Alutiiq language

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For the Alutiiq people, see Alutiiq.
Not to be confused with Aleut language.
Alutiiq
Pacific Gulf Yupik
Sugt’stun, Alutiit’stun
Native toUnited States
Regioncoastal Alaska (Alaska Peninsula to Prince William Sound)
Ethnicity3,500 Alutiiq people (2010)
Native speakers
80 (2020)[1]
Early forms
Latin
Official status
Official language in
Alaska[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3ems
Glottologpaci1278
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File:Lang Status 20-CR.svg
Pacific Gulf Yupik is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

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.

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]

Dialects

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It has two major dialects:

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular
plain lab. plain lab.
Nasal voiceless m̥ n̥ ŋ̊
voiced m n ŋ
Stop/Affricate p t t͡ʃ k kʷ q
Fricative voiceless f s x xʷ χ χʷ[a]
voiced ɣ ɣʷ ʁ ʁʷ
lateral ɬ
Approximant l j w[b]
  1. ^ A /χʷ/ sound sometimes occurs, and is either written as ur, or occurs as a sound of a syllable-final rw; /ʁʷ/, and occurs as an allophone of /ʁʷ/ after consonants like /q/.
  2. ^ [w] is an allophone of /ɣʷ/ syllable-finally and elsewhere.

Consonants may be geminated (e.g. kk; [kː]). Two consecutive identical consonants are pronounced either separately or as a geminate depending on dialect.[8] More consonants /ɾ~r, lʲ, rʲ/ are found in loanwords.

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ə
Open a

All vowels except /ə/ are considered full vowels and can be either short or long. /ə/ does not lengthen and does not occur in vowel clusters but may tend to be devoiced as [ə̥] next to other consonants.[9]

Orthography

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  • a – [ä]
  • c – [t͡ʃ]
  • e – [ə]
  • f – [f]
  • g – [x]
  • gw – [xʷ]
  • hm – [m̥]
  • hn – [n̥]
  • hng – [ŋ̊]
  • i – [i]
  • k – [k]
  • kw – [kʷ]
  • l – [l]
  • ll – [ɬ]
  • m – [m]
  • n – [n]
  • ng – [ŋ]
  • p – [p]
  • q – [q]
  • r – [χ]
  • ʀ – [r][8]
  • s – [s]
  • t – [t]
  • u – [u]
  • w – [w]
  • y – [j]

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

Other letters

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  • aa – [aː]
  • ai – [ai]
  • au – [au]
  • ia – [ia]
  • ii – [iː]
  • iu – [iu]
  • ua – [ua]
  • ui – [ui]
  • uu – [uː][10]

Vocabulary comparison

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

English Koniag Alutiiq[11] Chugach Alutiiq[12]
Nanwalek &
Port Graham 		Chenega
1 allringuq / allriluq allringuq all'inguq
2 mal'uk malruk / mall'uk atel'ek
3 pingayun pinga'an
4 staaman
5 talliman
6 arwilgen arwinlen
7 mallrungin mallruungin maquungwin
8 inglulgen inglulen
9 qulnguyan qulnguan
10 qulen
English Koniag Alutiiq[11] Chugach Alutiiq[12]
January Cuqllirpaaq Iraluq
February Nanicqaaq Iraluq Yaʼalungia'aq
March Kaignasqaq Iraluq Ya'alullraaq
April Uqna'isurt'sqaaq Iraluq Saqulegciq
May Nikllit Iraluat Maniit Ya'allua
June Naut'staat Iraluat Iqallugciq
July Amartut Iraluat . .
August Alaganat Iraluat Uksuam Ya'allua
September Qakiiyat Iraluat Alusastuam Ya'allua
October Kakegllum Iralua .
November Quyawim Iralua Kapkaanam Ya'allua
December Qanim Iralua .
English Koniag Alutiiq[11] Chugach Alutiiq[12]

References

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  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (archived 2024-03-30)
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ a b c d Language in the USA, Cambridge University Press, 1981
  5. ^ Medeia Csoba DeHass, What is in a Name?: The Predicament of Ethnonyms in the Sugpiaq-Alutiiq Region of Alaska Archived 2020-05-18 at the Wayback Machine. 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. ^ Kodiak High School Adding Alutiiq Language Class Archived 2021-05-05 at the Wayback Machine, Jacob Resneck KMXT/Alaska Public Radio Network 12-17-2010
  7. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  11. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).

Further reading

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  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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