Uummarmiutun (Inupiaq: [uːm.mɑʁ.mi.u.tun]), Uummaġmiutun or Canadian Iñupiaq is the variant of Iñupiaq (or Inuvialuktun) spoken by the Uummarmiut, part of the Inuvialuit, who live mainly in the communities of Inuvik and Aklavik in the Northwest Territories of Canada.[1]
| Uummarmiutun | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Canada |
| Ethnicity | Uummarmiut |
Eskaleut
| |
Early forms | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
 Inuit dialects. Uummarmiut is the orange within Canada. | |
This dialect is essentially the same as that spoken by the Inupiat of Alaska, and is present in Canada because of migration from Alaska in the 1910s, reoccupying traditionally Siglit Inuit lands abandoned during the devastating disease outbreaks of the previous century.[2]
Because Inuvik and Aklavik are ethnically mixed communities where English is the near-exclusive language of communication, few young people speak Uummarmiutun and the language is very endangered.
It is one of the three dialects – Kangiryuarmiutun and Siglitun are the other two – of the Inuit language grouped together under the label Inuvialuktun.
Phonology edit
Uummartmiutun has thirty-one phonemes, six of which are vowels, three short and three long, five of which are diphthongs, the rest being consonants:
- Vowels: /a, i, u, aː, iː, uː, ai, ui, iu, ua, ia/
- Consonants: /p, t, k, g, q, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, f, v, ʁ, h, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ, j, r, l, ɫ, j/
Vocabulary comparison edit
A comparison of some animal names in the two dialects of Iñupiatun.
The similarity in names is sometimes obscured by the different spelling conventions used in Alaska and Canada.
| Alaskan Iñupiaq[3] | Canadian Iñupiaq[4] | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Uummaġmiutun | Uummarmiutun | Uummarmiut dialect |
| siksrik | hikr̂ik/sikr̂ik | ground squirrel |
| qugruk | qugr̂uk | tundra swan |
| aaġlu | arlu | killer whale |
| amaġuq | amaruq | gray wolf |
| isuŋŋaġluk | ihun’ngaq | Pomarine jaeger |
| kaŋuq | kanguq | snow goose |
| qunŋiq | qun’ngiq | reindeer{{efn|The name reindeer for semi-domesticated subspecies (Rangifer tarandus tarandus). The wild subspecies ([[Porcupine tuttu).}} |
| tiġiganniaq | tiriganiaq | Arctic fox |
| umiŋmak | umingmak | muskox |
See also edit
References edit
Further reading edit
- Lowe, Ronald. Uummarmiut Uqalungiha Mumikhitchirutingit = Basic Uummarmiut Eskimo Dictionary. Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada: Committee for Original Peoples Entitlement, 1984. ISBN 0-9691597-1-4
- Lowe, Ronald. Basic Uummarmiut Eskimo Grammar = Uummarmiut Uqalungiha Ilihaur̂r̂utikr̂angit. C.O.P.E, 5. Inuvik, N.W.T.: Committee for Original Peoples Entitlement, 1985. ISBN 0-9691597-4-9
 | This article related to the Indigenous languages of the Americas is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |