Inuktitut (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ, literally "like the Inuit") is the language of the Inuit people. It is spoken from western Alaska to eastern Greenland, in all areas north of the tree line up to Qaanaaq, almost on the 78th parallel. Inuktitut enjoys a great deal of legal status for an indigenous American language. It is recognised as an official language in Greenland, Nunavut territory and the Northwest Territories. It also has legal recognition in Nunavik - a part of Quebec - thanks in part to the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, and is recognised in the Charter of the French Language as the official language of instruction for Inuit school districts there. It also has some recognition in Nunatsiavut - the Inuit area in Labrador - following the ratification of its agreement with the Canadian federal government and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and is taught in schools in Inuit areas in Alaska. The Inuktitut syllabary is a writing system used by Inuit people in Nunavut and in northern Quebec. ... Inuit woman Inuit (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ, singular Inuk or Inuq / ᐃᓄᒃ) is a general term for a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples of the Arctic who descended from the Thule. ... State nickname: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun Other U.S. States Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Governor Frank Murkowski Official languages English Area 1,717,854 km² (1st)  - Land 1,481,347 km²  - Water 236,507 km² (13. ... In this view of an alpine tree-line, the distant line looks particularly sharp. ... Map of Greenland Qaanaaq (roughly pronounced KAH-nahk), formerly Thule, is a town in northwestern Greenland. ... For the electoral districts of the same name, see Nunavut (electoral district) and Nunavut (Senate Division). ... A former territory in the United States is called Northwest Territory. ... The Nunavik Region of Quebec, Canada Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) is a region making up the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. ... During the 1960s, a terrorist group known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices. ... The James Bay And Northern Quebec Agreement was Canadas first modern Aboriginal land claim settlement, approved in 1975 by the Cree and Inuit of northern Quebec, and later slightly modified in 1978 by the Northeastern Quebec Agreement, through which Quebecs Naskapi Indians joined the treaty. ... The Charter of the French Language (also known as Bill 101 and Loi 101) is a framework law in the province of Quebec, Canada, defining the linguistic rights of all Quebecers and making French, the language of the majority, the sole official language of Quebec. ... Capital Hopedale (legislative) Nain (administrative) Area Total Recognized 142,450 km² 72,520 km² Nunatsiavut is an area claimed by the Inuit in Canada - not to be confused with the territory Nunavut. ... This article is about the region in Canada. ... Motto: Quaerite Primum Regnum Dei (Seek ye first the kingdom of God) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital St. ... State nickname: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun Other U.S. States Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Governor Frank Murkowski Official languages English Area 1,717,854 km² (1st)  - Land 1,481,347 km²  - Water 236,507 km² (13. ...

Inuit primarily live in three countries: The United States (the North Slope and Seward Peninsula area in Alaska); arctic Canada, and Greenland, a self-adminstering province of Denmark. A few may also live in Russia, but Russian Eskimos are primarily Yupik. The total population of Inuktitut speakers globally is difficult to assess with precision, since most counts rely on self-reported census data that may not accurately reflect usage or competence. Greenland census estimates place the number of Inuktitut speakers there at roughly 50,000, while Canadian estimates of Inuktitut speakers are at roughly 30,000. These two countries count the bulk of all Inuktitut speakers, as usage in Alaska is increasingly moribund - roughly 3,000 Alaskans speak Inuktitut dialects out of a population of over 13,000 Inuit - and the language is almost certainly extinct in Russia. In addition, an estimated 7,000 Greenlandic Inuktitut speakers live in European Denmark, but this is the largest group of Inuktitut speakers outside of Canada and Greenland. So, the global Inuktitut-speaking population is on the order of 90,000 people. North Slope can refer to: Alaska North Slope North Slope Borough, Alaska This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Seward Peninsula is a large peninsula in western Alaska. ... State nickname: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun Other U.S. States Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Governor Frank Murkowski Official languages English Area 1,717,854 km² (1st)  - Land 1,481,347 km²  - Water 236,507 km² (13. ... Eskimo is a term used for a group of people who inhabit the circumpolar region (excluding circumpolar Scandinavia and all but the easternmost portions of Russia). ... The Yupik or, in the Central Alaskan language, Yupik, are aboriginal people who live along the coast of western Alaska, especially on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta and along the Kuskokwim River (Central Alaskan Yupik), in southern Alaska (the Alutiiq) and in the Russian Far East and St. ... State nickname: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun Other U.S. States Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Governor Frank Murkowski Official languages English Area 1,717,854 km² (1st)  - Land 1,481,347 km²  - Water 236,507 km² (13. ...

