Inuvialuktun

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">Template:Cite web and Template:Cite web</ref>

Distribution and varieties

File:Inuit languages and dialects.svg

Map of Inuit languages and dialects

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.

File:Inuvialuktun Dialect Map.svg

Map of Inuvialuktun dialects spoken across the Canadian Arctic

History

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.

Phonology

Template:Main 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 system

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/>

Dialects

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 phrases

English	Inuvialuktun	pronunciation
Hello	Atitu	Template:IPA
Good Bye	Ilaannilu/Qakugulu	Template:IPA / Template:IPA
Thank you	Quyanainni	Template:IPA
You are welcome	Amiunniin	Template:IPA
How are you?	Qanuq itpin?	Template:IPA
I am fine	Nakuyumi/Nakuyumi assi	Template:IPA
Good morning	Ublaami	Template:IPA
Yes	Ii	Template:IPA
No	Naaggai	Template:IPA
It's cold! Brrr!	Alaappa!	Template:IPA
*Gasp* (an expression used when alarmed or fearful)	Alii	Template:IPA
See you later	Anaqanaallu	Template:IPA
Wow/Awesome	Aqqali	Template:IPA
Listen!	Ata!	Template:IPA
See you, too	Ilaanniptauq	Template:IPA
It is like this	Imaaniittuaq	Template:IPA
Like this	Imanna	Template:IPA
Whose?	Kia?	Template:IPA
Who is this?	Kina una?	Template:IPA
Where?	Nani?/Naung?/Sumi?	Template:IPA / Template:IPA / Template:IPA
Where are you from?	Nakinngaaqpin?/Sumiutauvin?	Template:IPA / Template:IPA}
How much does it cost?	Qanuq akitutigivaa?	Template:IPA
How old is he/she?	Qanuq ukiuqtutigiva?	Template:IPA
What do you call it?	Qanuq taivakpiung?	Template:IPA
What is the time?	Sumukpaung?	Template:IPA
What for?	Suksaq?	Template:IPA
Why? Or how come?	Suuq?	Template:IPA
What?	Suva?/Suna?	Template:IPA~Template:IPA
Doesn't matter/It is ok	Sunngittuq	Template:IPA
What are you doing?	Suvin?	Template:IPA
It can't be helped! Too bad.	Qanurviituq!	Template:IPA
in fact, actually	Nutim	Template:IPA
Do it again!	Pipsaarung!	Template:IPA
Go ahead and do it	Piung	Template:IPA
It is cold out!	Qiqauniqtuaq	Template:IPA
Christmas	Qitchirvik	Template:IPA
Candy	Uqummiaqataaq	Template:IPA
Play music	Atuqtuuyaqtuaq	Template:IPA
Drum dancing	Qilaun/Qilausiyaqtuaq	Template:IPA / Template:IPA
Church	Angaadjuvik	Template:IPA
Bell	Aviluraun	Template:IPA
Jewels	Savaqutit	Template:IPA
Eskimo ice cream	Akutuq	Template:IPA
That's it!	Taima!	Template:IPA

Siglitun Inuvialuktun snow terms<ref name="report">Template:Cite 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