View source for Inuktitut

{{Short description|Name of several Inuit languages spoken in Canada}}
{{redirect|Eastern Canadian Inuktitut|Western Canadian Inuktitut|Inuvialuktun}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Inuktitut
| altname          = Eastern Canadian Inuktitut
| nativename       = {{lang|iu-Cans|ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ}}, {{lang|iu|inuktitut}}
| map              = Inuktitut dialect map.svg
| mapcaption       = Distribution of [[Inuit languages]] across the [[Arctic]]. East Inuktitut dialects are those coloured dark blue (on the south of [[Baffin Island]]), red, pink, and brown.
| states           = Canada
| region           = [[Northwest Territories]], [[Nunatsiavut]] ([[Newfoundland and Labrador]]), [[Nunavik]] ([[Quebec]]), [[Nunavut]]
| speakers         = [[First language|L1]]: {{sigfig|37570|2}}
| date             = 2021 census
| ref              = <ref name="2021 census L1">{{cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/dv-vd/language-langue/index-en.html |title=Mother tongue by geography, 2021 Census|website=Statistics Canada|date=17 August 2022}}</ref>
| speakers2        = L1 + [[Second language|L2]]: {{sigfig|41,680|2}} (2021 census)<ref name="2021 census L1+L2">{{cite web|url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810021601|title=Knowledge of languages by age and gender: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions|website=Statistics Canada|date=17 August 2022}}</ref>
| speakers_label   = Speakers
| refname          = 2021 census
| familycolor      = Eskimo–Aleut
| fam2             = [[Eskaleut languages#Internal classification|Eskimo]]
| fam3             = [[Inuit languages|Inuit]] ([[Inuktut]])
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Eskaleut language|Proto-Eskimo–Aleut]]
| ancestor2        = [[Proto-Eskimoan language|Proto-Eskimo]]
| ancestor3        = [[Proto-Inuit language|Proto-Inuit]]
| dia1 = [[North Baffin dialect|Qikiqtaaluk uannangani]] (North Baffin)
| dia2             = [[#Nunavut|Qikiqtaaluk nigiani]] (South Baffin)
| dia3             = [[#Nunavik|Nunavimmiutitut]] (Quebec)
| dia4             = [[Inuttitut]] (Labrador)
| dia5             = [[Inuktun]] (Thule)
| script           = [[Inuktitut syllabics]], [[Inuktitut Braille]], [[Latin script|Latin]]
| nation           = [[Nunavut]]<br />[[Northwest Territories]]
| minority         = [[Quebec]] ([[Nunavik]])<br />[[Newfoundland and Labrador]] ([[Nunatsiavut]])<br />[[Yukon]] ([[Inuvialuit Settlement Region]])
| agency           = [[Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami]] and various other local institutions.
| iso1             = iu
| iso1comment      = Inuktitut
| iso2             = iku
| iso2comment      = Inuktitut
| iso3             = iku
| iso3comment      = Inuktitut
| lc1              = ike
| ld1              = Eastern&nbsp;Canadian&nbsp;Inuktitut
| lc2              = ikt
| ld2              = [[Inuinnaqtun]]
| lingua           = 60-ABB
| glotto           = east2534
| glottoname       = Eastern&nbsp;Canadian&nbsp;Inuktitut
| notice           = IPA
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|person= [[Inuit|Inuk, ᐃᓄᒃ]]<br /><small>[[Dual (grammatical number)|Dual]]:</small> [[Inuit|Inuuk, ᐃᓅᒃ]]|people= [[Inuit]], ᐃᓄᐃᑦ|language= [[Inuit languages]]<br />[[Inuit Sign Language]]|country= [[Inuit Nunangat]], ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᑦ}}{{Contains special characters|Canadian}}
'''Inuktitut''' ({{IPAc-en|ɪ|ˈ|n|ʊ|k|t|ə|t|ʊ|t}} {{respell|ih|NUUK|tə|tuut}};<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Inuktitut|accessdate=24 March 2024}}</ref> {{IPA|iu|inuktiˈtut|lang}}, <small>[[Inuktitut syllabics|syllabics]]</small> {{lang|iu-Cans|'''ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ'''}}{{notetag|from {{wikt-lang|iu-Latn|ᐃᓄᒃ|inuk}} {{gloss|person}} + {{lang|iu-Latn|-titut}} {{gloss|like, in the manner of}}}}), also known as '''Eastern Canadian Inuktitut''', is one of the principal [[Inuit languages]] of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American [[tree line]], including parts of the provinces of [[Newfoundland and Labrador]], [[Quebec]], to some extent in northeastern [[Manitoba]] as well as the [[Northwest Territories]] and [[Nunavut]]. It is one of the aboriginal languages written with [[Canadian Aboriginal syllabics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wintranslation.com/2014/02/12/aboriginal-languages-facts/|title=field to show translation -> 10 facts about Canadian Aboriginal Languages|publisher=Wintranslation.com|date=12 February 2014|access-date=15 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912021135/https://www.wintranslation.com/indigenous-languages-facts/ |archive-date=12 September 2019}}</ref>