Classification and history

Inuktitut is a member of the Eskimo-Aleut group of languages. It is fairly closely related to the Yupik languages and more remotely to the Aleut languages. These cousin languages are all spoken in Alaska and Chukotka, Russia. Inuktitut is not discernibly related to other North American or northwest Asian indigenous languages, although some have proposed that it is related to Indo-European languages as part of the hypothetical Nostratic superphylum. Eskimo-Aleut (also called Inuit-Aleut, but both names are considered offensive by some) is a language family native to Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, Alaska, and parts of Siberia. ... The Yupik or, in the Central Alaskan language, Yupik, are aboriginal people who live along the coast of western Alaska, especially on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta and along the Kuskokwim River (Central Alaskan Yupik), in southern Alaska (the Alutiiq) and in the Russian Far East and St. ... The Aleuts (self-denomination: Unangax) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, U.S.A.. The homeland of the Aleuts includes the Aleutian Islands, the Pribilof Islands, the Shumagin Islands, and the far western part of the Alaska Peninsula. ... State nickname: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun Other U.S. States Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Governor Frank Murkowski Official languages English Area 1,717,854 km² (1st)  - Land 1,481,347 km²  - Water 236,507 km² (13. ... Chukotka Autonomous District ( Russian: Чуко́тский автоно́мный о́круг; tr. ... Native American languages are the indigenous languages of the Americas, spoken from Alaska and Greenland to the southern tip of South America. ... There are a wide variety of languages spoken thoughout Asia, comprising a number of families and unrelated isolate languages. ... The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about three billion people, including most of the major language families of Europe and western Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... Nostratic is a highly controversial language super-family that putatively links many Eurasian language families. ...

Early Inuktitut was spoken by the Thule people, who overran the Dorset civilisation, which had previously occupied Arctic America, at the beginning of the second millennium. By 1300, the Inuit and their language had reached west Greenland, and finally east Greenland roughly at the same time the Viking colony in southern Greenland disappeared. It is generally believed that it was during this centuries-long eastwards migration that the Inuktitut language became distinct from the Yupik languages spoken in Alaska and Chukotka. The Thule were the ancestors of all modern Canadian Inuit. ... The Dorset culture preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. ... (1st millennium – 2nd millennium – 3rd millennium – other millennia) Events The Black Death Mongol Empires in Asia The Renaissance in Europe The Protestant Reformation The agricultural and industrial revolutions The rise of nationalism and the nation state European discovery of the Americas and Australia and their colonization European colonization and decolonization... Events Beginning of the Renaissance. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... The Yupik or, in the Central Alaskan language, Yupik, are aboriginal people who live along the coast of western Alaska, especially on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta and along the Kuskokwim River (Central Alaskan Yupik), in southern Alaska (the Alutiiq) and in the Russian Far East and St. ...

Until 1902, an enclave of Dorset people or Sadlermiut (in modern Inuktitut spelling Sallirmiut) existed on Southampton Island. Almost nothing is known about their language, but the few eyewitness accounts tell of them speaking a "strange dialect". This suggests that they also spoke an Eskimo-Aleut language, but one quite distinct from Inuktitut. 1902 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Dorset culture preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. ... Categories: Islands of Canada | Canada geography stubs ... Eskimo-Aleut (also called Inuit-Aleut, but both names are considered offensive by some) is a language family native to Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, Alaska, and parts of Siberia. ...

The Yupik and Inuktitut languages are very similar syntactically and morphologically. Their common origin can be seen in a number of cognates:

The western Alaskan dialects of Inuktitut retain a large number of features present in proto-Inuktitut and in Yupik, enough so that they might be classed as Yupik languages if they were viewed in isolation from the larger Inuktitut-speaking world.

Geographic distribution and variants

Distribution of Inuktitut variants across the Arctic.

Inuktitut is a fairly closely linked set of dialects which can be broken up using a number of different criteria. Traditionally, Inuit describe dialect differences by means of place names to describe local idiosyncracies in language: The dialect of Iglulik verses the dialect of Iqaluit, for example. However, political and sociological divisions are increasingly the principal criteria for describing different variants of Inuktitut because of their links to different writing systems, literary traditions, schools, media sources and borrowed vocabulary. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Igloolik, sometimes spelled Iglulik, is a community in Nunavut, northern Canada. ... Iqaluit (ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ in Inuktitut) is the territorial capital and the largest community of Canadas youngest territory, Nunavut. ...

