Alutiiq language explained

Alutiiq language should not be confused with Aleut language.

Alutiiq
Also Known As:Pacific Gulf Yupik
Nativename:Sugt’stun, Alutiit’stun
States:United States
Region:coastal Alaska (Alaska Peninsula to Prince William Sound)
Ethnicity:3,500 Alutiiq people (2010)
Speakers:80
Date:2020
Ref:[1]
Familycolor:Eskimo-Aleut
Fam2:Eskimo
Fam3:Yupik
Ancestor:Proto-Eskimo–Aleut
Ancestor2:Proto-Eskimo
Ancestor3:Proto-Yupik
Iso3:ems
Glotto:paci1278
Glottorefname:Pacific Gulf Yupik
Script:Latin
Nation:Alaska[2]
Map:Lang Status 40-SE.svg

The Alutiiq language (also called Sugpiak, Sugpiaq,[3] Sugcestun,[4] Suk,[4] Supik,[3] [4] Pacific Gulf Yupik, Gulf Yupik,[4] Koniag-Chugach) is a close relative to the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language spoken in the western and southwestern Alaska, but is considered a distinct language. It has two major dialects:

The ethnonyms of the Sugpiaq-Alutiiq are a predicament.[5] Aleut, Alutiiq, Sugpiaq, Russian, Pacific Eskimo, Unegkuhmiut, and Chugach Eskimo are among the terms that have been used to identify this group of Native people living on the Lower Kenai Peninsula of Alaska.

About 400 of the Alutiiq population of 3,000 still speak the Alutiiq language. Alutiiq communities are currently in the process of revitalizing their language. In 2010 the high school in Kodiak responded to requests from students and agreed to teach the Alutiiq language. The Kodiak dialect of the language was spoken by only about 50 persons, all of them elderly, and the dialect was in danger of being lost entirely.[6] As of 2014, Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage is offering classes using the "Where Are Your Keys?" technique.[7]

Phonology

Consonants

LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarUvular
plain lab.plain lab.
Nasalvoicelesspronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
voicedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Stop/Affricatepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Fricativevoicelesspronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
voicedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
lateralpronounced as /link/
Approximantpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/

Consonants may be double and have geminated sounds (e.g. kk; pronounced as /[kː]/). More consonants pronounced as //ɾ~r, lʲ, rʲ// can only be found in loanwords.

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Closepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/
Openpronounced as /link/

All vowels except for pronounced as //ə//, are considered as full vowels, distinguished with vowel length. pronounced as //ə// does not lengthen, nor occurs into vowel clusters, but may tend to be devoiced as pronounced as //ə̥// next to other consonants.[8]

Orthography

After voiceless consonants, the voiceless nasals are written without h-.

Other letters

Vocabulary comparison

The comparison of number terms and month names in the two dialects:

EnglishKoniag Alutiiq[11] Chugach Alutiiq[12]
Nanwalek &<br />Port GrahamChenega
1allringuq / allriluqallringuqall'inguq
2mal'ukmalruk / mall'ukatel'ek
3pingayunpinga'an
4staaman
5talliman
6arwilgen arwinlen
7mallrunginmallruunginmaquungwin
8inglulgen inglulen
9qulnguyan qulnguan
10qulen
EnglishKoniag AlutiiqChugach Alutiiq
JanuaryCuqllirpaaq Iraluq
FebruaryNanicqaaq Iraluq Yaʼalungia'aq
MarchKaignasqaq IraluqYa'alullraaq
AprilUqna'isurt'sqaaq IraluqSaqulegciq
MayNikllit IraluatManiit Ya'allua
JuneNaut'staat IraluatIqallugciq
Julylang=“ems” Amartut Iraluat..
AugustAlaganat IraluatUksuam Ya'allua
SeptemberQakiiyat IraluatAlusastuam Ya'allua
OctoberKakegllum Iralua.
NovemberQuyawim IraluaKapkaanam Ya'allua
DecemberQanim Iralua .
EnglishKoniag AlutiiqChugach Alutiiq

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: ((The Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory Council)) . 2020 . 2020 Biennial Report to the Governor and Legislature .
  2. Web site: Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official. NPR.org.
  3. Web site: List of Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) language resources . https://archive.today/20130217101757/http://www.uaf.edu/anla/collections/search/result.xml . 2013-02-17 . uaf.edu.
  4. https://books.google.com/books?id=tk85AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22sugcestun%22+%22supik%22&pg=PA587 Language in the USA
  5. Medeia Csoba DeHass, What is in a Name?: The Predicament of Ethnonyms in the Sugpiaq-Alutiiq Region of Alaska . Arctic Anthropology. January 2012 49:3-17 (= "Aleut," "Alutiiq," "Sugpiaq," "Russian," "Pacific Eskimo," "Unegkuhmiut," and "Chugach Eskimo" are all different names that have been used to identify the group of Native people living on the Lower Kenai Peninsula of Alaska.)
  6. http://media.aprn.org/2010/ann-20101217-08.mp3 Kodiak High School Adding Alutiiq Language Class
  7. News: Friedman. Sam. They're speaking Alutiiq in Anchorage. Washington Times / AP. 2014-05-03. 2014-02-23.
  8. Book: Leer, Jeff. Prosody in Alutiiq. Alaska Native Language Center. 1985. Yupik Eskimo Prosodic Systems: Descriptive and Comparative Studies.
  9. Counceller . April G. L. . Leer . Jeff . 2012 . The Alutiiq orthography: Kodiak dialect . second . Kodiak, Alaska . Alutiiq Heritage Foundation . 978-1-929650-09-5 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220811173524/http://alutiiqeducation.org/files/resource_pdf/orthography_book_2nd_edition_.pdf . 11 August 2022 . live .
  10. Web site: Alutiiq language, alphabet, and pronunciation . Omniglot . 27 August 2021.
  11. Web site: Alutiiq Museum: Alutiiq Word of the Week Archives . 2007-07-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928212517/http://alutiiqmuseum.org/index.php?option=com_alphacontent&Itemid=82 . 2007-09-28 . dead .
  12. Web site: John E. Smelcer, Alutiiq Noun Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide, Common Nouns in Prince William Sound and Kenai Peninsula Region Alutiiq (Excluding Kodiak Island).

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