It is recognized as an official language in Nunavut alongside [[Inuinnaqtun]] and both languages are known collectively as ''[[Inuktut]]''. Further, it is recognized as one of eight official native tongues in the Northwest Territories.<ref name=":2" /> It also has [[legal recognition]] in [[Nunavik]]—a part of Quebec—thanks in part to the [[James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement]], and is recognized in the [[Charter of the French Language]] as the official language of instruction for Inuit school districts there. It also has some recognition in [[Nunatsiavut]]—the [[Inuit]] area in [[Labrador]]—following the ratification of its agreement with the [[government of Canada]] and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The [[2016 Canadian census]] reports that 70,540 individuals identify themselves as Inuit, of whom 37,570 self-reported Inuktitut as their mother tongue.<ref name="2021 census L1"/><ref name="2021census">{{cite web | title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population, Comprehensive download files, Canada, provinces and territories |format=CSV | work=Statistics Canada | date=5 August 2022| url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/download-telecharger/comp/GetFile.cfm?Lang=E&FILETYPE=CSV&GEONO=001 | access-date=7 January 2023}}</ref>

The term ''Inuktitut'' is also the name of a [[ISO 639 macrolanguage|macrolanguage]] and, in that context, also includes [[Inuvialuktun]], and thus nearly all Inuit dialects of Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inuktitut {{!}} Ethnologue Free |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/iku/ |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=Ethnologue (Free All)}}</ref> However, [[Statistics Canada]] lists all Inuit languages in the Canadian census as Inuktut.<ref name="2021census"/>

==History==

=== Inuktitut in the Canadian school system ===
Before contact with Europeans, Inuit learned skills by example and participation. The Inuktitut language provided them with all the vocabulary required to describe traditional practices and natural features.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Dorais |first=Louis-Jacques |date=1995 |title=Language, culture and identity: some Inuit examples |journal=Canadian Journal of Native Studies |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=129–308 |url=http://www3.brandonu.ca/cjns/15.2/dorais.pdf}}</ref> Up to this point, it was solely an [[Spoken language|oral language]]. However, [[Settler colonialism in Canada|European colonialism]] brought the schooling system to Canada. The missionaries of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches were the first ones to deliver formal education to Inuit in schools. The teachers used the Inuktitut language for instruction and developed writing systems.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.k12studycanada.org/files/Inuktitut.pdf |title=Inuktitut – the Inuit Language |last=Fabbi |first=Nadine |date=2003 |website=K12 Study Canada |access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref>

In 1928 the first [[Canadian Indian residential school system|residential school for Inuit]] opened, and English became the language of instruction. As the government's interests in the north increased, it started taking over the education of Inuit. After the end of World War II, English was seen as the language of communication in all domains. Officials expressed concerns about the difficulty for Inuit to find employment if they were not able to communicate in English. Inuit were supposed to use English at school, work, and even on the playground.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Patrick |first=Donna |date=1999 |title=The roots of Inuktitut-language bilingual education |journal=The Canadian Journal of Native Studies |volume=XIX, 2 |pages=249–262 |url=http://www3.brandonu.ca/cjns/19.2/cjnsv19no2_pg249-262.pdf}}</ref> Inuit themselves viewed Inuktitut as the way to express their feelings and be linked to their identity, while English was a tool for making money.<ref name=":0" />

In the 1960s, the European attitude towards the Inuktitut language started to change. Inuktitut was seen as a language worth preserving, and it was argued that knowledge, particularly in the first years of school, is best transmitted in the mother tongue. This set off the beginning of bilingual schools. In 1969, most Inuit voted to eliminate federal schools and replace them with programs by the {{ill|General Directorate of New Quebec|fr|Direction générale du Nouveau-Québec}} ({{lang|fr|Direction générale du Nouveau-Québec, DGNQ}}). Content was now taught in Inuktitut, English, and French.<ref name=":1" />

=== Legislation ===
Inuktitut became one of the official languages in the Northwest Territories in 1984. Its status is secured in the [[Northwest Territories#Language|''Northwest Territories Official Language Act'']]. With the split of the territory into the NWT and Nunavut in 1999, both territories kept the Language Act.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=The language of the Inuit: syntax, semantics, and society in the Arctic |last=Dorais |first=Louis-Jacques |date=2010 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=9780773544451 |location=Montreal |oclc=767733303}}</ref> The autonomous area [[Nunatsiavut]] in Labrador made Inuktitut the government language when it was formed in 2005. In Nunavik, the [[James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement]] recognizes Inuktitut in the education system.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuktitut/#h3_jump_4 |title=Inuktitut |last=Compton |first=Richard |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref>

==Languages and dialects==
===Nunavut===
Nunavut's basic law lists four official languages: English, French, Inuktitut, and [[Inuinnaqtun]]. It is ambiguous in state policy to what degree Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun can be thought of as separate languages. The words ''Inuktitut'', or more correctly ''[[Inuktut]]'' ('Inuit language') are increasingly used to refer to both Inuinnaqtun and Inuktitut together, or "Inuit languages" in English.<ref name="lang">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.nu.ca/sites/default/files/2015-07-28-official_language_act-conssnu2008c10.pdf|title=Consolidation of (S.Nu. 2008, c.10) (NIF) Official Languages Act}} and {{cite web|url=http://www.gov.nu.ca/sites/default/files/gnjustice2/justicedocuments/Consolidated%20Law/Current/635199485609218750-1283713084-consSNu2008c17.pdf|title=Consolidation of Inuit Language Protection Act|access-date=7 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516050222/http://www.gov.nu.ca/sites/default/files/gnjustice2/justicedocuments/Consolidated%20Law/Current/635199485609218750-1283713084-consSNu2008c17.pdf |archive-date= 16 May 2017}}</ref>

Nunavut is the home of some 24,000 Inuit, over 80% of whom speak Inuktitut. This includes some 3,500 people reported as monolinguals. The 2001 census data shows that the use of Inuktitut, while lower among the young than the elderly, has stopped declining in Canada as a whole and may even be increasing in Nunavut.

