Eskaleut languages facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Eskaleut
Eskimo–Aleut Inuit–Yupik–Unangan
Geographic distribution:	Alaska, Northwest Territories (Inuvialuit Settlement Region), Nunavut, northern Quebec (Nunavik), northern Labrador (Nunatsiavut), Greenland, far eastern Russia (Chukotka Peninsula)
Linguistic classification:	One of the world's primary language families
Proto-language:	Proto-Eskaleut Proto-Eskimoan
Subdivisions:	Eskimoan (Inuit, Yupik) Aleut
ISO 639-5:	esx
Eskaleut languages are spoken in Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland

The Eskaleut (also called Eskimo–Aleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan) languages are a group of languages spoken by native people in the northern parts of North America and a small area of northeastern Asia. These languages are found in places like Alaska in the United States, parts of Canada (including Nunavut and Northwest Territories), Greenland, and the Russian Far East.

The Eskaleut language family has two main parts: the Eskimoan languages and the Aleut language. The Aleut branch has only one language, Aleut, which is spoken in the Aleutian Islands and Pribilof Islands. Aleut has different ways of speaking it, called dialects. The Eskimoan languages are split into two groups: the Yupik languages and the Inuit languages. Yupik languages are spoken in western Alaska and Chukotka, Russia. Inuit languages are spoken across a huge area in northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Even though Inuit languages cover a large area, nearby dialects are quite similar. However, dialects far apart, like those in the Diomede Islands and East Greenland, can be very different.

There is one language, Sirenik, that linguists are still figuring out where it fits. Some think it's a type of Yupik, while others believe it's a separate branch of the Eskimoan family, alongside Yupik and Inuit.

History of Eskaleut Languages

The Alaska Native Language Center believes that the original language that led to both Eskimoan and Aleut languages split into two groups at least 4,000 years ago. Later, about 1,000 years ago, the Eskimoan language family itself split into the Yupik and Inuit branches.

The Eskaleut languages are some of the native languages of the Americas. This means they are from this part of the world. However, they are not directly related to other language families in North America. Experts think they came from a separate, and the last, ancient migration of people from Asia.

A researcher named Alexander Vovin (in 2015) noticed that some words in northern Tungusic languages (spoken in eastern Siberia and northeastern China) came from Eskaleut. These words are not found in Southern Tungusic languages. This suggests that Eskaleut languages were once spoken much more widely in eastern Siberia. Vovin thinks these words were borrowed less than 2,000 years ago, when Tungusic languages were spreading north. He believes the very first home of the Proto-Eskaleut language was in Siberia, not Alaska.

How Eskaleut Languages are Grouped

Here's how the Eskaleut language family is organized:

• Aleut (Unangam Tunuu) has about 40–80 speakers.
  • Western–Central dialects: Atkan, Attuan † (no speakers since 1997), Bering † (no speakers since 2021), Unangan
  • Eastern dialects: Unalaskan, Pribilof

• Eskimoan
  • Sirenik (Uqeghllistun) † (no speakers since 1997)
  • Yupik or Western Eskimoan
    • Alutiiq or Pacific Gulf Yupik (about 80 speakers)
      • Koniag Alutiiq (Alutiit’stun)
      • Chugach Alutiiq (Sugt’stun)
    • Central Alaskan Yup'ik (around 5,000 speakers)
      • General Central Alaskan Yup'ik (Yugtun)
      • Chevak Cupꞌik (Cugtun)
      • Nunivak Cupʼig (Cugtun) (5–25 speakers)
    • Naukan (Nuvuqaghmiistun) (70 speakers)
    • Central Siberian Yupik (Yuit/Yupigestun) (about 200 speakers)
      • Chaplino (Chaplinski) Yupik (Ungazighmiistun)
      • St. Lawrence Island Yupik (Sivuqaghmiistun) (400–750 speakers)
  • Inuit or Eastern Eskimoan (about 100,000 speakers)
    • Iñupiaq or Inupiat (northern Alaska, around 5,000 speakers)
      • Qawiaraq or Seward Peninsula Inupiaq
      • Inupiatun/Iñupiatun or Northern Alaska Inupiaq (including Uummarmiutun in Aklavik, Inuvik)
    • Inuvialuktun (western Canada; 1,020 speakers in 2016)
      • Siglitun (Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk)
      • Inuinnaqtun (in Ulukhaktok also known as Kangiryuarmiutun)
      • Natsilingmiutut (Netsilik area, Nunavut)
    • Inuktitut (eastern Canada; 36,000 speakers in 2016)
      • Inuttitut or Nunatsiavummiutut (Nunatsiavut, 550 speakers)
      • Nunavimmiutitut (Nunavik)
      • Qikiqtaaluk nigiani (South Baffin)
      • Qikiqtaaluk uannangani or Iglulingmiut (North Baffin)
      • Aivilingmiutut (east-central Nunavut)
      • Kivallirmiutut (Southeast Nunavut)
      • Inuktun or Avanersuaq (Polar Eskimo, Greenland, 800 speakers)
    • Greenlandic (Greenland: 50,000 speakers; Denmark: 7,000 speakers)
      • Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic, 44,000 speakers)
      • Tunumiisut (East Greenlandic, 3,000 speakers)

Eskaleut and Other Language Families

Most linguists agree that Eskaleut languages are not related to any other language families in the world. They are generally seen as separate from other language families in North America.

