Aleut language

Aleut (, ) or is the language spoken by the Aleut living in the Aleutian Islands, Pribilof Islands, Commander Islands, and the Alaska Peninsula (in Aleut , the origin of the state name Alaska). Aleut is the sole language in the Aleut branch of the Eskimo–Aleut language family. The Aleut language consists of three dialects, including (Eastern Aleut), / (Atka Aleut), and / (Western Aleut, now extinct). Because of this, Eastern and Atkan Aleut are classified as "critically endangered and extinct" and have an Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS) rating of 7. The task of revitalizing Aleut has largely been left to local government and community organizations. The overwhelming majority of schools in the historically Aleut-speaking regions lack any language/culture courses in their curriculum, and those that do fail to produce fluent or even proficient speakers.

History

The Eskimo and Aleut peoples were part of a migration from Asia across Beringia, the Bering land bridge between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago. During this period, the Proto-Eskimo-Aleut language was spoken, which broke up around 2000 BC. Differentiation of the two branches is thought to have happened in Alaska because of the linguistic diversity found in the Eskimo languages of Alaska relative to the entire geographic area where Eskimo languages are spoken (eastward through Canada to Greenland). After the split between the two branches, their development is thought to have occurred in relative isolation.

Evidence suggests a culture associated with Aleut speakers on the Eastern Aleutian Islands as early as 4,000 years ago, followed by a gradual expansion westward over the next 1,500 years to the Near Islands. Another westward expansion may have occurred about 1,000 years ago, which may explain the lack of obvious diversification among the Aleut dialects, with Eastern Aleut features having spread westward. This second westward expansion is characterized as a period of cultural affinity with southeastern Alaska and the Pacific Northwest Coast, which may explain linguistic features that Aleut shares with neighboring non-Eskimo languages, such as rules of plural formation.

Due to colonization by Russian colonizers and traders in the 18th and 19th centuries, Aleut has a large portion of Russian loanwords. However, they do not affect the basic vocabulary and thus do not suggest undue influence on the language.

In March 2021, the last native speaker of the Bering dialect, Vera Timoshenko, died aged 93 in Nikolskoye, Bering Island, Kamchatka.

Dialects

Within the Eastern group are the dialects of the Alaskan Peninsula, Unalaska, Belkofski, Akutan, the Pribilof Islands, Kashega and Nikolski. The Pribilof dialect has more living speakers than any other dialect of Aleut.

The Atkan grouping comprises the dialects of Atka and Bering Island.

Attuan was a distinct dialect showing influence from both Atkan and Eastern Aleut. Copper Island Aleut (also called Medny Aleut) was a Russian-Attuan mixed language (Copper Island (, Medny, Mednyj) having been settled by Attuans). Despite the name, after 1969 Copper Island Aleut was spoken only on Bering Island, as Copper Islanders were evacuated there. After the death of the last native speaker in 2022, it became extinct.

All dialects show lexical influence from Russian; Copper Island Aleut has also adopted many Russian inflectional endings. The largest number of Russian loanwords can be seen in the Bering Aleut.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Russian loanwords in Bering Aleut

Consonants listed in the dental column have varied places of articulation. The stop, nasal, and lateral dentals commonly have a laminal articulation. The voiced dental fricative is pronounced interdentally.

A total of 24+ letters were used to represent distinctly Aleut words, including 6 vowels (а, и, й, у, ю, я) and 16 consonants (г, г̑, д, з, к, ԟ, л, м, н, ҥ, с, т, ў, х, х̑, ч). The letter ӄ has replaced the letter ԟ (Aleut Ka) for the voiceless uvular plosive in modern Aleut Cyrillic publications.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2" | Obsolete script