The South Baffin dialect ({{lang|iu-Latn|Qikiqtaaluk nigiani}}, {{lang|iu-Cans|ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ ᓂᒋᐊᓂ}}) is spoken across the southern part of [[Baffin Island]], including the territorial capital [[Iqaluit]]. This has in recent years made it a much more widely heard dialect, since a great deal of Inuktitut media originates in [[Iqaluit]]. Some linguists also distinguish an ''East Baffin'' dialect from either South Baffin or [[North Baffin dialect]], which is an Inuvialuktun dialect.

As of the early 2000s, Nunavut has gradually implemented early childhood, elementary, and secondary school-level immersion programs within its education system to further preserve and promote the Inuktitut language. {{as of|2012}}, "Pirurvik, [[Iqaluit]]'s Inuktitut language training centre, has a new goal: to train instructors from Nunavut communities to teach Inuktitut in different ways and in their own dialects when they return home."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dawson |first=Samantha |title=A new way to nurture the Inuit language: train the instructors |work=NunatsiaqOnline |access-date=24 January 2013 |date=17 January 2013 |url=http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674a_new_way_to_spread_the_inuit_language_train_the_instructors/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208065849/http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674a_new_way_to_spread_the_inuit_language_train_the_instructors |archive-date=8 February 2013}}</ref>

===Nunavik===
[[Quebec]] is home to roughly 15,800 Inuit, nearly all of whom live in [[Nunavik]]. According to the 2021 census, 80.9% of Quebec Inuit speak Inuktitut.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Quebec&DGUIDlist=2021A000224&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1&HEADERlist=0 |title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population, Profile table, Quebec15800|publisher=[[Statistics Canada]]|date=6 December 2022|access-date=7 January 2023}}</ref>

The Nunavik dialect ({{lang|iu-Latn|Nunavimmiutitut}}, {{lang|iu-Cans|ᓄᓇᕕᒻᒥᐅᑎᑐᑦ}}) is relatively close to the South Baffin dialect, but not identical. Because of the political and physical boundary between Nunavik and Nunavut, Nunavik has separate government and educational institutions from those in the rest of the Inuktitut-speaking world, resulting in a growing standardization of the local dialect as something separate from other forms of Inuktitut. In the Nunavik dialect, Inuktitut is called {{lang|iu-Latn|Nunavimmiutut}} ({{lang|iu-Cans|ᐃᓄᑦᑎᑐᑦ}}). This dialect is also sometimes called {{lang|iu-Latn|Tarramiutut}} or {{lang|iu-Latn|Taqramiutut}} ({{lang|iu-Cans|ᑕᕐᕋᒥᐅᑐᑦ}} or {{lang|iu-Cans|ᑕᖅᕐᕋᒥᐅᑐᑦ}}).

Sub dialects of Inuktitut in this region include Tarrarmiut and Itivimuit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arctic.synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/1477/1457 |title=Review |publisher=Arctic.synergiesprairies.ca |access-date=15 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224044033/http://arctic.synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/1477/1457 |archive-date=24 February 2014}}</ref> Itivimuit is associated with [[Inukjuak]], Quebec, and there is an [[Itivimuit River]] near the town.

===Labrador===
The [[Nunatsiavut]] dialect ({{lang|iu-Latn|[[Inuttitut]]}} {{lang|iu-Cans|ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᒻᒥᐅᑐᑦ}} or, often in government documents, {{lang|iu-Latn|Labradorimiutut}}) was once spoken across northern [[Labrador]]. It has a distinct writing system, developed in Greenland in the 1760s by German missionaries from the [[Moravian Church]]. This separate writing tradition, the remoteness of Nunatsiavut from other Inuit communities, has made it into a distinct dialect with a separate literary tradition. The Nunatsiavummiut call their language {{lang|iu-Latn|Inuttut}} ({{lang|iu-Cans|ᐃᓄᑦᑐᑦ}}).

Although Nunatsiavut claims over 4,000 inhabitants of Inuit descent, only 550 reported Inuktitut to be their native language in the 2001 census, mostly in the town of [[Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador|Nain]]. Inuktitut is seriously endangered in Labrador.

Nunatsiavut also had a separate dialect reputedly much closer to western Inuktitut dialects, spoken in the area around [[Rigolet, Newfoundland and Labrador|Rigolet]]. According to news reports, in 1999 it had only three very elderly speakers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/nunavut990528/nvt90507_16.html |title=A precious Inuktitut dialect slowly dies in Rigolet |publisher=Nunatsiaq News |date=7 May 1999 |access-date=13 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029145259/http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/nunavut990528/nvt90507_16.html |archive-date=29 October 2007}}</ref>

===Greenland===
Though often thought to be a dialect of [[Greenlandic language|Greenlandic]], [[Inuktun]] or Polar Eskimo is a recent arrival in Greenland from the Eastern Canadian Arctic, arriving perhaps as late as the 18th century.