Furthermore, political barriers across the arctic have resulted in different variants of Inuktitut receiving different names. Alaskan Inuit are generally called Inupiaq and call their language Inupiatun, while Greenland Inuit refer to their language as Kalaallisut. In Canada, the language is generally called Inuktitut, but it can be further divided reflecting additional geographic, politcal and linguistic criteria. The Inupiat or Iñupiaq are the Inuit people of Alaskas Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs and the Bering Straits region. ... The Kalaallisut language (also called Greenlandic, Greenlandic Eskimo, or Greenlandic Inuktitut) is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken in Greenland and closely related to Canadian languages like Inuktitut. ...

Inuktitut is more of a dialect continuum like German, rather than a particular set of distinctive dialect groups like English or Chinese. This makes any partition of the Inuktitut language somewhat problematic. This article will use labels that try to synthesise linguistic, sociolinguistic and political considerations in splitting up the Inuktitut dialect spectrum. This scheme is not the only one used or necessarily one used by Inuit themselves, but its labels do try to reflect the usages most seen in popular and technical literature. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

In addition to the territories listed below, some 7,000 Greenlandic Inuktitut speakers are reported to live in mainland Denmark [1], and according to the 2001 census roughly 200 self-reported native speakers regularly live in parts of Canada which are outside of traditional Inuit lands.

Alaska

Of the roughly 13,000 Alaskan Inupiat, as few as 3,000 may still be able to speak Inuktitut dialects, with most of them over the age of 40. [2] Alaskan Inuit speak at least two fairly distinct dialects: The Inupiat or Iñupiaq are the Inuit people of Alaskas Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs and the Bering Straits region. ...

• Qawiaraq is spoken on the southern side of the Seward Peninsula and the Norton Sound area. It was also in the past spoken in Chukotka, particularly Big Diomede island, but appears to have vanished in Russian areas through assimilation into Yupik, Chukchi and Russian speaking communities. It is radically different in phonology from other variants of Inuktitut, and is not described in depth here. Some people consider the Bering Strait dialect to be separate from Qawariaq.
• Inupiatun is spoken in North Slope and the Kotzebue Sound area. The variants of the Kotzebue Sound area and the northwest of Alaska are sometimes called Malimiutun or Malimiut Inupiatun. However, despite significant differences in phonology, Malimiutun is readily comprehensible to other Alaskan Inupiat. [3]

The Seward Peninsula is a large peninsula in western Alaska. ... The Norton Sound is an inlet of the Bering Sea in western Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. ... Chukotka Autonomous District ( Russian: Чуко́тский автоно́мный о́круг; tr. ... Satellite photo of the Bering Strait, with the Diomede Islands at center. ... The Yupik or, in the Central Alaskan language, Yupik, are aboriginal people who live along the coast of western Alaska, especially on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta and along the Kuskokwim River (Central Alaskan Yupik), in southern Alaska (the Alutiiq) and in the Russian Far East and St. ... The term Chukchi may refer to Chukchi people Chukchi language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Satellite photo of the Bering Strait The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, the eastmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, the westernmost point of the American continent, about 85 km in width, with a depth of 30–50 m. ... North Slope can refer to: Alaska North Slope North Slope Borough, Alaska This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Kotzebue Sound is an arm of the Chukchi Sea in western Alaska, 66°40 North 163° West. ... Kotzebue Sound is an arm of the Chukchi Sea in western Alaska, 66°40 North 163° West. ... The Inupiat or Iñupiaq are the Inuit people of Alaskas Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs and the Bering Straits region. ...

Northwest Territories and Yukon

Inuit in Canada's Northwest Territories call themselves Inuvialuit and live primarily in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, consisting of the northern part of the Mackenzie river delta, the arctic coast of the Northwest Territories and Yukon, Banks Island, a part of Victoria Island and some more remote and irregularly inhabited Arctic Ocean islands. The Inuktitut variants of the NWT are often treated together as Inuvialuktun, but this categorisation is misleading. The Inuvialuit population encompasses three distinct dialects: A former territory in the United States is called Northwest Territory. ... The Inuvialuit (Inuit language: real human beings) are Inuit people who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. ... ... A former territory in the United States is called Northwest Territory. ... Motto: none Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Whitehorse Largest city Whitehorse Commissioner Jack Cable Premier Dennis Fentie (Yukon Party) Area 482,443 km² (9th)  - Land 474,391 km²  - Water 8,052 km² (1. ... Banks Island, Northwest Territories. ... Victoria Island, NWT and Nunavut. ...

