Inuvialuktun
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Inuvialuktun (part of Western Canadian Inuit / Inuktitut / Inuktut / Inuktun) comprises several Inuit language varieties spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by Canadian Inuit who call themselves Inuvialuit.<ref name=indi>Inuvialuktun Dialects</ref> Some dialects and sub-dialects are also spoken in Nunavut.<ref name=langgeek>Iñuvialuktun/Inuvialuktun/Inuinnaqtun / ᐃᓄᐃᓐᓇᖅᑐᓐ</ref><ref name="lang">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} and {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Distribution and varietiesEdit
Inuvialuktun is spoken by the Inuit of the Mackenzie River delta, Banks Island, part of Victoria Island and the Arctic Ocean coast of the Northwest Territories – the lands of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. It was traditionally subsumed under a broader Inuktitut.<ref>see Official Languages Act, RSNWT 1988, c. O-1, s. 1 in its original version ("Inuktitut" includes Inuvialuktun and Inuinnaqtun).</ref> Rather than a coherent language, Inuvialuktun is a politically motivatedTemplate:Citation needed grouping of three quite distinct and separate varieties. It consists of Sallirmiutun (formerly Siglitun; Inuvialuktun proper), the Kangiryuarmiutun dialect of Inuinnaqtun on Victoria Island in the East and the Uummarmiutun dialect of Iñupiaq around Inuvik and Aklavik in the West.<ref name="ICC" /><ref>CBC North Inuvik: Tusaavik with Dodie Malegana (radio programme on demand).</ref>
Inuvialuktun, Inuinnaqtun and Inuktitut constitute three of the eleven official languages of the Northwest Territories.<ref name="OLA-NT" /> Inuinnaqtun is also official alongside Inuktitut in Nunavut.<ref>Official Languages Act, S.Nu. 2008, c. 10, s. 3(1) with Inuit Language Protection Act, S.Nu. 2008, c. 17, s. 1(2).</ref>
The Inuvialuktun dialects are seriously endangered,<ref>UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger</ref> 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 Statistics Canada's 2016 Census 680 (22%) of the 3,110 Inuvialuit speak any form of Inuktitut, and 550 (18%) use it at home.<ref name="Statistics" /> 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 future of the Inuit language in the NWT appears bleak.
HistoryEdit
Before the 20th century, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region was primarily inhabited by Siglit Inuit, who spoke Siglitun, but in the second half of the 19th century, their numbers were dramatically reduced by the introduction of new diseases. Inuit from Alaska moved into traditionally Siglit areas in the 1910s and 1920s, enticed in part by renewed demand for furs from the Hudson's Bay Company. These Inuit are called Uummarmiut – which means people of the green trees – in reference to their settlements near the tree line. Originally, there was an intense dislike between the Siglit and the Uummarmiut, but these differences have faded over the years, and the two communities are thoroughly intermixed these days.
PhonologyEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The phonology of Inuvialuktun and other Inuit languages can be found at Inuit phonology.
Most Inuit languages have fifteen consonants and three vowel qualities (with phonemic length distinctions for each). Although Inupiatun and Qawiaraq have retroflex consonants, retroflexes have otherwise disappeared in all the Canadian and Greenlandic dialects.
Writing systemEdit
Inuvialuktun and Inuinnaqtun are written in a Latin alphabet and have no tradition of Inuktitut syllabics.<ref>Harper, Kenn. Current Status of Writing Systems for Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and Inuvialuktun. [Yellowknife, N.W.T.]: Northwest Territories, Culture and Communications, 1992.</ref> However, the dialects spoken in Nunavut, east of the Inuinnaqtun region use syllabics.<ref name=langgeek/>
DialectsEdit
The Inuvialuktun dialects 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 10% of the roughly 4,000 Inuvialuit speak any form of Inuktitut, and only 4% use it at home. 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 future of the Inuit language in the NWT appears bleak.
From east to west, the dialects are:
- Iglulingmiut or North Baffin, spoken on western Baffin Island (contrast South Baffin dialect.)