===Inuit Nunaat and Inuit Nunangat===
Throughout [[List of traditional territories of the Indigenous peoples of North America#Inuit Nunaat|Inuit Nunaat]] and [[Inuit Nunangat]] the [[Inuktut]] is used to refer to Inuktitut and all other dialects.<ref name=ITH1>{{cite web|url=https://www.itk.ca/projects/inuktut/ |title=Inuktut|access-date=17 June 2024|publisher=[[Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami]]|website=www.itk.ca}}</ref>

It is used by [[Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami]], the [[Inuit Circumpolar Council]], and the [[Nunavut#Government|Government of Nunavut]] throughout [[List of traditional territories of the Indigenous peoples of North America#Inuit Nunaat|Inuit Nunaat]] and [[Inuit Nunangat]].<ref name=ITH1/><ref name=ICC1>{{cite web|url=https://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/about-icc/icc-political-universe/ |title=The Inuit Circumpolar Council Political Universe|access-date=17 June 2024|publisher=[[Inuit Circumpolar Council]]|website=www.inuitcircumpolar.com|date=14 August 2021 }}</ref><ref name=ICC2>{{cite web|url=https://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/icc-kids/fun-facts/ |title=Fun Facts|access-date=17 June 2024|publisher=Inuit Circumpolar Council|website=www.inuitcircumpolar.com|date=11 August 2022 }}</ref><ref name=OLC1>{{cite web|url=https://langcom.nu.ca/en |title=Information|website=www.langcom.nu.ca|publisher=Office of the Languages Commissioner of Nunavut}}</ref><ref name=OLC2>{{cite web|url=https://langcom.nu.ca/investigation-process/your-linguistic-rights |title=Your Linguistic Rights|access-date=17 June 2024|website=www.langcom.nu.ca|publisher=Office of the Languages Commissioner of Nunavut}}</ref>

==Phonology==
{{Main|Inuit phonology}}

Eastern dialects of Inuktitut have fifteen [[consonant]]s and three [[vowel]]s (which can be long or short). Consonants are arranged with six [[place of articulation|places of articulation]]: [[bilabial consonant|bilabial]], [[labiodental consonant|labiodental]], [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]], [[palatal consonant|palatal]], [[velar consonant|velar]] and [[uvular consonant|uvular]]; and three [[manner of articulation|manners of articulation]]: voiceless [[stop consonant|stops]], voiced [[continuant]]s and [[nasal consonant|nasals]], as well as two additional sounds—voiceless [[fricative consonant|fricatives]]. [[Natsilingmiutut]] has an additional consonant {{IPA|/ɟ/}}, a vestige of the [[retroflex consonant]]s of [[Proto-Inuit]]. [[Inuinnaqtun]] has one fewer consonant, as {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/ɬ/}} have merged into {{IPA|/h/}}. All dialects of Inuktitut have only three basic vowels and make a phonological distinction between short and long forms of all vowels. In {{lang|iu-Latn|Inuujingajut}}—Nunavut standard Roman orthography—long vowels are written as a double vowel.

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ '''Inuktitut vowels'''
! !! !! IPA !! Inuujingajut !! ''Notes''
|-
! rowspan=2 | open front unrounded
| Short
| {{IPAslink|a}} || '''a''' ||
|-
| Long
| {{IPAslink|aː}} || '''aa''' ||
|-
! rowspan=2 | closed front unrounded
| Short
| {{IPAslink|i}} || '''i''' || align=left | Short '''i''' is realized as {{IPA|[e]}} or {{IPA|[ɛ]}} before uvular consonants {{IPA|[ʁ]}} and {{IPA|[q]}}
|-
| Long
| {{IPAslink|iː}} || '''ii''' ||
|-
! rowspan=2 | closed back rounded
| Short
| {{IPAslink|u}} || '''u''' || align=left | Short '''u''' is realized as {{IPA|[o]}} or {{IPA|[ɔ]}} before uvular consonants {{IPA|[ʁ]}} and {{IPA|[q]}}
|-
| Long
| {{IPAslink|uː}} || '''uu''' ||
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ '''Inuktitut consonants in ''Inuujingajut'' and [[help:IPA|IPA]] notation'''
! colspan="2" | !! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]!! [[Coronal consonant|Coronal]]!! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]!! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]!! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]] !![[Glottalic consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}}
| {{IPAlink|n}}
|
| colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Plosive|Stop]]
| {{IPAlink|p}}
| {{IPAlink|t}}
| {{IPAlink|ɟ}}{{efn|name=voiced palatal stop|The voiced palatal stop is absent from many dialects and is not written with a separate letter. If a distinction needs to be made between /j/ and /ɟ/, it is written as r̂.}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPAlink|k}}{{efn|name=Siglitun1|In the [[Siglitun]] dialect, k is always pronounced as a fricative /x/. In other dialects, the fricative realization is possible between vowels or vowels and [[approximant]]s.}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPAlink|ɡ}}{{efn|name=Siglitun2|In the [[Siglitun]] dialect, g is always pronounced as a fricative /ɣ/. In other dialects, the fricative realization is possible between vowels or vowels and approximants.}}
| {{IPAlink|q}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
! <small>plain</small>
| {{IPAlink|v}}
| {{IPAlink|s}}
|
| {{IPAlink|ʁ}}{{efn|name=Assimilation|{{IPA|/ʁ/}} [[Assimilation (linguistics)|assimilates]] {{IPAblink|ɴ}} before nasals.}}
| {{IPAlink|h}}{{Efn|/h/ replaces /s/ in [[Kivalliq dialect|Kivallirmiutut]] and [[Natsilingmiutut]], and replaces both /s/ and /ɬ/ in Inuinnaqtun.|name=glottal /h/}}
|-
! <small>lateral</small>
|
| {{IPAlink|ɬ}}
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
|
| {{IPAlink|l}}
| {{IPAlink|j}}
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|}
{{notelist}}

