Central Siberian Yupik | |
---|---|
Siberian Yupik, Yuit | |
Yupigestun, Akuzipigestun, Юпик | |
Native to | United States, Russia |
Region | Chukchi Peninsula (Chukotka, Russia), Bering Strait region, St. Lawrence Island |
Ethnicity | 2,828 Siberian Yupiks |
Native speakers | • 400-750 in United States [1] • 172-1,200 in Russia (with Chaplino dialect) [2] (2021) |
Early forms | |
Dialects |
|
Latin, Cyrillic | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Russia |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | ess |
Glottolog | cent2128 Central Siberian Yupik |
ELP | Central Siberian Yupik |
Yupik settlements around the Bering Strait. The Siberian Yupik settlements are indicated with red dots. | |
Central Siberian Yupik is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Central Siberian Yupik [4] [5] (also known as Siberian Yupik, Bering Strait Yupik[ citation needed ], Yuit[ citation needed ], Yoit[ citation needed ], "St. Lawrence Island Yupik", [6] [7] and in Russia "Chaplinski Yupik" or Yuk[ citation needed ]) is an endangered Yupik language spoken by the Indigenous Siberian Yupik people along the coast of Chukotka in the Russian Far East and in the villages of Savoonga and Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. The language is part of the Eskimo-Aleut language family.
In the United States, the Alaska Native Language Center identified about 400-750 Yupigestun speakers, considering “dormant speakers” who understand but cannot converse. [1] In Russia in 2021, 172 people indicated that they speak the language, while only 92 of them use it in everyday life. [2] Thus, the total number of speakers is no more than 550-900 people.
Siberian Yupik has two dialects: Chaplino (Chaplinski) Yupik (Uŋazigmit) is spoken on the shores of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Far North, and St. Lawrence Island Yupik (Sivuqaghmiistun) is spoken on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska.
Chaplino, or Uŋazigmit, is the largest Yupik language of Siberia (the second one is Naukan Yupik), and is named after the settlement of Уӈазиӄ (Ungaziq; Chaplino or Old Chaplino in Russian). The word Ungazighmii / Уңазиӷмӣ [8] [9] [uŋaʑiʁmiː] (plural Ungazighmiit / Уңазиӷмӣт [uŋaʑiʁmiːt] [10] [11] ) means "Ungaziq inhabitant(s)". People speaking this language live in several settlements in the southeastern Chukchi Peninsula [12] (including Novoye Chaplino, Provideniya, and Sireniki), Uelkal, Wrangel Island, [11] and Anadyr. [13] The majority of Chaplino Yupik speakers live in the villages of Novoye Chaplino and Sireniki. In another terminology, these people speak Chaplino, and Ungazighmiit people speak one of its dialects, along with other dialects spoken by Avatmit, Imtugmit, Kigwagmit, which can be divided further into even smaller dialects. [12]
The second dialect, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, is believed to be an offspring of Chaplino with only minor phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactical and lexical differences, and the two dialects are virtually identical. [14]
Unlike the Central Alaskan Yupik languages, Siberian Yupik has a series of retroflex fricatives, more similar to the Alaskan Inuit dialects.
Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | lab. | plain | lab. | |||||||
Nasal | voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ŋ̊ | ŋ̊ʷ | |||||
voiced | m | n | ŋ | ŋʷ | ||||||
Stop | p | t | k | kʷ | q | qʷ | ||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʂ | x | xʷ | χ | χʷ | h | |
voiced | v | z | ʐ | ɣ | ɣʷ | ʁ | ʁʷ | |||
lateral | ɬ | |||||||||
Approximant | l | j |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | ə | ||
Open | a |
Morphosyntax is the study of grammatical categories or linguistic units that have both morphological and syntactic properties. Central Siberian Yupik’s structure most resembles this category. In addition, CSY can be described as using both internal and external syntax. Internal syntax is used here to describe the way that postbases are added to a base or added to one another, contrasted with external syntax, which refers to the order of independent words. [15]
Central Siberian Yupik is a polysynthetic language, meaning it is made up of long, structured words containing many separate meaningful parts (morphemes). In fact, a single word can be an entire sentence. CSY is also an ergative-absolutive language, in contrast to the nominative-accusative structure of English and many Indo-European languages.
