Editing Aleut language (section)

== History ==
The Eskimo and Aleut peoples were part of a migration from Asia across [[Beringia]], the Bering land bridge between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago. During this period, the [[Proto-Eskimo–Aleut language|Proto-Eskimo-Aleut]] language was spoken, which broke up around 2000 BC. Differentiation of the two branches is thought to have happened in Alaska because of the linguistic diversity found in the Eskimo languages of Alaska relative to the entire geographic area where Eskimo languages are spoken (eastward through Canada to Greenland). After the split between the two branches, their development is thought to have occurred in relative isolation.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://linguistics.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-9|chapter=Eskimo-Aleut|last=Berge|first=Anna|date=June 2016|title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.9|isbn=9780199384655}}</ref>

Evidence suggests a culture associated with Aleut speakers on the Eastern Aleutian Islands as early as 4,000 years ago, followed by a gradual expansion westward over the next 1,500 years to the [[Near Islands]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The people at the end of the world: The Western Aleutians project and the archaeology of Shemya Island|last=Corbett, D., West, D., and Lefèvre, C.|publisher=Aurora|year=2010|location=Anchorage}}</ref> Another westward expansion may have occurred about 1,000 years ago, which may explain the lack of obvious diversification among the Aleut dialects, with Eastern Aleut features having spread westward.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Woodbury|first=A.C.|date=1984|title=Eskimo and Aleut languages|journal=Handbook of North American Indians|volume=5}}</ref> This second westward expansion is characterized as a period of cultural affinity with southeastern Alaska and the Pacific Northwest Coast,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dumond|first=D.|date=2001|title=Archaeology in the Aleut zone of Alaska, some recent research|journal=Archaeology in the Aleut Zone of Alaska, Some Recent Research}}</ref> which may explain linguistic features that Aleut shares with neighboring non-Eskimo languages, such as rules of plural formation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Leer|first=J.|date=1991|title=Evidence for a Northwest Coast language area: Promiscuous number marking and periphrastic possessive constructions in Haida, Eyak, and Aleut|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=57|doi=10.1086/ijal.57.2.3519765|s2cid=146863098}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Berge|first=Anna|date=2010|title=Origins of linguistic diversity in the Aleutian Islands|journal=Human Biology|volume=82|issue=5–6|pages=5–6|pmid=21417884|doi=10.3378/027.082.0505|s2cid=10424701}}</ref>

Due to colonization by Russian colonizers and traders in the 18th and 19th centuries, Aleut has a large portion of Russian loanwords. However, they do not affect the basic vocabulary and thus do not suggest undue influence on the language.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Observations on the distribution patterns of Eskimo cognates and non-cognates in the basic Aleut (Unangam Tunuu) lexicon [poster]|last=Berge|first=Anna|year=2014}}</ref>

In March 2021, the last native speaker of the Bering dialect, Vera Timoshenko, died aged 93 in [[Nikolskoye, Kamchatka Krai|Nikolskoye]], [[Bering Island]], Kamchatka.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-08|title=Last Native Speaker Of Rare Dialect Dies In Russia|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/last-native-speaker-aleut-language-dies-russia/31139662.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-09|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308182229/https://www.rferl.org/a/last-native-speaker-aleut-language-dies-russia/31139662.html |archive-date=2021-03-08 }}</ref>