All voiceless stops are unaspirated, like in many other languages. The voiceless uvular stop is usually written as q, but sometimes written as r. The voiceless lateral fricative is [[Romanization|romanized]] as ɬ, but is often written as &, or simply as l.

/ŋ/ is spelt as ng, and geminated /ŋ/ is spelt as nng.

==Grammar==
{{Main|Inuit grammar}}

Inuktitut, like other [[Eskaleut languages]], has a very rich [[Morphophonology|morphological]] system, in which a succession of different [[morpheme]]s are added to root words to indicate things that, in languages like English, would require several words to express. (See also: [[Agglutinative language]] and [[Polysynthetic language]].) All words begin with a root morpheme to which other morphemes are suffixed. Inuktitut has hundreds of distinct suffixes, in some dialects as many as 700. Inuktitut's morphological system is highly regular.

One example is the word {{lang|iu-Latn|qangatasuukkuvimmuuriaqalaaqtunga}} ({{lang|iu-Cans|ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑯᕕᒻᒨᕆᐊᖃᓛᖅᑐᖓ}}) meaning 'I'll have to go to the airport:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dench |first1=Catherine |last2=Cleave |first2=Patricia L. |last3=Tagak |first3=Jane |last4=Beddard |first4=Janice |display-authors=2 |date=2011 |title=The Development of an Inuktitut and English Language Screening Tool in Nunavut |url=http://cjslpa.ca/files/2011_CJSLPA_Vol_35/No_02_103-213/Dench_Cleave_Tagak_Beddard_CJSLPA_2011.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=168–177 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922110818/http://cjslpa.ca/files/2011_CJSLPA_Vol_35/No_02_103-213/Dench_Cleave_Tagak_Beddard_CJSLPA_2011.pdf |archive-date=22 September 2015 |access-date=3 August 2015}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="3" |[[Morpheme]]
! scope="col" | Meaning
! scope="col" | [[Morphophonology|Morphophonological]] changes
|-
|ᖃᖓᑕ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|qangata}} || verbal root || to raise/to be raised in the air ||
|-
|ᓲᖅ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|suuq}} || verb-to-noun suffix || one who habitually performs an action;<br />thus {{lang|iu-Latn|qangatasuuq}}: airplane || -q is deleted
|-
|ᒃᑯᑦ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|kkut}} || noun-to-noun suffix || group || -t is deleted
|-
|ᕕᒃ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|vik}} || noun-to-noun suffix || enormous;<br />thus {{lang|iu-Latn|qangatasuukkuvik}} (ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑯᕕᒃ): airport || -k changes to -m
|-
|ᒧᑦ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|mut}} || noun ending || ''[[dative case|dative]] [[grammatical number|singular]],'' to || -t+a changes to -u
|-
|ᐊᖅ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|aq}} || noun-to-verb suffix || arrival at a place; to go || -q+ja is deleted
|-
|ᔭᕆᐊᖅ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|jariaq}} || verb-to-noun suffix || the obligation to perform an action || -q is deleted
|-
|ᖃᖅ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|qaq}} || noun-to-verb suffix || to have || -q is deleted
|-
|ᓛᖅ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|laaq}} || verb-to-verb suffix || ''[[future tense]],'' will || -q+j changes to -q+t
|-
|ᔪᖓ
| {{lang|iu-Latn|junga}} || verb ending || ''[[participle]], [[grammatical person|first person]] [[grammatical number|singular]],'' I ||
|}

==Writing==

=== Latin alphabets ===
The western part of Nunavut and the [[Northwest Territories]] use a Latin alphabet usually called {{lang|iu-Latn|[[Inuinnaqtun]]}} or {{lang|iu-Latn|Qaliujaaqpait}}, reflecting the predispositions of the missionaries who reached this area in the late 19th century and early 20th.

[[Moravia]]n missionaries, with the purpose of introducing Inuit to [[Christianity]] and the [[Bible]], contributed to the development of an Inuktitut alphabet in [[Greenland]] during the 1760s that was based on the Latin script. (This alphabet is distinguished by its inclusion of the letter [[kra (letter)|kra]], ĸ.) They later travelled to Labrador in the 1800s, bringing the Inuktitut alphabet with them.

The Alaskan [[Yupik peoples|Yupik]] and [[Inupiat people|Inupiat]] (who additionally developed [[yugtun script|their own syllabary]]) and the [[Siberian Yupik]] also adopted Latin alphabets.

