| Also Known As: Greenlandic Eskimo,Greenlandic,Kalaallisut,Inuktitut, Greenlandic
Description:
The Greenlandic language is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken by most people in Greenland. It is closely related to the Inuit languages in Canada, such as Inuktitut. It is spoken by about 54,000 people, which is more than all the other Eskimo-Aleut languages combined. The most prominent dialect is Western Greenlandic (Kalaallisut), which is the official language of Greenland. The name Kalaallisut is now often used as a cover term for all of Greenlandic. The northern dialect, Inuktun (Avanersuarmiutut), spoken around the city of Qaanaaq (Thule) is particularly closely related to Canadian Inuktitut. Other dialects are Eastern Greenlandic (Tunumiit oraasiat), and the dialect of Upernavik. Before June 2009, it shared its status as the official language in Greenland with Danish. Since then, Greenlandic has become the sole official language.. The country has a 100% literacy rate.
The most extensive study of Greenlandic phonology is Jørgen Rischel's "Topics in West Greenlandic Phonology" (1974).
Three vowels: /i/, /u/ and /a/
Before an uvular consonant ([q] or [ʁ]) /i/ is realized allophonically as [e] or [ɛ] and /u/ as [o] or [ɔ]. This alternation is shown in the modern standard..... full article at Wikipedia |