• Kangirjuarmiutun: spoken mainly in the community of Holman. This dialect is essentially identical to the Inuinnaqtun spoken in western Nunavut.
• Siglitun: spoken mainly in the communities of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour and Tuktoyaktuk. Siglitun was once the principal dialect of the Mackenzie river delta and nearby parts of the coast and Arctic ocean islands, but the number of speakers fell dramatically following outbreaks of new diseases in the 19th century and for many years Siglitun was believed to be completely extinct. It was only in the 1980s that outsiders realised that it was still spoken. (Dorais, Arctic languages: an awakening, pg. 194)
• Uummarmiutun: spoken mainly in the communities of Inuvik and Aklavik. This dialect is essentially the same as Alaskan Inupiatun, and is present in Canada because of migration from Alaska in the 1910s, reoccupying traditionally Siglit lands abandonned during the devastating disease outbreaks of the previous century. [4]

Inuktitut variants in this part of Canada are seriously endangered, as English has in recent years become the common language of the community. Surveys of Inuktitut usage in the NWT vary, but all agree that usage is not vigorous. According to the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, only some 10% of the roughly 4,000 Inuvialuit speak any dialect of Inuktitut, and only some 4% use it at home. [5] Statistics Canada's 2001 Census report is only slightly better, reporting 765 self-identified Inuktitut speakers out of a self-reported Inuvialuit population of 3,905. Considering the large number of non-Inuit living in Inuvialuit areas and the lack of a single common dialect among the already reduced number of speakers, the condition of Inuktitut in the NWT appears bleak. For the electoral districts of the same name, see Nunavut (electoral district) and Nunavut (Senate Division). ... Tuktoyaktuk or Tuktoyuktuk formerly Port Brabant is a small Inuvialuit community located in the Northwest Territories of Canada. ... ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Inuvik is a small town in the Northwest Territories of Canada. ... Aklavik (Barren-ground grizzly place) is a community located 68°13 North latitude and 135°00 West longitude in the territory of Northwest Territories, Canada, with a population of 748 as of the 2000 census. ... Events and trends Technology Gideon Sundback patents the first modern zipper Harry Brearley invents stainless steel Charles P. Strite invents first pop-up bread toaster Science Einsteins theory of general relativity Max von Laue discovers the diffraction of x-rays by crystals Alfred Wegener puts forward his theory of... Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government bureau commissioned with gathering and analysing statistics about Canada. ...

Nunavut

Nunavut encompasses the geographically largest part of the Inuktitut-speaking world (not counting the uninhabitable Greenland ice shield), and includes large mainland areas and numerous islands divided by rivers, straits, Hudson Bay, and areas of ocean that freeze only for a part of the year. Consequently, it is unsurprising that it has a great deal of internal dialect diversity. For the electoral districts of the same name, see Nunavut (electoral district) and Nunavut (Senate Division). ... Hudson Bay is a large body of water in northeastern Canada. ...

The demographic situation of Inuktitut is quite strong in Nunavut. Nunavut is the home of some 24,000 Inuit, most of whom - over 80% according to the 2001 census - speak Inuktitut, including some 3,500 people reported as monolinguals. 2001 census data shows that the use of Inuktitut, while lower among the young than the elderly, has stopped declining in Canada as a whole and may even be increasing in Nunavut.

