Sallirmiutun

Last updated
Sallirmiutun
Siglitun
Native toCanada
Region Northwest Territories (Canada), as "Inuvialuktun"
Early forms
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolog sigl1242
Inuktitut dialect map.svg
Inuit dialects. Siglit is purple.
Lang Status 40-SE.svg
Siglitun is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
English: Welcome to Tuktoyaktuk
Siglitun: Aqana Tuktuuyaqtuumukkabsi Welcome to Tuktoyaktuk cropped.jpg
English: Welcome to Tuktoyaktuk
Siglitun: Aqana Tuktuuyaqtuumukkabsi

Sallirmiutun (formerly Siglitun) [1] is the dialect of Inuvialuktun spoken by the Siglit, an Inuit group of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is mainly used in the Inuvialuit communities of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour and Tuktoyaktuk. [2] Sallirmiutun was once the principal dialect of the Mackenzie River delta, nearby parts of the coast and Arctic Ocean islands, but the number of speakers fell dramatically following outbreaks of new diseases in the 19th century and for many years Sallirmiutun was believed to be completely extinct. It was only in the 1980s that outsiders realised that it was still spoken.

Contents

Sallirmiutun means "the language of the people of the coast" referring to the Beaufort Sea. It is the original dialect of the people from Kitigaaryuit.

It is one of the three dialects, along with Kangiryuarmiutun and Uummarmiutun, of Inuit language grouped together under the label Inuvialuktun. In fact, the word Inuvialuktun, meaning "the language of the real people" is a Sallirmiutun dialect word.

Phonology

The following is the phonology of the Siglitun dialect: [3]

Vowels

Front Back
Close i u
Open a

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular
plainlateral
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t k q
voiced b
Fricative v s ɬ j ɣ ʁ
Approximant l

Vocabulary comparison

The comparison of some animal names in the Siglitun dialect of Inuvialuktun language and Uummarmiutun dialect of the Iñupiatun language: [4]

SiglitunUummarmiutunmeaning
siksikhikȓik ground squirrel
qugyukqugȓuk tundra swan
ugyukugȓuk bearded seal
tigiaqpakitigiaqpak mink
qavviasiaqqavviatchiaq marten
tigiaqitiriaq weasel
tatidjgaqtatiȓgaq sandhill crane
ivugaqpakkuȓugaqpak mallard
aqidjgiqaqȓgiq willow ptarmigan
isun’ngaqihun’ngaq jaeger
piqtusiraqpamiuquuq otter

References

  1. Nagy, Murielle (17 October 2022). "Inuvialuit Ethnonyms and Toponyms as a Reflection of Identity, Language, and Memory". In Kenneth L. Pratt; Scott A. Heyes (eds.). Memory and Landscape: Indigenous Responses to a Changing North. Athabasca University Press. doi: 10.15215/AUPRESS/9781771993159.01 . ISBN   978-1-77199-316-6. Wikidata   Q126723202.
  2. IRC - Languages
  3. Lowe, Ronald (1985). Siglit Inuvialuktun Uqausiita Ilisarviksait: Basic Siglit Inuvialuktun Grammar. Committee for Original Peoples Entitlement. pp. 297–298.
  4. Inuvialuit Settlement Region – TK Study, August 2006 [ permanent dead link ]