Most Siberian Yupik words consist of a "base" or "stem", followed by zero or more "postbases", followed by one "ending", followed by zero or more "enclitics": [16]
angyagh-
boat
stem
-ghllag-
big
postbase
-nge-
acquire
postbase
-yug-
want
postbase
-tuq
3SG-PRES
ending
-llu
also
enclitic
"Also, he/she wants to acquire a big boat."
Generally, the “base” or “stem” contains the root meaning of the word , while the “postbases,” which are suffixing morphemes, provide additional components of the sentence (see example above). As shown, postbases include items with adjectival and verbal qualities, among other elements. The “ending” (Woodbury’s term) is an inflectional suffix to the right of the postbase that contains grammatical information such as number, person, case, or mood. [17] Enclitics are bound suffixes that follow the inflectional ending of a word. An attached enclitic affects the meaning of the entire sentence, not just the element to which it is attached. The exception is the enclitic ‘llu,’ shown above, which has a basic meaning of ‘and.’ [18]
The base forms the lexical core of the word and belongs to one of three main classes: noun bases, verb bases and particle bases. [19]
Noun endings indicate number (singular, dual, or plural), case, and whether or not the noun is possessed. If the noun is possessed, the ending indicates the number and person of the possessor. Siberian Yupik has seven noun cases:
As in other ergative-absolutive languages, absolutive case is used to mark nouns that are generally the subjects of intransitive verbs or the objects of transitive verbs.
Singular Noun | Plural Noun | Dual Noun | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Unpossessed | Ø | -t | -k | |
1st person possessor | singular | -ka | -nka | -gka |
plural | -put | -put | -gput | |
dual | -pung | -pung | -gpung | |
2nd person possessor | singular | -n | -ten | -gken |
plural | -si | -si | -gsi | |
dual | -tek | -tek | -gtek | |
3rd person possessor | singular | -a | -i | -kek |
plural | -at | -it | -gket | |
dual | -ak | -ik | -gkek | |
3rd person reflective possessor | singular | -ni | -ni | -gni |
plural | -teng | -teng | -gteng | |
dual | -tek | -tek | -gtek |
Ergative case identifies nouns as a subject of a transitive verb and acts as the genitive form in ergative-absolutive languages.
Singular Noun | Plural Noun | Dual Noun | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Unpossessed | -m | -t | -k | |
1st person possessor | singular | -ma | -ma | -gma |
plural | -mta | -mta | -gemta | |
dual | -mtung | -mtung | -gemtung | |
2nd person possessor | singular | -gpek | -gpek | -gpek |
plural | -gpesi | -gpesi | -gpesi | |
dual | -gpetek | -gpetek | -gpetek | |
3rd person possessor | singular | -an | -in | -gkenka |
plural | -ita | -ita | -gkenka | |
dual | -ita | -ita | -gkenka | |
3rd person reflective possessor | singular | -mi | -mi | -gmi |
plural | -meng | -meng | -gmeng | |
dual | -meng | -meng | -gmeng |
The ablative case is used to indicate the agent in passive sentences, or the instrument, manner, or place of the action described by the verb.
Single Noun | Plural Noun | Dual Noun | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Unpossessed | -meng | -neng | -gneng | |
1st person possessor | singular | -mneng | -mneng | -gemneng |
plural | -mnneng | -mnneng | -gemneng | |
dual | -mtegneng | -mtegneng | -gemtegneng | |
2nd person possessor | singular | -gpe(g)neng | -gpe(g)neng | -gpe(g)neng |
plural | -gpesineng | -gpesineng | -gpesineng | |
dual | -gpetegneng | -gpetegneng | -gpetegneng | |
3rd person possessor | singular | -aneng | -ineng | -gkeneng |
plural | -itneng | -itneng | -itneng | |
dual | -gkeneng | -itneng | -itneng | |
3rd person reflective possessor | singular | -mineng | -mineng | -gmineng |
plural | -meggneng | -meggneng | -gmeggneng | |
dual | -meg(te)neng | -meg(te)neng | -gmeg(te)neng |
The endings of the locative and terminative cases are the same as those of the ablative case except that the locative case has -mi and -ni and the terminative case has -mun and -nun in place of the -meng and -neng at the end of the ablative case endings.