• Inuinnaqtun is a variant of Inuktitut spoken in the western part of the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, and at Holman in the Northwest Territories. Although it has a number of features distinguishing it as a specific variant of Inuktitut, the most immediately noticeable is the lack of a local tradition of Inuktitut syllabics use. The government of Nunavut considers Inuinnaqtun an official language of the territory, but many consider it simply a Roman alphabet writing scheme for standard Inuktitut. However, the Roman alphabet writing scheme used in Inuinnaqtun uses letters in a manner distinctive to western Nunavut dialects.
• Natsilingmiutut designates variants spoken in the part of eastern Kitikmeot called Natsilik. In the Natsilik dialect, it is called Nattilingmiutut. Some people view the Utkuhiksalingmiutut dialect, spoken today primarily in Gjoa Haven but traditionally spoken in the Franklin Lake and Chantrey Inlet area, as a separate dialect.
• Kivallirmiutut dialect is spoken in the Kivalliq Region down to the Manitoba border.
• Aivilimmiutut is spoken in the area traditionally known as Aivilik: Southampton Island and Repulse Bay in Kivalliq, and part of the Melville Peninsula in the Qikiqtaaluk Region. This area was settled by Inuit after the disappearance of the Sadlermiut in the late 19th and early 20th century. Some linguists consider it too close to North Baffin to merit separate treatment. (Dorais, Arctic languages: an awakening, pg. 194)
• North Baffin (Qikiqtaaluk uannangani) is spoken on the northern part of Baffin Island, at Iglulik and the adjacent part of the Melville Peninsula, and in Inuit communities in the far north of Nunavut, like Resolute and Grise Fiord. This dialect is the one heard in the film Atanarjuat: the Fast Runner.
• South Baffin (Qikiqtaaluk nigiani) is the dialect of the southern part of Baffin Island, including the territorial capital Iqaluit. This has in recent years made it a much more widely heard dialect, since a great deal of Inuktitut media originates in Iqaluit. Some linguists also distinguish an East Baffin dialect from either North or South Baffin.

Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut Kitikmeot Region (Inuktitut: Qitirmiut ᕿᑎᕐᒥᐅᑦ) is a region of Nunavut. ... For the electoral districts of the same name, see Nunavut (electoral district) and Nunavut (Senate Division). ... A former territory in the United States is called Northwest Territory. ... The Inuktitut syllabary is a writing system used by Inuit people in Nunavut and in northern Quebec. ... Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut Kitikmeot Region (Inuktitut: Qitirmiut ᕿᑎᕐᒥᐅᑦ) is a region of Nunavut. ... Gjoa Haven (Usqsuqtuuq, in Inuktitut) Named after Roald Amundsens boat, the Gjøa. ... Kivalliq Region of Nunavut Kivalliq Region (ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ) is a region of Nunavut. ... Motto: Gloriosus et Liber (Glorious and free) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Winnipeg Largest city Winnipeg Lieutenant Governor John Harvard Premier Gary Doer (NDP) Area 647,797 km² (8th)  - Land 553,556 km²  - Water 64,241 km² (14. ... Categories: Islands of Canada | Canada geography stubs ... Repulse Bay is an area in the southern part of Hong Kong Island, located in the Southern District. ... Kivalliq Region of Nunavut Kivalliq Region (ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ) is a region of Nunavut. ... Boothia and Melville peninsulas, Nunavut Territory, Canada The Melville Peninsula is a large peninsula in the Canadian Arctic. ... Baffin Region of Nunavut Baffin Region (Inuktitut: Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ) is a region of Nunavut. ... The Dorset culture preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Baffin Island, Nunavut. ... Igloolik, sometimes spelled Iglulik, is a community in Nunavut, northern Canada. ... Boothia and Melville peninsulas, Nunavut Territory, Canada The Melville Peninsula is a large peninsula in the Canadian Arctic. ... Resolute (Qausuittuq) is a small town on Cornwallis Island im Nunavut, Canada, along the shore of Resolute Bay and the Northwest Passage. ... The Inuit settlement of Grise Fiord (pop. ... Atanarjuat (or The Fast Runner) is a Canadian film, released in 2001. ... Iqaluit (ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ in Inuktitut) is the territorial capital and the largest community of Canadas youngest territory, Nunavut. ... Iqaluit (ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ in Inuktitut) is the territorial capital and the largest community of Canadas youngest territory, Nunavut. ...

Nunavik

Quebec is home to roughly 10,000 Inuit, nearly all of whom live in Nunavik. According to the 2001 census, 90% of Quebec Inuit speak Inuktitut. During the 1960s, a terrorist group known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices. ... The Nunavik Region of Quebec, Canada Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) is a region making up the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. ...

The Nunavik dialect (Nunavimmiutitut) is relatively close to the South Baffin dialect, but not identical. Because of the political and physical boundary between Nunavik and Nunavut, Nunavik has separate government and educational institutions from those in the rest of the Inuktitut-speaking world, resulting in a growing standardisation of the local dialect as something separate from other forms of Inuktitut. In the Nunavik dialect, Inuktitut is called Inuttitut. This dialect is also sometimes called Tarramiutut or Taqramiutut.

