Nunivak Cup'ig or just Cup'ig (own name Cugtun) is a language or separate dialect of Central Alaskan Yup'ik spoken in Central

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.S., ...

at the

Nunivak Island Nunivak Island ( Central Alaskan Yup'ik: ; Nunivak Cup'ig: ''Nuniwar''; russian: Нунивак, Nunivak) is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the US state of Alaska, at ...

Nunivak Cup'ig people The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...

(own name Cup'it or Nuniwarmiut). The letter "c" in the Yup’ik alphabet is equivalent to the English alphabet "ch". The Central Alaskan Yupik who live on

(''Nuniwar'' in Nunivak Cup'ig, ''Nunivaaq'' in Central Yup'ik) call themselves ''Cup'ig'' (plural ''Cup'it''). Those who live in the village of Chevak call themselves ''

Cup'ik The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...

'' (plural ''Cup'it''). The name Cup'ig (with g) is used for the Nunivak Island Yup'ik dialect and the name Cup'ik (with k) is used for Hooper Bay-Chevak Yup'ik dialect. The Cup'ig dialect is threatened. This fact was documented by Dr. Michael E. Krauss of the

Alaska Native Language Center The Alaska Native Language Center, established in 1972 in Fairbanks, Alaska, is a research center focusing on the research and documentation of the Native languages of Alaska. It publishes grammars, dictionaries, folklore collections and research m ...

at the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time stud ...

and is illustrated on the map. In 1975, Krauss indicated, "Some of the children speak the language". Krauss documented continued decline and downgraded the status to "Very few or none of the children speak the language" in 1982. Today Cup'ig is spoken by elders in the village of Mekoryuk.

Classification

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 ...

**Norton Sound dialect is spoken

Norton Sound Norton Sound (russian: Нортон-Саунд) is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 240 km (150 mi) long and 200 km (125 mi) wide. The Yukon ...

region. Themselves ''Yup’ik'' ***Unaliq subdialect by spoken ''Unalirmiut'' (= ''Atnegmiut, Kuuyuŋmiut, Eŋlutaleġmiut'' etc.) tribes. ***Kotlik subdialect by spoken ''Pastulirmiut'' tribe **General Central Yup’ik dialect or Yugtun is spoken in Nelson Island, the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

, the

Bristol Bay Bristol Bay ( esu, Iilgayaq, russian: Залив Бристольский) is the easternmost arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km (250 mi) long and 290 km, ( ...

regions, and

Kuskokwim The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River (Yup'ik: ''Kusquqvak''; Deg Xinag: ''Digenegh''; Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanek' ''; russian: Кускоквим (''Kuskokvim'')) is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth la ...

. Themselves ''Yup’ik'' (Yukon) or ''Yupiaq'' (Kuskokwim). ** Egegik Yupik is spoken Egegik and

Egegik Bay Egegik Bay (Yup'ik: ''Igyagiim painga'') is a bay located just 69.1 miles from Dillingham in Alaska and the northeastern arm of the Bristol Bay. The Egegik (''Igyagiiq'' in Yup'ik) village is located on a high bluff along the southern shore of ...

. Themselves ''Yup’ik'' ** Hooper Bay-Chevak Cup’ik is spoken

Hooper Bay Hooper Bay ( esu, Naparyaarmiut) is a city in Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 1,375, up from 1,093 in 2010. On August 3, 2006, a major fire destroyed approximately fifteen acres of the city in ...

and Chevak areas. Themselves ''Cup’ik'' **Nunivak Cup'ig language or dialect is spoken

. Themselves ''Cup’ig'' The comparison of number names in the three dialects

Grammatical numbers

The grammatical numbers:

Education

The Cup'ig peoples' only school, the Nuniwarmiut School (P/K-12th grade), lies within the

Lower Kuskokwim School District Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD), or Bethel Public Schools, is a school district headquartered in Bethel, Alaska. it is the largest rural school district in the state, with 4,300 students. Employment and teacher demographics In 2017 it had ...

, in the village of Mekoryuk. Built in 1984, the school provides English and Cup’ig bilingual education for 32 students. Nuniwarmiut Piciryarata Tamaryalkuti, Inc. (literally, "Nunivak Cultural Programs") is a non-profit cultural heritage organization of the Cup'ig Eskimo village of Mekoryuk, its mission being to preserve Nunivak Island Cup'ig culture, traditions, and language. NPT was established in 1999.faqs.org
Nuniwarmiut Piciryarata Tamaryalicuti
/ref>

Example phrases

*Cangacit? - How are you? *Canritua - I am fine *Unuakukegci - Good morning *Agayunerpakegcikici - Have a very Merry Christmas *Allrakularakegciluci-llu - And have a Happy New Year *Taqukat, maklit neqkanka - Seals, bearded seals is my food *Quyana - Thanks *Quyana niicugnillua - Thank you for listening to me. *Quyana naqluki allnganka - Thank you for reading what I wrote.

Russian loanwords

The

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...

s used in Nunivak Cup’ig date from the period of the

Russian America Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...

(1733–1867). *caarralar (< Rus. ''сахар'') 'sugar' *caayu (< Rus. ''чай'') 'tea' *caanig (< Rus. ''чайник'') 'tea kettle' *cap’akir ( < Rus. ''сапоги'') 'shoe' *cass’ar (< Rus. ''часы'') 'clock' *culunar (?< Rus. ''солонина'' 'salted meat') 'salted fish' *kelipar (< Rus. ''хлеб'') 'bread' *maslar (< Rus. ''масло'') 'butter; margarine' *miss’ug (< Rus. ''мешок'') 'burlap bag' *mulut’ug (< Rus. ''молоток'') 'hammer' *paltug (< Rus. ''пальто'') 'coat; jacket' *pelatekar (< Rus. ''палатка'') 'tent' *putuskar (< Rus. ''подушка'') 'pillow' *tiisiss’ar (< Rus. ''тысяча'') 'thousand; one thousand dollars' *yaassig : (< Rus. ''ящик'') 'box; cardboard box'

References

External links

On the Facebook: Nunivak Cup'ig Language
page.

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nunivak Cup'ig Language Languages of the United States Yupik languages Endangered Eskaleut languages