=== ''Qaniujaaqpait'' ===
Most Inuktitut in Nunavut and Nunavik is written using a scheme called {{lang|iu-Latn|Qaniujaaqpait}} (ᖃᓂᐅᔮᖅᐸᐃᑦ) or [[Inuktitut syllabics]], based on [[Canadian Aboriginal syllabics]].

In the 1860s, missionaries imported this system of ''Qaniujaaqpait'', which they had developed in their efforts to convert the [[Cree]] to [[Christianity]], to the Eastern Canadian Inuit. The [[Netsilik|Netsilik Inuit]] in [[Kugaaruk]] and north [[Baffin Island]] adopted {{lang|iu-Latn|Qaniujaaqpait}} by the 1920s.

In September 2019, a unified orthography called Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait, based on the Latin alphabet without diacritics, was adopted for all varieties of Inuktitut by the national organization [[Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami]], after eight years of work. It was developed by Inuit to be used by speakers of any dialect from any region, and can be typed on electronic devices without specialized keyboard layouts. It does not replace syllabics, and people from the regions are not required to stop using their familiar writing systems. Implementation plans are to be established for each region. It includes letters such as ''ff'', ''ch'', and ''rh'', the sounds for which exist in some dialects but do not have standard equivalents in syllabics. It establishes a standard alphabet but not spelling or grammar rules.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-inuit-combine-nine-different-scripts-for-writing-inuktitut-into-one-2/|title=Inuit combine nine different scripts for writing Inuktitut into one|last=Weber|first=Bob|date=6 October 2019|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=7 October 2019}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/national-inuit-org-approves-standard-roman-orthography-for-all-dialects/|title=National Inuit org approves new unified writing system|date=27 September 2019|website=Nunatsiaq News|access-date=7 October 2019}}</ref> Long vowels are written by doubling the vowel (e.g., ''aa'', ''ii'', ''uu''). The apostrophe represents a [[glottal stop]] when after a vowel (e.g., {{Lang|iu-Latn|ma{{saltillo}}na}}), or separates an ''n'' from an ''ng'' (e.g., {{Lang|iu-Latn|avin'ngaq}}) or an ''r'' from an ''rh'' (e.g., {{Lang|iu-Latn|qar'rhuk}}).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait|url=https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/inuktut-qaliujaaqpait-character-chart.pdf|website=Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait<ref name=":3" />
!IPA
!Consonant
!a
!i
!u
|-
|p
|p
|pa
|pi
|pu
|-
|t
|t
|ta
|ti
|tu
|-
|k
|k
|ka
|ki
|ku
|-
|q
|q
|qa
|qi
|qu
|-
|s
|s
|sa
|si
|su
|-
|ɬ
|hl
|hla
|hli
|hlu
|-
|ʂ
|shr
|shra
|shri
|shru
|-
|h
|h
|ha
|hi
|hu
|-
|v
|v
|va
|vi
|vu
|-
|l
|l
|la
|li
|lu
|-
|[[Voiced palatal plosive|ɟ]]
|rh
|rha
|rhi
|rhu
|-
|j
|j
|ja
|ji
|ju
|-
|g
|g
|ga
|gi
|gu
|-
|ʁ
|r
|ra
|ri
|ru
|-
|m
|m
|ma
|mi
|mu
|-
|n
|n
|na
|ni
|nu
|-
|ŋ
|ng
|nga
|ngi
|ngu
|-
|ŋŋ
|nng
|nnga
|nngi
|nngu
|-
|[[Glottal stop|ʔ]]
|{{saltillo}}
|a{{saltillo}}
|i{{saltillo}}
|u{{saltillo}}
|}
[[File:Inuktitut.svg|framed|The syllabary used to write Inuktitut ({{lang|iu-Latn|titirausiq nutaaq}}). The extra characters with the dots represent long vowels; in the Latin transcription, the vowel would be doubled.]]
In April 2012, with the completion of the [[Old Testament]], the first complete Bible in Inuktitut, translated by native speakers, was published.<ref>[http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/apr23_12bb.html Hebrew Bible published in Eskimo language] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108093615/http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/apr23_12bb.html|date=8 November 2012}}, [[News/North]] Nunavut, 23 April 2012</ref>

Noted literature in Inuktitut has included the novels ''Harpoon of the Hunter'' by [[Markoosie Patsauq]],<ref name="collections">[http://www.collectionscanada.ca/literaryarchives/027011-200.086-e.html "MARKOOSIE, 1942-: LMS-0017"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015095215/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/literaryarchives/027011-200.086-e.html |date=15 October 2017}}. [[Collections Canada]].</ref> and {{lang|iu-Latn|[[Sanaaq]]|italic=yes}} by [[Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk]].<ref name="southern">{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/southern-readers-finally-get-a-chance-to-read-mitiarjuk-nappaaluk-the-accidental-inuit-novelist/article16389857/|title=Southern readers finally get a chance to read Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk, the accidental Inuit novelist|last1=Martin|first1=Keavy|date=17 January 2014|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref>

===The Canadian syllabary===
{{Main|Inuktitut syllabics}}

The Inuktitut syllabary used in Canada is based on the [[Cree syllabics|Cree syllabary]] devised by the missionary [[James Evans (linguist)|James Evans]].<ref>[https://thediscoverblog.com/2015/06/11/aboriginal-syllabic-scripts/ Aboriginal syllabic scripts] [[Library and Archives Canada]]</ref> The present form of the syllabary for Canadian Inuktitut was adopted by the [[Inuit Cultural Institute]] in Canada in the 1970s. Inuit in Alaska, [[Inuvialuit]], Inuinnaqtun speakers, and Inuit in [[Greenland]] and [[Labrador]] use Latin alphabets.

