwuvi'' {{IPA|[nuwuβi]}}.

Shoshoni's closest relatives are the Central Numic languages [[Timbisha language|Timbisha]] and [[Comanche language|Comanche]]. Timbisha, or Panamint, is spoken in southeastern [[California]] by members of the [[Timbisha|Timbisha Shoshone Tribe]], but it is considered a distinct language from Shoshoni.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aboutworldlanguages.com/uto-aztecan-language-family|title=Uto-Aztecan Language Family {{!}} About World Languages|website=aboutworldlanguages.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-04-18}}</ref> The [[Comanche]] split from the Shoshone around 1700, and consonant changes over the past few centuries have limited mutual intelligibility of Comanche and Shoshoni.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McLaughlin|first=John E.|date=1992|title=A Counter-Intuitive Solution in Central Numic Phonology|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=58|issue=2|pages=158–181|doi=10.1086/ijal.58.2.3519754|s2cid=148250257}}</ref>

Principal dialects of Shoshoni are Western Shoshoni in Nevada, Gosiute in western Utah, Northern Shoshoni in southern Idaho and northern Utah, and Eastern Shoshoni in Wyoming.<ref name=":1" /> The main differences between these dialects are phonological.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|1}}