! colspan="2" | Modern equivalents

! rowspan="2" | IPA

! rowspan="2" | Practical<br />Orthography

! Majuscule || Minuscule

| А

| а

| А

| а

| a

| Б*

| б*

| Б

| б

| b

| В*

| в*

| В

| в

| v

| Г

| г

| Г

| g

| Г̑

| г̑

| Ӷ

| ӷ

| ĝ

| Д

| д

| Д̆

| д̆

| d

| Е*

| е*

| Е

| е

| e

| Ж*

| ж*

| Ж

| ж

| ž

| З†

| з†

| З

| з

| z

| И

| и

| rowspan="2" | И

| rowspan="2" | и

| i

| І*

| і*

| j

| Й

| й

| Й

| й

| y

| К

| к

| К

| к

| k

| Ԟ

| ԟ

| Ӄ

| ӄ

| q

| Л

| л

| Л

| л

| l

| М

| м

| М

| м

| m

| Н

| н

| Н

| н

| n

| Ҥ

| ҥ

| Ӈ

| ӈ

| ng

| О*

| о*

| О

| о

| o

| П*

| п*

| П

| п

| p

| Р*

| р*

| Р

| р

| ,

| r

| С

| с

| С

| с

| s

| Т

| т

| Т

| т

| t

| У

| у

| У

| у

| u

| Ў

| ў

| Гў

| гў

| w

| Ф*

| ф*

| Ф

| ф

| f

| Х

| х

| Х

| х

| x

| Х̑

| х̑

| Ӽ

| ӽ

| x̂

| Ц*

| ц*

| Ц

| ц

| ts/c

| Ч

| ч

| Ч

| ч

| ch

| Ш*

| ш*

| Ш

| ш

| Щ*

| щ*

| Щ

| щ

| Ъ

| ъ

| Ъ

| ъ

| Ы*

| ы*

| Ы

| ы

| Ь

| ь

| Ь

| ь

| Э*

| э*

| Э

| э

| ye

| Ю

| ю

| Ю

| ю

| yu

| Я

| я

| Я

| я

| ya

| Ѳ*

| ѳ*

| f

| Ѵ*

| ѵ*

: * denotes letters typically used in loanwords

: † only found in Atkan Aleut

New

The modern Aleut orthography (for Bering dialect):

{| class="standard" cellpadding="5" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 2.5em; text-align: center;"

| А а

| А̄ а̄

| Б б

| В в

| Г г

| Ӷ ӷ

| Гў гў

| Д д

| Д̆ д̆

| Е е

| Е̄ е̄

| Ё ё

| Ж ж

| З з

| И и

| Ӣ ӣ

| Й й

| ʼЙ ʼй

| К к

| Ӄ ӄ

| Л л

| ʼЛ ʼл

| М м

| ʼМ ʼм

| Н н

| ʼН ʼн

| Ӈ ӈ

| ʼӇ ʼӈ

| О о

| О̄ о̄

| П п

| Р р

| С с

| Т т

| У у

| Ӯ ӯ

| Ф ф

| Х х

| Ӽ ӽ

| Ц ц

| Ч ч

| Ш ш

| Щ щ

| Ъ ъ

| Ы ы

| Ы̄ ы̄

| Ь ь

| Э э

| Э̄ э̄

| Ю ю

| Ю̄ ю̄

| Я я

| Я̄ я̄

| ʼ

| ʼЎ ʼў

Comparison

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ comparison table

number: singular, dual, and plural
relational case: absolutive and relative
person: first, second, anaphoric third, reflexive third

{| class="wikitable"

|+Number & relational case

!singular

!dual

!plural

!absolutive

|E: <br>A:

!relative

|E: <br>A:

{| class="wikitable"

|+Anaphoric third person

!singular

!dual

!plural

!absolutive

|E: <br>A:

!relative

|E: <br>A:

The anaphoric third person refers to a proceeding term, specified by being marked in the relative case or from context. For example, 'the man's house' and 'his house'. were published.

In 2005, the parish of All Saints of North America Orthodox Church began to re-publish all historic Aleut language texts from 1840–1940. Archpriest Paul Merculief (originally from the Pribilofs) of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska and the Alaska State Library Historical Collection generously contributed their linguistic skills to the restoration effort. The historic Aleut texts are available in the parish's Aleut library.

Revitalization

Revitalization efforts are a recent development for the Aleut language and are mostly in the hands of the Aleuts themselves. The first evidence of the preservation of the language came in the form of written documentation at the hands of the Russian Orthodox Church missionaries. However, as the historical events and factors transpired, Aleut's falling out of favor has brought upon a necessity for action if the language is to survive much longer. Linguistic experts have been reaching out to the Aleut community in attempts to record and document the language from the remaining speakers. Such efforts amount to "100 hours of conversation, along with the transcription and translation in Aleut, that will be transferred to compact disks or DVDs". If Aleut does go extinct, these records will allow linguists and descendants of the Aleutian people to pass on as much knowledge of the language as they can. Efforts like this to save the language are being sponsored by universities and local community interest groups, like the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association Task Force for Language Revitalization, while government relations with the Aleut people are severely limited. Similarly to the native languages of California, the native languages of Alaska had been given little attention from the United States government. While linguists are working to record and document the language, the local Aleutian community groups are striving to preserve their language and culture by assisting the linguists and raising awareness of the Aleut population.

There is an Aleut course named Unangam Qilinĝingin on Memrise.

References

REL:relative case

POSSM:possessum

ANA:anaphoric

</div><section end="list-of-glossing-abbreviations" />

Bibliography

External links

ANLA University of Alaska Fairbanks, Unangan Collections List
Alaska Native Languages: Unangam Tunuu
Unangam Tunuu Language Tools
Aleut Language
Orthodox texts in Aleut, 1826–1967 (cf. The Alaskan Orthodox Texts Project celebrates its 10th anniversary, May 2015)
Learn and practice Unangam Tunuu on Memrise
Unangam Tunuu Tools and Resources, small dictionary, phrases, stories in Eastern dialect with audio recordings
The Aleut Language, Richard Henry Geoghegan, 1944; grammar and dictionary (old orthography)