Some ideas suggest that Eskaleut might be linked to language families in northern Eurasia, like Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages (just across the Bering Strait). One of the first people to suggest this was a Danish linguist named Rasmus Rask in 1818. He noticed similarities between Greenlandic and Finnish.

A more recent idea is the Uralo–Siberian hypothesis by Michael Fortescue (1998). This idea connects Eskaleut languages to Yukaghir and the Uralic languages.

More recently, Joseph Greenberg (in the early 2000s) suggested putting Eskaleut with almost all language families of northern Eurasia (like Indo-European, Uralic, and Japanese) into a huge group called Eurasiatic. However, most linguists do not accept this idea. They say that Greenberg's method looked for similarities that might just be by chance, rather than showing real historical connections between languages.

In the 1960s, Morris Swadesh thought there might be a link between Eskaleut and the Wakashan languages. This idea was later explored more by Jan Henrik Holst (in 2005).

Special Features of Eskaleut Languages

Eskaleut languages have some interesting features:

• Word Structure: Every word must have only one main part, called a root, which always comes at the beginning. Eskaleut languages have a relatively small number of roots. For example, Central Alaskan Yup'ik has about two thousand. After the root, there are many small parts called postbases. These are like building blocks that add more meaning to the root. If you want to use the meaning of a postbase by itself, a special neutral root (like pi in Central Alaskan Yup'ik and Inuktitut) is used.

The basic way a word is built is: root - (small additions) - (grammar endings) - (small words at the end). Here's an example from Central Siberian Yupik:

In this example, 'angyagh' is the main root word for "boat." The other parts like '-ghlla' (big), '-ng(e)' (acquire), '-yug' (want to), '-tuq' (he/she/it does), and '-lu' (also) are added to it.

• Grammar Endings: After the postbases, there are suffixes that show things like the case of nouns (how they are used in a sentence) and the person (who is doing the action) and mood (the way the action is expressed) of verbs. The number of cases changes between languages. Aleut languages have fewer cases than Eskimoan languages.

Eskimoan languages use an "ergative–absolutive" system for nouns. This means that the subject of a simple action verb and the object of an action verb are marked the same way. But the subject of an action verb is marked differently. In Yup'ik languages, this system also applies to how verbs show who is doing the action. All Eskaleut languages have verbs that must agree with both the doer and the receiver of the action in transitive sentences (where the action goes from one thing to another).

• Word Endings: At the very end of a word, there can be a few small words called clitics. These can add meanings like "but" or show if a sentence is a yes-no question.

• Sounds (Phonology): The sounds in Eskaleut languages are similar to other language families in northern North America and far-eastern Siberia. They usually have only three main vowel sounds: /a/, /i/, and /u/. Some Yup'ik dialects also have a sound like /ə/. Eskaleut languages do not have "ejectives" (a type of consonant sound), which makes them more like Siberian languages than North American ones.

Eskaleut languages have voiceless "plosive" sounds (like 'p', 't', 'k') in four different mouth positions. Aleut is an exception, as it has lost the 'p' sound. They also have "fricative" sounds (like 'f' or 's') that can be voiced or voiceless. Some Yup'ik and Aleut dialects have a rare feature: voiceless nasal sounds (like a whispered 'm' or 'n').

Sounds of Eskimoan Languages

Here are the main vowel and consonant sounds in Eskimoan languages, based on Michael Fortescue et al. (2010).

Vowels in Eskimoan

The /ə/ sound in Eskimoan is like the /i/ sound in Aleut.

Consonants in Eskimoan

Inuit languages usually only allow one consonant at the beginning of a word. They also don't have more than two consonants next to each other between vowels. Yupik languages do not have the common consonant changes that Inuit languages have. Consonants in parentheses are not found in the very old Proto-Eskimoan language.

Sounds of Aleut Language

Here are the main vowel and consonant sounds in Aleut, based on Knut Bergsland (1997).

Vowels in Aleut

The Aleut language has six vowels: three short vowels (/i/, /u/, /a/) and three long vowels (/iː/, /uː/, /aː/). In writing, the long vowels are spelled ii, uu, and aa. Aleut vowels do not have diphthongs (two vowel sounds in one syllable). How long a vowel sounds depends on its stress, the consonants around it, and in Eastern Aleut, the vowels around it. Short vowels are at the beginning of a word if the next consonant is a velar or labial sound. For example: the words uka, ika, and aka.