Though conventionally called a [[syllabary]], the writing system has been classified by some observers as an [[abugida]], since syllables starting with the same consonant have related [[glyph]]s rather than unrelated ones.

All of the characters needed for the Inuktitut syllabary are available in the [[Unicode]] block [[Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics]]. The territorial government of [[Nunavut]], Canada, has developed [[TrueType]] [[typeface|fonts]] called {{lang|iu-Latn|Pigiarniq}}<ref name="Tiro">{{Cite web |url=http://www.tiro.com/syllabics/resources/index.html |title=Tiro Typeworks: Syllabics Resources |access-date=16 April 2019 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814080056/https://www.tiro.com/syllabics/resources/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Pigiarniq">{{Cite web |url=http://www.tiro.com/syllabics/resources/compiled_data_sources/Fonts/Pigiarniq/Pigiarniq1.2.zip |title=Pigiarniq Font Download |access-date=16 April 2019 |archive-date=2 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202114406/http://www.tiro.com/syllabics/resources/compiled_data_sources/Fonts/Pigiarniq/Pigiarniq1.2.zip |url-status=dead }}</ref> ([[Inuktitut syllabics|ᐱᒋᐊᕐᓂᖅ]] {{IPA|iu|pi.ɡi.aʁ.ˈniq|}}), {{lang|iu-Latn|Uqammaq}}<ref name="Tiro"/><ref name="Uqammaq">{{Cite web |url=http://www.tiro.com/syllabics/resources/compiled_data_sources/Fonts/Uqammaq/Uqammaq_win_ttf.zip |title=Uqammaq Font Download |access-date=16 April 2019 |archive-date=2 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202115310/http://www.tiro.com/syllabics/resources/compiled_data_sources/Fonts/Uqammaq/Uqammaq_win_ttf.zip |url-status=dead }}</ref> ([[Inuktitut syllabics|ᐅᖃᒻᒪᖅ]] {{IPA|iu|u.qam.maq|}}), and {{lang|iu-Latn|[[Euphemia (typeface)|Euphemia]]}}<ref name="Tiro"/><ref name="Euphemia">{{Cite web |url=http://www.tiro.com/syllabics/resources/compiled_data_sources/Fonts/Euphemia/%202.6.6%20Euphemia%20UCAS.zip |title=Euphemia Font Download |access-date=16 April 2019 |archive-date=5 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205123750/http://www.tiro.com/syllabics/resources/compiled_data_sources/Fonts/Euphemia/%202.6.6%20Euphemia%20UCAS.zip |url-status=dead }}</ref> ([[Inuktitut syllabics|ᐅᕓᒥᐊ]] {{IPA|iu|u.vai.mi.a|}}) for computer displays. They were designed by [[Vancouver]]-based Tiro Typeworks. Apple Macintosh computers include an Inuktitut IME (Input Method Editor) as part of keyboard language options.<ref name="fonts">{{Cite web |url=http://www.pirurvik.ca/en/productions/iu-computing/font-download |title=Inuktitut Syllabic Fonts – Download |access-date=2 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014145411/http://www.pirurvik.ca/en/productions/iu-computing/font-download |archive-date=14 October 2018}}</ref> [[Linux]] distributions provide locale and language support for [[Iñupiaq language|Iñupiaq]], [[Greenlandic language|Kalaallisut]] and Inuktitut.

===Braille===
{{main|Inuktitut Braille}}

In 2012 Tamara Kearney, Manager of Braille Research and Development at the Commonwealth Braille and Talking Book Cooperative, developed a Braille code for the Inuktitut language syllabics. This code is based on representing the syllabics' orientation. Machine translation from Unicode [[UTF-8]] and [[UTF-16]] can be performed using the Liblouis Braille translation system<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://liblouis.io/ |title=Liblouis |access-date=2025-01-27}}</ref> which includes an [[Inuktitut Braille]] translation table. The book {{lang|ike|ᐃᓕᐊᕐᔪᒃ ᓇᓄᕐᓗ}} (''The Orphan and the Polar Bear'') became the first work ever translated into Inuktitut Braille, and a copy is held at the headquarters of the [[Nunavut Public Library Services]] at [[Baker Lake, Nunavut|Baker Lake]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Canada}}
* [[Indigenous languages of the Americas]]
* [[Thule people]]