In grammar, the prolative case, also called the vialis case, is a grammatical case of a noun or pronoun that expresses motion by the referent of the noun it marks.
Singular Noun | Plural Noun | Dual Noun | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Unpossessed | -kun | -tgun | -gnekun | |
1st person possessor | singular | -mkun | -mkun | -gemkun |
plural | -mteggun | -mteggun | -gemteggun | |
dual | -mtegnegun | -mtegnegun | -gemtegnegun | |
2nd person possessor | singular | -gpegun | -gpegun | -gpegun |
plural | -gpesigun | -gpesigun | -gpesigun | |
dual | -gpetegnegun | -gpetegnegun | -gpetegnegun | |
3rd person possessor | singular | -akun | -ikun | -gkenkun |
plural | -itgun | -itgun | -itgun | |
dual | -gkenkun | -itgun | -itgun | |
3rd person reflective possessor | singular | -mikun | -mikun | -gmikun |
plural | -megteggun | -megteggun | -gmegteggun | |
dual | -megtegnegun | -megtegnegun | -gmegtegnegun |
Equative is a case that expresses the standard of comparison of equal values.
Singular Noun | Plural Noun | Dual Noun | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Unpossessed | -tun | -stun | -gestun | |
1st person possessor | singular | -mtun | -mtun | -gemtun |
plural | -mtestun | -mtestun | -gemtestun | |
dual | -mtegestun | -mtegestun | -gemtegestun | |
2nd person possessor | singular | -gpetun | -gpetun | -gpetun |
plural | -gpesistun | -gpesistun | -gpesistun | |
dual | -gpetegetun | -gpetegetun | -gpetegetun | |
3rd person possessor | singular | -atun | -itun | -gketun |
plural | -itun | -itun | -itun | |
dual | -gketun | -itun | -itun | |
3rd person reflective possessor | singular | -mitun | -mitun | -gmitun |
plural | -megestun | -megestun | -gmegestun | |
dual | -megestun | -megestun | -gmegestun |
Derivation is accomplished in CSY by attaching suffixes called postbases. Productivity in the context of CSY is defined as the free addition of a postbase to any base without an unpredictable semantic result; non-productivity implies that said postbases cannot combine freely but are limited to attaching to only a particular set of bases. [17] Postbases are either nominal or verbal and select nominal or verbal bases or expanded bases to attach to (an expanded base is a base followed by one or more postbases). There are four kinds of postbases: [19]
These postbases can indicate a wide variety of meaning, including: [19]
For nouns:
For verbs:
It is estimated that CSY has approximately 547 postbases: 75 NN, 55 NV, 30 VN, and 387 VV. It appears that in CSY the large majority of NN, NV, and VN postbases are productive; for the VV postbases, there are approximately 190 non-productive ones and 197 productive ones. [17]
There are no clear morphological position classes in CSY. [20] A position class is the organization of morphemes or a morpheme class into a linear ordering with no apparent connection to syntactic, semantic, or phonological representation. [21] In the example below, it is semantic restrictions that dictate the order. [20]
negh-
eat
-yaghtugh-
go.to.V
-yug-
want.to.V
-umaeat
PST
-yagh-
FRUSTR
-pete-
INFER
-aa
IND.3S3S
-llu
also
‘Also, it turns out she/he wanted to go eat it, but. . .’.
Some postbases can be used recursively, as in the example below. [20]
itegh-
come.in
-sqe-
ask.to.V
-yaghtugh-
go.to.V
-sqe-
ask.to.V
-aa
IND.3S3S
‘Hei asked himj to go ask himk to come in’.
Recursion can also be used for emphasis. [22]
pinitun-(ngw/w)aagh-(ngs/w)aagh
really really well
There is variability in postbase ordering with no change in semantic outcome. [20]
aane-
go.out
-nanigh-
cease.to.V
-utke
V.on.account.of
-aa
IND.3S3S
‘He ceased going out on account of it’.
aane-
go.out
-utke-
V.on.account.of
-nanigh-
cease.to.V
-aa
IND.3S3S
‘He ceased going out on account of it’.