Long vowels are pronounced lower than their short versions. But they are less pulled back if they are next to a uvular consonant (a sound made in the back of the throat). For example: uuquchiing 'blue fox,' qiiqix̂ 'storm-petrel', and qaaqaan 'eat it!'

Consonants in Aleut

The Aleut consonants below include single letters, two-letter combinations (digraphs), and one three-letter combination (trigraph). Sounds in parentheses are only found in words borrowed from Russian and English. The sound in italics is only in Eastern Aleut. The bold sounds are part of the regular Aleut language.

Aleut does not have labial stops (like 'p' or 'b'). It can have groups of up to three consonants, and consonant groups can even be at the beginning of a word. Some special features of Aleut sounds are that it doesn't have a 'p' sound or voiceless nasal sounds.

How Words are Built in Eskaleut

Polysynthetic Language Style

Eskaleut languages are "polysynthetic." This means that a single word can have many small parts (called morphemes or postbases) added to it. These languages mostly use suffixes, which are added to the end of a word (except for one prefix in Inuktitut). Suffixes can combine to create many different words. Some of these added parts can show who is doing the action, what the object is, or where something is. Polysynthetic languages are like an extreme form of "agglutination," where one word can carry as much information as a whole sentence in other languages.

For example, in Central Alaskan Yupik, you can say:

This example shows how many parts can be added to the root word "kayak" to create a full sentence.

In polysynthetic languages, it's important to understand what each small part means, what kind of words it can attach to, and how it changes the word's sound.

How Sentences are Structured

Eskaleut languages usually follow a Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. This means the person or thing doing the action comes first, then the thing the action is done to, and finally the action itself.

• Eskimoan Languages: These languages use an "ergative–absolutive" system. This means that the subject of a verb that doesn't have an object (like "he sleeps") and the object of a verb that does have an object (like "he eats fish") are marked the same way. But the subject of a verb that has an object (like "he eats fish") is marked differently.

• Aleut Language: Aleut does not use the ergative–absolutive system. It doesn't matter if a verb has an object or not; subjects and objects are not marked differently. If you clearly state the object of a verb or something that is owned, the ergative marking won't be used. If the object isn't clearly stated, then the ergative marking will be used.

Here's an example of how Aleut marks cases:

How Aleut Syntax Changed

The way sentences are built in Eskaleut languages shows how their word structures work. Even though they are from the same family, the two branches (Eskimoan and Aleut) have changed differently. Knut Bergsland says that Aleut, which used to be more like the old Proto-Eskimoan language, has moved further away from it.

The way words were changed to show case (like who is doing what) has merged in Aleut. This led to a completely different way of showing "ergative" grammar in Proto-Eskimoan.

To explain these big changes in Aleut grammar, Bergsland suggested a "Domino Effect." This is a step-by-step list of how Aleut's unique features developed:

• The first step was that the ends of words became shorter, and different case markers (like locative, relative, and instrumental) started to sound the same.
• Next, the ergative system broke down, and the difference between relative and locative cases in phrases with prepositions disappeared.
• Then, a new way of referring to things that were already mentioned (anaphoric reference) grew from this breakdown. This happened along with a very strict Subject-Object-Verb word order.
• After that, the simple forms for "he/she/it" started to refer to any unstated person or thing.
• Finally, the number of that unstated person or thing (even if it was someone who owned something) spread to the last verb in the sentence, overriding the usual agreement with the subject.

Comparing Words in Eskaleut Languages

This section compares similar words (cognates) in the Eskaleut language family. These are basic words, about 122 of them. If a cell is empty, it doesn't mean the language doesn't have a word for that idea. It just means the word comes from a different origin and isn't similar to the others in that row. Also, meanings might have changed slightly from one language to another, so the "common meaning" is just a close idea. Sometimes, the word shown is only found in certain dialects of that language. The words are written using their native Latin alphabets.

Words for Eskimoan languages are from Michael Fortescue et al. (2010). Words for the Aleut language are from Knut Bergsland (1997).

There are two types of pronouns: independent pronouns and pronominal pronouns.

Pronouns with Nouns

In Eskaleut languages, nouns can be singular (one), dual (two), or plural (more than two). These numbers are shown by suffixes (endings). If a noun is owned by someone, the number ending is followed by another suffix that tells who the human owner is. There are no genders for nouns. This can be seen in the four ways of showing ownership: my, your, his/her, and his/her own.

"His/her own" means that the person owns the thing themselves. "His/her" means someone else owns it. For example, his house (someone else's house that belongs to him) versus his own house (the house he personally owns).

Pronouns with Verbs

Aleut uses separate words for pronouns instead of adding pronoun endings to verbs. On the other hand, Eskimoan languages add pronoun endings to verbs to show four persons (like "I," "you," "he/she/it") and three numbers (singular, dual, plural).