==Notes==
{{notefoot}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|}}
* {{cite web|last=Mallon|first=Mick|url=http://www.inuktitutcomputing.ca/Technocrats/ILFT.php|title=Inuktitut Linguistics for Technocrats|publisher=Inuktitutcomputing.ca}}
* {{cite book|last=Mallon|first=Mick|year=1991|title=Introductory Inuktitut|isbn=0-7717-0230-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Mallon|first=Mick|title=Introductory Inuktitut Reference Grammar|isbn=0-7717-0235-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Spalding|first=Alex|year=1998|url=http://www.inuktitutcomputing.ca/Spalding/en/spalding.shtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101030043/http://www.inuktitutcomputing.ca/Spalding/en/spalding.shtml|archive-date=1 January 2013|title=Inuktitut: A multi-dialectal outline dictionary (with an Aivilingmiutaq base)|publisher=Nunavut Arctic College |isbn=1-896204-29-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Spalding|first=Alex|year=1992|title=Inuktitut: a Grammar of North Baffin Dialects|publisher=Wuerz |isbn=0-920063-43-8}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/inuit/020018-1200-e.html|title=The Inuktitut Language|work=Project Naming {{pipe}} the identification of Inuit portrayed in photographic collections at Library and Archives Canada|publisher=Collectionscanada.ca|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123004727/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/inuit/020018-1200-e.html|archive-date=23 January 2018}}
* {{cite web|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000861/086162e.pdf|title=Arctic Languages: An Awakening}}&nbsp;{{small|(2.68&nbsp;MB)}}, ed: Dirmid R. F. Collis. {{ISBN|92-3-102661-5|}}.

Although as many of the examples as possible are novel or extracted from Inuktitut texts, some of the examples in this article are drawn from ''Introductory Inuktitut'' and ''Inuktitut Linguistics for Technocrats''.
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* [[Shanley Allen|Allen, Shanley]]. ''Aspects of Argument Structure Acquisition in Inuktitut''. Language acquisition & language disorders, v. 13. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub, 1996. {{ISBN|1-55619-776-4}}
* Balt, Peter. ''Inuktitut Affixes''. Rankin Inlet? N.W.T.: s.n, 1978.
* [[Michael Fortescue|Fortescue, Michael]], Steven Jacobson, and Lawrence Kaplan. ''Comparative Eskimo Dictionary with Aleut Cognates – second edition.'' Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2011. {{ISBN|1555001092}}.
* [[Ivan Kalmar|Kalmar, Ivan]]. ''Case and Context in Inuktitut (Eskimo)''. Mercury series. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1979.
* Nowak, Elke. ''Transforming the Images Ergativity and Transitivity in Inuktitut (Eskimo)''. Empirical approaches to language typology, 15. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1996. {{ISBN|3-11-014980-X}}
* Schneider, Lucien. ''Ulirnaisigutiit An Inuktitut–English Dictionary of Northern Québec, Labrador, and Eastern Arctic Dialects (with an English-Inuktitut Index)''. Québec: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1985.
* Spalding, Alex, and Thomas Kusugaq. ''Inuktitut A Multi-Dialectal Outline Dictionary (with an Aivilingmiutaq Base)''. Iqaluit, NT: Nunavut Arctic College, 1998. {{ISBN|1-896204-29-5}}
* Swift, Mary D. ''[http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/54989188?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Fcatdir%2Ftoc%2Fecip0417%2F2004008874.html&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= Time in Child Inuktitut A Developmental Study of an Eskimo–Aleut Language]''. Studies on language acquisition, 24. Berlin: M. de Gruyter, 2004. {{ISBN|3-11-018120-7}}
* Thibert, Arthur. ''Eskimo–English, English–Eskimo Dictionary = Inuktitut–English, English–Inuktitut Dictionary''. Ottawa: Laurier Books, 1997. {{ISBN|1-895959-12-8}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{InterWiki|code=iu}}
{{OldWikisource}}
{{Wikivoyage|Inuktitut phrasebook|Inuktitut|a phrasebook}}

===Dictionaries and lexica===

* {{cite web |url=http://web.uni-frankfurt.de/fb08/IHE/download/InukMorphList.pdf |title=Inuktitut Morphology List |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050930090412/http://web.uni-frankfurt.de/fb08/IHE/download/InukMorphList.pdf |archive-date=30 September 2005}}&nbsp;{{small|(133&nbsp;KB)}}

===Webpages===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050406033718/http://www.aipainunavik.com/about/e_brief_history.html A Brief History of Inuktitut Writing Culture]
* [http://www.languagegeek.com/inu/inu_syllabarium.html Inuktitut Syllabarium (Languagegeek)]
* [http://www.nunavut.com/nunavut99/english/our.html Our Language, Our Selves] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051111140658/http://www.nunavut.com/nunavut99/english/our.html |date=11 November 2005}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150524063542/http://www.ch.gov.nu.ca/en/ComputerTools.aspx Government of Nunavut font download]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080908111037/http://www.attavik.net/ Inuktitut-friendly website hosting and development]
* [http://tusaalanga.ca/ Tusaalanga] ("Let me hear it"), a website with Inuktitut online lessons with sound files

===Utilities===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070707091624/http://www.inuktitutcomputing.ca/NRCInuktitutSearchEngine/en/index.jsp NANIVARA – Inuktitut Search Engine]. – NANIVARA means "I've found it!" in Inuktitut.

{{Eskimo-Aleut languages}}
{{Languages of Nunavut}}
{{Languages of Quebec}}
{{Languages of Canada}}
{{American Indigenous languages with wikipedia}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Inuktitut Language}}
[[Category:Inuktitut| ]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Inuit languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of the North American Arctic]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of the United States]]