- Aivilingmiutut or Aivilik on the northern Hudson Bay shore of the Kivalliq Region
- Kivallirmiutut or Kivalliq or Caribou on the southern Hudson Bay shore of the Kivalliq Region
- Natsilingmiutut or Netsilik consists of three subdialects: Natsilik proper, Arviligjuaq, Utkuhiksalik
- Inuinnaqtun consists of four subdialects: Kangiryuarmiutun, Kugluktuk, Bathurst, Cambridge. The Kangiryuarmiutun subdialect is spoken in the small community of Ulukhaktok. Essentially the same as Natsilingmiutut.
- Siglitun was, until the 1980s, believed to be extinct, but it is still spoken by people in Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour and Tuktoyaktuk.
The Inuvialuk dialects spoken in Nunavut (that is, Iglulingmiut, Aivilingmiutut, Kivallirmiutut, and eastern Natsilingmiutut) are often counted as Inuktitut, and the government of the NWT only recognizes Inuinnaqtun and Inuvialuktun. In addition, Uummarmiutun, the dialect of the Uummarmiut which is essentially identical to the Inupiatun dialect spoken in Alaska and so considered an Inupiat language, has conventionally been grouped with Inuvialuktun because it's spoken in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the NWT. Uummarmiutun is found in the communities of Inuvik and Aklavik.
Example phrasesEdit
| English | Inuvialuktun | pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Atitu | main}} |
| Good Bye | Ilaannilu/Qakugulu | main}} / {{#invoke:IPA|main}} |
| Thank you | Quyanainni | main}} |
| You are welcome | Amiunniin | main}} |
| How are you? | Qanuq itpin? | main}} |
| I am fine | Nakuyumi/Nakuyumi assi | main}} |
| Good morning | Ublaami | main}} |
| Yes | Ii | main}} |
| No | Naaggai | main}} |
| It's cold! Brrr! | Alaappa! | main}} |
| *Gasp* (an expression used when alarmed or fearful) |
Alii | main}} |
| See you later | Anaqanaallu | main}} |
| Wow/Awesome | Aqqali | main}} |
| Listen! | Ata! | main}} |
| See you, too | Ilaanniptauq | main}} |
| It is like this | Imaaniittuaq | main}} |
| Like this | Imanna | main}} |
| Whose? | Kia? | main}} |
| Who is this? | Kina una? | main}} |
| Where? | Nani?/Naung?/Sumi? | main}} / {{#invoke:IPA|main}} / {{#invoke:IPA|main}} |
| Where are you from? | Nakinngaaqpin?/Sumiutauvin? | main}} / {{#invoke:IPA|main}}} |
| How much does it cost? | Qanuq akitutigivaa? | main}} |
| How old is he/she? | Qanuq ukiuqtutigiva? | main}} |
| What do you call it? | Qanuq taivakpiung? | main}} |
| What is the time? | Sumukpaung? | main}} |
| What for? | Suksaq? | main}} |
| Why? Or how come? | Suuq? | main}} |
| What? | Suva?/Suna? | main}}~{{#invoke:IPA|main}} |
| Doesn't matter/It is ok | Sunngittuq | main}} |
| What are you doing? | Suvin? | main}} |
| It can't be helped! Too bad. | Qanurviituq! | main}} |
| in fact, actually | Nutim | main}} |
| Do it again! | Pipsaarung! | main}} |
| Go ahead and do it | Piung | main}} |
| It is cold out! | Qiqauniqtuaq | main}} |
| Christmas | Qitchirvik | main}} |
| Candy | Uqummiaqataaq | main}} |
| Play music | Atuqtuuyaqtuaq | main}} |
| Drum dancing | Qilaun/Qilausiyaqtuaq | main}} / {{#invoke:IPA|main}} |
| Church | Angaadjuvik | main}} |
| Bell | Aviluraun | main}} |
| Jewels | Savaqutit | main}} |
| Eskimo ice cream | Akutuq | main}} |
| That's it! | Taima! | main}} |
| Siglitun Inuvialuktun snow terms<ref name="report">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> || English meaning |
|---|---|
| Apiqaun | first snow layer in autumn that stays |
| Apusiqqaun | first fall of snow |
| Aqiuyaq | small, fresh snowdrift |
| Masak | waterlogged snow |
| Mauyaa | deep, soft snow |
| Minguliruqtuaq | blowing wet snow |
| Piangnaq | good snow conditions for sledge travel |
NotesEdit
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