Uummarmiutun

Uummarmiutun or Canadian Iñupiaq is the variant of Iñupiatun (or Inuvialuktun) spoken by the Uummarmiut, part of the Inuvialuit, who live mainly in the communities of Inuvik and Aklavik in the Northwest Territories of Canada.^[1]

This dialect is essentially the same as that spoken by the Inupiat of Alaska, and is present in Canada because of migration from Alaska in the 1910s, reoccupying traditionally Siglit Inuit lands abandoned during the devastating disease outbreaks of the previous century.^[2]

Because Inuvik and Aklavik are ethnically mixed communities where English is the near exclusive language of communication, few young people speak Uummarmiutun and the language is very endangered.

It is one of the three dialects, Kangiryuarmiutun and Siglitun are the other two, of the Inuit language grouped together under the label Inuvialuktun.

Phonology

Uummarmiutun has three vowels:

• Short vowels: a i u
• Long vowels: aa ii uu
• Diphthongs: ai ui au iu ua ia

Uummarmiutun has 19 consonants: ch, f, g, h, dj, k, l, ł, m, n, ñ, ng, p, q, r, ȓ, t, v, y.

Vocabulary comparison

The comparison of some animal names in the two dialects of Iñupiatun:

¹ The name reindeer for semi-domesticated subspecies (Rangifer tarandus tarandus). The wild subspecies (Rangifer tarandus granti) is caribou (Iñupiaq name is tuttu).

References

Further reading

• Lowe, Ronald. Uummarmiut Uqalungiha Mumikhitchirutingit = Basic Uummarmiut Eskimo Dictionary. Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada: Committee for Original Peoples Entitlement, 1984. ISBN 0-9691597-1-4
• Lowe, Ronald. Basic Uummarmiut Eskimo Grammar = Uummarmiut Uqalungiha Ilihaur̂r̂utikr̂angit. C.O.P.E, 5. Inuvik, N.W.T.: Committee for Original Peoples Entitlement, 1985. ISBN 0-9691597-4-9