Abbreviations: V, verb; PST, past tense; FRUSTR, frustrative (‘but . . ., in vain’); INFER, inferential evidential (often translatable as ‘it turns out’); INDIC, indicative; 3S3S, third-person subject acting on third-person object): (de Reuse 2006) Note: postbases noted in bold.
Note: there is a general rule in CSY of semantic scope in which the rightmost postbase will have scope over the left. However, there are many exceptions, as in the example above. [20]
Following are a brief list and description of enclitics in CSY. The table is recreated from de Reuse (1988). [23]
1st Position | 2nd Position | 3rd Position | 4th position |
---|---|---|---|
-sa | -nguq | ||
-ta | |||
-llu | -ngam | -tuq | |
-qun | |||
-wha | |||
-lli |
Note: the ‘position’ references above refer to the position of the postbase following the main base.
Naukan, or Nuvuqaghmiistun, the second largest Yupik language spoken in Chukotka, is spoken in settlements including Uelen, Lorino, Lavrentiya, and Provideniya. [13]
Additionally, the Sireniki Eskimo language, locally called Uqeghllistun, was an Eskimo language once spoken in Chukotka. It had many peculiarities. Sometimes it is classified as not belonging to the Yupik branch at all, thus forming (by itself) a stand-alone third branch of the Eskimo languages (alongside Inuit and Yupik). [12] [24] Its peculiarities may be the result of a supposed long isolation from other Eskimo groups in the past. [25]
Sireniki became extinct in early January 1997. [12] [24] [26]
Eskimo is an exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit and the Yupik of eastern Siberia and Alaska. A related third group, the Aleut, who inhabit the Aleutian Islands, are generally excluded from the definition of Eskimo. The three groups share a relatively recent common ancestor, and speak related languages belonging to the family of Eskaleut languages.
The Inuit languages are a closely related group of indigenous American languages traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and the adjacent subarctic regions as far south as Labrador. The Inuit languages are one of the two branches of the Eskimoan language family, the other being the Yupik languages, which are spoken in Alaska and the Russian Far East. Most Inuit people live in one of three countries: Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark; Canada, specifically in Nunavut, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories, the Nunavik region of Quebec, and the Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut regions of Labrador; and the United States, specifically in northern and western Alaska.
The Yupik are a group of Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples of western, southwestern, and southcentral Alaska and the Russian Far East. They are related to the Inuit and Iñupiat. Yupik peoples include the following:
The Eskaleut, Eskimo–Aleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages are a language family native to the northern portions of the North American continent, and a small part of northeastern Asia. Languages in the family are indigenous to parts of what are now the United States (Alaska); Canada including Nunavut, Northwest Territories, northern Quebec (Nunavik), and northern Labrador (Nunatsiavut); Greenland; and the Russian Far East. The language family is also known as Eskaleutian, or Eskaleutic.
Aleut or Unangam Tunuu is the language spoken by the Aleut living in the Aleutian Islands, Pribilof Islands, Commander Islands, and the Alaska Peninsula. Aleut is the sole language in the Aleut branch of the Eskimo–Aleut language family. The Aleut language consists of three dialects, including Unalaska, Atka/Atkan, and Attu/Attuan.
Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits, are a Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far northeast of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Central Siberian Yupik, a Yupik language of the Eskimo–Aleut family of languages.
Sirenik Yupik, Sireniki Yupik, Sirenik, or Sirenikskiy is an extinct Eskimo–Aleut language. It was spoken in and around the village of Sireniki (Сиреники) in Chukotka Peninsula, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The language shift has been a long process, ending in total language death. In January 1997, the last native speaker of the language, a woman named Vyjye, died. Ever since that point, the language has been extinct; nowadays, all Sirenik Eskimos speak Siberian Yupik or Russian. Despite this, censuses as late as 2010 report up to 5 native speakers of Sirenik.
Greenlandic is an Eskimo–Aleut language with about 57,000 speakers, mostly Greenlandic Inuit in Greenland. It is closely related to the Inuit languages in Canada such as Inuktitut. It is the most widely spoken Eskimo–Aleut language. In June 2009, the government of Greenland, the Naalakkersuisut, made Greenlandic the sole official language of the autonomous territory, to strengthen it in the face of competition from the colonial language, Danish. The main variety is Kalaallisut, or West Greenlandic. The second variety is Tunumiit oraasiat, or East Greenlandic. The language of the Inughuit of Greenland, Inuktun or Polar Eskimo, is a recent arrival and a dialect of Inuktitut.