Nunatsiavut

The Nunatsiavut dialect (Nunatsiavummiutut, or often in government documents Labradorimiutut) was once spoken across northern Labrador. It has a distinct writing system, created by German missionaries from the Moravian Church in Greenland in the 1760s. This separate writing tradition, and the remoteness of Nunatsiavut from other Inuit communities, has made it into a distinct dialect with a separate literary tradition. The Nunatsiavummiut call their language Inuttut - "like an Inuk". Capital Hopedale (legislative) Nain (administrative) Area Total Recognized 142,450 km² 72,520 km² Nunatsiavut is an area claimed by the Inuit in Canada - not to be confused with the territory Nunavut. ... This article is about the region in Canada. ... A Moravian is a Protestant belonging to a religious movement that originated in Moravia, Czech Republic. ... Events and Trends King George III ascends the British throne in 1760. ...

Although Nunatsiavut claims over 4,000 inhabitants of Inuit descent, only 550 reported Inuktitut to be their mother tongue in the 2001 census, mostly in the town of Nain. Inuktitut is seriously endangered in Labrador. Nain is the northernmost town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located about 230 miles by air from Happy Valley-Goose Bay. ...

Nunatsiavut also had a separate dialect reputedly much closer to western Inuktitut dialects, spoken in the area around Rigolet. According to news reports, in 1999 it had only three very elderly speakers. [6] 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Greenland

Greenland counts approximately 50,000 speakers of Inuktitut dialects, of whom over 90% speak west Greenlandic dialects at home.

• Kalaallisut, or in English Greenlandic, is the name given to the standard dialect and offical language of Greenland. This standard national language is now taught to all Greenlanders in school, regardless of their native dialect. It reflects almost exclusively the language of western Greenland and has borrowed a great deal of vocabulary from Danish, while Canadian and Alaskan variants of Inuktitut have tended to take vocabulary from English or sometimes French and Russian. It is written using the Roman alphabet. The dialect of the Upernavik area in northwest Greenland is somewhat different in phonology from the standard dialect.
• Tunumiit oraasiat, (or Tunumiisut in Kalaallisut, often East Greenlandic in other languages), is the dialect of eastern Greenland. It differs sharply from other Inuktitut dialects and has roughly 3,000 speakers according to Ethnologue.
• Avanersuaq is the dialect of the area around Qaanaaq in northern Greenland. It is sometimes called the Thule dialect or North Greenlandic. This area is the northernmost settlement area of the Inuit and has a relatively small number of speakers. It is reputed to be fairly close to the North Baffin dialect, since a group of migratory Inuit from Baffin Island settled in the area during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It counts under 1,000 speakers according to Ethnologue.

The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Upernavik is a small town in northeast Greenland. ... Map of Greenland Qaanaaq (roughly pronounced KAH-nahk), formerly Thule, is a town in northwestern Greenland. ... Baffin Island, Nunavut. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Phonology and Phonetics

This section of the article makes reference primarily to the Inukitut dialects of Canada, although it provides some discussion of other dialects.

Following standard notation, phonemes are written between two slashes, e.g. /p/; and phonetic transcriptions are written between square brackets, e.g. [ɬ].

Most Nunavut dialects of Inuktitut have fifteen consonants and three vowels (which can be long or short). Consonants are arranged with five places of articulation: bilabial, alveolar, palatal, velar and uvular; and three manners of articulation: voiceless stops, voiced continuants and nasals, as well as two additional sounds — voiceless fricatives. Inupiatun and Natsalingmiutut have an additional manner of articulation - retroflex - which adds two consonants to Inupiatun and one to Natsalingmiutut. A consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture sufficient to cause audible turbulence, at one or more points along the vocal tract. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... In speech, consonants may have different places of articulation, generally with full or partial stoppage of the airstream. ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... Alveolars are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, the internal side of the upper gums (known as the alveoles of the upper teeth). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. ... In speech there are different ways of producing a consonant. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... A continuant is a sound produced with an incomplete closure of the vocal tract. ... The nasals are a pair of bones in the skull of many animals. ... Fricative consonants are produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together (e. ... Retroflex consonants are articulated with the tip of the tongue curled up and back so the bottom of the tip touches the roof of the mouth. ...

Vowels

Almost all dialects of Inuktitut have only three basic vowels and make a phonological distinction between short and long forms of all vowels. In Inuujingajut, (Nunavut standard Roman orthography) long vowels are written as a double vowel.

