The Alutiiq language (also called Sugpiak, Sugpiaq,
[List of Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) language resources](_blank)
/ref> Sugcestun,[Language in the USA](_blank)
Cambridge University Press, 1981 Suk,Central Alaskan Yup'ik language
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
spoken in the western and southwestern Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...
, but is considered a distinct language. It has two major dialects:
* Koniag Alutiiq: spoken on the upper part of the Alaska Peninsula
The Alaska Peninsula (also called Aleut Peninsula or Aleutian Peninsula, ale, Alasxix̂; Sugpiaq: ''Aluuwiq'', ''Al'uwiq'') is a peninsula extending about to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The ...
and on Kodiak Island; it was also spoken on Afognak Island before that was deserted by the people in the wake of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake.
* Chugach
Chugach , Chugach Sugpiaq or Chugachigmiut is the name of an Alaska Native people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound on the southern coast of Alaska. The Chugach people are an Alutiiq ( Pacific Eskimo) people who spea ...
Alutiiq: spoken on the Kenai Peninsula
The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...
and in Prince William Sound.
The ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and us ...
s of the Sugpiaq-Alutiiq are a predicament. "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
The Alutiiq people (pronounced in English; from Promyshlenniki Russian Алеутъ, "Aleut"; plural often "Alutiit"), also called by their ancestral name ( or ; plural often "Sugpiat"), as well as Pacific Eskimo or Pacific Yupik, are a so ...
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 Kodiak may refer to:
Places
* Kodiak, Alaska, a city located on Kodiak island
* Kodiak, Missouri, an unincorporated community
*Kodiak Archipelago, in southern Alaska
* Kodiak Island, the largest island of the Kodiak archipelago
** Kodiak Launch C ...
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. As of 2014, Alaska Pacific University
Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a private university in Anchorage, Alaska. It was established as Alaska Methodist University in 1957. Although it was renamed to Alaska Pacific University in 1978, it is still affiliated with the United Method ...
in Anchorage
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...
is offering classes using the " Where Are Your Keys?" technique.
Phonology
Consonants
Consonants may be double and have geminated sounds (e.g. ''kk''; ː. More consonants /ɾ~r, lʲ, rʲ/ can only be found in loanwords.
Vowels
All vowels except for /ə/, are considered as full vowels, distinguished with vowel length. /ə/ does not lengthen, nor occurs into vowel clusters, but may tend to be devoiced as /ə̥/ next to other consonants.
Orthography
* a - * c - ͡ʃ* e - * f - * g - * gw - ʷ* hm - ̥* hn - ̥* hng - ̊* i - * k - * kw - ʷ* l - * ll - * m - * n - * ng - * p - * q - * r - * ʀ - * s - * t - * u - * w - * y -
After voiceless consonants, the voiceless nasals are written without h-.
Other letters
* aa - ː* ai - i* au - u* ia - a* ii - ː* iu - u* ua - a* ui - i* uu - ːref>
Vocabulary comparison
The comparison of number terms and month names in the two dialects:
References
Further reading
* Bass, Willard P., Edward A. Tennant, and Carl Anahonak. ''Test of Oral Language Dominance Sugpiaq Aleut-English''. Albuquerque, N.M.: Southwest Research Association, 1973.
* Counceller, April Gale Laktonen, Jeff Leer, and Nick Alokli. ''Kodiak Alutiiq Conversational Phrasebook With Audio CD''. Kodiak, Alaska: Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository, 2006.
* Leer, Jeff, Carl Anahonak, Arthur Moonin, and Derenty Tabios. ''Nanwalegmiut paluwigmiut-llu nupugnerit = Conversational Alutiiq dictionary : Kenai Peninsula Alutiiq''. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2003.
* Leer, Jeff, and Nina Zeedar. ''Classroom Grammar of Koniag Alutiiq, Kodiak Island Dialect''. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1990.
* Leer, Jeff, Matrona Christiansen, Doris Lind, Thomas Phillips, Ralph Phillips (1996). ''A Short Dictionary of Alaska Peninsula Sugtestun & Alaska Peninsula Alutiiq Workbook''. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
*
Pratt Museum (Homer, Alaska). ''Qulianguat Kiputʹsluki = Bringing the Stories Back : Alutiiq Sugpiaq Remembrances of the Outer Coast of Kenai Peninsula, Alaska''. Homer, Alaska: Pratt Museum, 2003.
* Russell, Priscilla N. ''English Bay and Port Graham Alutiiq Plantlore''. Homer, Alaska: Pratt Museum, Homer Society of Natural History, 1991.
* Steffian, Amy F., and Florence Pestrikof. ''Alutiiq Word of the Week''. Kodiak, AK: Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository, 1999.
* John E. Smelcer,
Alutiiq Noun Dictionary', 2010
External links
alutiiqmuseum.org Alutiiq Word of the Weekalutiiqlanguage.org Learn the Alutiiq Languageasna.ca Alutiiq Orthodox language texts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alutiiq Language
Alutiiq
Agglutinative languages
Indigenous languages of Alaska
Yupik languages
Endangered Eskaleut languages
Official languages of Alaska