- Eskimo-Aleut languages
Infobox Language family
name=Eskimo-Aleut
altname=Eskaleut
region=American Arctic, eastSiberia
familycolor=American
family=Eskimo-Aleut
child1=Aleut
child2=Eskimo
map_caption=Eskimo-Aleut languages spoken in United States, Canada and GreenlandEskimo-Aleut is a
language family native toGreenland , theCanadian Arctic ,Alaska , and parts ofSiberia . Also called Eskaleut (Eskaleutian, Eskaleutic), Eskimoan or Macro-Eskimo, [Fleming 1987: 189.] it consists of theEskimo languages (including the "Inuit languages" in the north of Alaska, Canada and Greenland, and the "Yupik/Yup'ik languages" in western and southwestern Alaska and in Siberia), and the singleAleut language of the Aleutian andPribilof Islands ."Eskimo" is an
exonym , although within Alaska, the term is used by bothindigenous and non-indigenous Alaskans. The most widely accepted academicetymology for the term posits an original meaning of "to net snowshoes."Goddard, Ives (1984). "Synonymy." In "Arctic", ed. David Damas. Vol. 5 of "Handbook of North American Indians", ed. William C. Sturtevant, pp. 5-7. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Cited in Campbell 1997] Kaplan, Lawrence. (2002). [http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/inuitoreskimo.html "Inuit or Eskimo: Which names to use?"] .Alaska Native Language Center ,University of Alaska Fairbanks . Retrieved on 2007-04-06.] Within Canada, the term is considered derogatory, and "Inuit" is preferred. The terms "Yup'ik", "Yupik", and "Inupiaq " are also used in Alaska to refer to these respective groups.The Eskimo language family is divided into the Inuit and Yup'ik groups. The proper place of
Sirenik within the Eskimo-Aleut language family is debated. Some linguists list it as a branch of Yupik [ [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ysr "Ethnologue report for Yupik Sirenk."] Retrieved 2008-08-25.] , while others list it as a distinct branch of the language family [ [http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages.html "Alaska Native Languages - An Overview"] . Retrieved 2008-08-25.] .Eskimo-Aleut:Aleut ::Western-Central dialects: Atkan, Attuan, Unangan, Bering (60-80 speakers)::Eastern dialects: Unalaskan, Pribilof (400 speakers):Eskimo::Yupik:::Central Alaskan Yup'ik (10,000 speakers):::Alutiiq or Pacific Gulf Yup'ik (400 speakers):::Central Siberian Yupik or Yuit (Chaplinon and St Lawrence Island, 1400 speakers)::::Naukanski (70 speakers)::::Chaplinski::
Sirenik (extinct)::Inuit or Inupik (98,000 speakers):::Inupiaq or Inupiat (northern Alaska, 3,500 speakers) :::Inuvialuktun (western Canada, 765 speakers):::Inuktitut (eastern Canada; together withInuktun andInuinnaqtun , 40,000 speakers):::Kalaallisut (Greenland, 54,000 speakers)According to Joseph Greenberg's highly controversial classification of the languages of Native North America, Eskimo-Aleut is one of the three main groups of Native languages spoken in the Americas, and represents a distinct wave of migration from Asia to the Americas. The other two are Na-Dené (which includes Athabaskan and a small number of related tongues) and Amerind (Greenberg's most controversial classification, which includes every language native to the Americas that is not Eskimo-Aleut or Na-Dené).
Notes
Bibliography
* Bernet, John W. "An Anthology of Aleut, Eskimo, and Indian Literature of Alaska in English Translation". Fairbanks, Alaska: [s.n.] , 1974.
* Conference on Eskimo Linguistics, and Eric P. Hamp. "Papers on Eskimo and Aleut Linguistics". Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, 1976.
* Dumond, Don E. "On Eskaleutian Linguistics, Archaeology, and Prehistory". [S.l: s.n, 1965.
* Fleming, Harold C. "Towards a definitive classification of the world's languages". "Diachronica" IV:1/2.159-223, 1987.
* Fortescue, Michael D. "Some Problems Concerning the Correlation and Reconstruction of Eskimo and Aleut Mood Markers". København: Institut for Eskimologi, Københavns Universitet, 1984. ISBN 8787874105
* Fortescue, Michael D., Steven A. Jacobson, and Lawrence D. Kaplan. "Comparative Eskimo Dictionary: With Aleut Cognates". Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1994. ISBN 1555000517
* Marsh, Gordon H. "The Linguistic Divisions of the Eskimo-Aleut Stock". 1956.
* Swift, Mary D. "Time in Child Inuktitut: A Developmental Study of an Eskimo-Aleut Language". Studies on language acquisition, 24. Berlin: M. de Gruyter, 2004. ISBN 3110181207ee also
*
Inuit language
*Yupik language
*Siberian Yupik language
*Aleut language
*Uralo-Siberian languages
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