In western Alaska, Qawariaq and to some degree the Malimiutun variant of Inupiaqtun retains an additional vowel /ə/ which was present in proto-Inuktitut and is still present in Yupik, but which has become /i/ or sometimes /a/ in all other dialects. Thus, the common Inuktitut word for water - imiq - is emeq (/əməq/) in Qawiaraq. (L.D. Kaplan, Arctic languages: an awakening, pg. 145) The open central unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The open central unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The close front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The close-mid front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The open-mid front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The close front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The close back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The close-mid back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The open-mid back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The close back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In linguistics and phonology, schwa is the tonally-neutral, mid-central unrounded vowel sound, exactly in the middle of the vowel chart. ...

Furthermore, many diphthongs in the Alaskan dialects have merged, suggesting the beginings of a new more complex vowel scheme with more than three distinct vowels. This phenomenon is particularly noticeable in the Kobuk area, where the diphthongs /ua/ and /au/ are now both prronounced /ɔ/. Other diphthongs are also affected. Kobuk is a city located in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska. ... The open-mid back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

In contrast to the larger number of vowel contrasts in Alaskan dialects, in the dialect of southwest Greenland (particularly Upernavik), the phoneme /u/ has been replaced by /i/ in many contexts. Upernavik is a small town in northeast Greenland. ...

Otherwise, the three-vowel scheme described above holds for all of the Inuktitut dialects.

Consonants

The central Nunavut dialects of Inuktitut have fifteen distinct consonants, except for Natsilingmiutut, which has the additional phoneme /ɟ/.

IPA notation:

This same table with Inuujingajut spellings for comparison: The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless uvular plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some stop consonants. ... The voiceless alveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar lateral fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in very many spoken languages. ... The voiced palatal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced uvular plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Assimilation is a regular sound change process by which a phoneme changes to match an adjacent phoneme in a word. ... The uvular nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The bilabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

In phonetics, gemination is when a spoken consonant is doubled, so that it is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a single consonant. ...

Intonation

In Inuktitut, intonation is important in distinguishing some words - particularly interrogatives - but it is not generally marked in writing. There are some minimal pairs in Inuktitut where only pitch distinguishes between two different words, but they are rare enough that context usually disambiguates them in writing. One common case, however is suva. A high pitch on the first syllable followed by a falling pitch on the second syllable means "What did you say?". A middle pitch on the first syllable followed by a rising pitch on the second means "What did he do?" In phonetics, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, which differ in only one phoneme, toneme or chroneme and have a distinct meaning. ...

In general, Inuktitut uses Intonation to mark questions in much the way English does. When an interrogative pronoun is used, pitch falls at the end of a question. When there is no interrogative pronoun, pitch rises on the last syllable.

Inuktitut speakers tend to lengthen vowels with a rising intonation. So, a rising tone is sometimes indicated indirectly by writing a double vowel:

Syllables

An Inuktitut syllable can begin with a single consonanant or a vowel. Consonant clusters at the beginning of a syllable, like [st] or [pl], are impossible in Inuktitut. Syllables must also end in either a vowel or a stop consonant - /p/, /t/, /k/, or /q/ - except where consonant sandhi rules or other constraints on syllables within words modify the ending. Sandhi is a cover term for a wide variety of phonological processes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. ...

The nucleus of an Inuktitut syllable can contain a single short vowel, a single long vowel or a diphthong. Triple length nuclei are not permitted in Inuktitut. For example, the Inuktitut word for a person is inuk in the singular, inuuk in the dual number and inuit in the plural. But words like *inuuit or *inuiat are phonetically impossible in Inuktitut. Dual is the grammatical number used for two referents. ...

Consonant Sandhi

Inuktitut syllables can start or end with a single consonant. This means that when morphemes are joined together, a double consonant can appear. Triple consonants are not possible in Inuktitut, and any morphological rule that could place three consonants together includes a rule about deleting one of the consonants.

Inuktitut generally allows double consonants only where the manner of articulation is the same. For that purpose, we can group Inuktitut consonants into three groups: voiceless, voiced and nasals: In speech there are different ways of producing a consonant. ...

This means that double consonants like [tp], [vl], and [mŋ] are permitted, but [nt], [qg] and [kr] are not. Where the morphology of Inuktitut places two incompatible consonants together, they are either replaced by a geminated consonant - in effect, one of the two consonants becomes an extra long consonant and the other is assimilated - or as a single fully assimilated consonant that