The Yupik languages are a family of languages spoken by the Yupik peoples of western and south-central Alaska and Chukotka. The Yupik languages differ enough from one another that they are not mutually intelligible, although speakers of one of the languages may understand the general idea of a conversation of speakers of another of the languages. One of them, Sirenik, has been extinct since 1997.
Iñupiaq or Inupiaq, also known as Iñupiat, Inupiat, Iñupiatun or Alaskan Inuit, is an Inuit language, or perhaps group of languages, spoken by the Iñupiat people in northern and northwestern Alaska, as well as a small adjacent part of the Northwest Territories of Canada. The Iñupiat language is a member of the Inuit-Yupik-Unangan language family, and is closely related and, to varying degrees, mutually intelligible with other Inuit languages of Canada and Greenland. There are roughly 2,000 speakers. Iñupiaq is considered to be a threatened language, with most speakers at or above the age of 40. Iñupiaq is an official language of the State of Alaska, along with several other indigenous languages.
Haida is the language of the Haida people, spoken in the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of Canada and on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. An endangered language, Haida currently has 24 native speakers, though revitalization efforts are underway. At the time of the European arrival at Haida Gwaii in 1774, it is estimated that Haida speakers numbered about 15,000. Epidemics soon led to a drastic reduction in the Haida population, which became limited to three villages: Masset, Skidegate, and Hydaburg. Positive attitudes towards assimilation combined with the ban on speaking Haida in residential schools led to a sharp decline in the use of the Haida language among the Haida people, and today almost all ethnic Haida use English to communicate.
Vafsi is a dialect of the Tati language spoken in the Vafs village and surrounding area in the Markazi province of Iran. The dialects of the Tafresh region share many features with the Central Plateau dialects.
Naukan Yupik language or Naukan Siberian Yupik language is a critically endangered Eskimo language spoken by c. 70 Naukan persons (нывуӄаӷмит) on the Chukotka peninsula. It is one of the four Yupik languages, along with Central Siberian Yupik, Central Alaskan Yup'ik and Pacific Gulf Yupik.
The Alutiiq language is a close relative to the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language spoken in the western and southwestern Alaska, but is considered a distinct language. It has two major dialects:
Central Alaskan Yupʼik is one of the languages of the Yupik family, in turn a member of the Eskimo–Aleut language group, spoken in western and southwestern Alaska. Both in ethnic population and in number of speakers, the Central Alaskan Yupik people form the largest group among Alaska Natives. As of 2010 Yupʼik was, after Navajo, the second most spoken aboriginal language in the United States. Yupʼik should not be confused with the related language Central Siberian Yupik spoken in Chukotka and St. Lawrence Island, nor Naukan Yupik likewise spoken in Chukotka.
Sirenik or Sireniki are former speakers of a divergent Eskimo-Aleut language in Siberia, before its extinction. The total language death of this language means that now the cultural identity of Sirenik Eskimos is maintained through other aspects: slight dialectal difference in the adopted Siberian Yupik language; sense of place, including appreciation of the antiquity of their settlement Sirenik.
Cape Chaplin or Cape Chaplino is a cape pointing eastward in the Bering Sea in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation.
Nunivak Cup'ig or just Cup'ig is a language or separate dialect of Central Alaskan Yup'ik spoken in Central Alaska at the Nunivak Island by Nunivak Cup'ig people. The letter "c" in the Yup’ik alphabet is equivalent to the English alphabet "ch".
The consequential mood is a verb form used in some Eskaleut languages to mark dependent adverbial clauses for reason ('because') or time ('when'). Due to the broader meaning of the term mood in the context of Eskimo grammar, the consequential can be considered outside of the proper scope of grammatical mood.
The Chaplino dialect is a dialect of the Central Siberian Yupik language spoken by the indigenous Eskimo people along the coast of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Far East, in the villages of Novoye Chaplino, Provideniya, Uelkal and Sireniki. The Chaplino dialect is named after the village of Chaplino. The Chaplino dialect is spoken by the majority of Russian Yuits.
Name: Central Siberian Yupik
St Lawrence Island Yupik