Iñupiaq language
An Inuit language of Alaska, threatened but revitalized.
Iñupiaq (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 and a small adjacent part of the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is a member of the Inuit–Yupik–Unangan language family and is closely related to other Inuit languages of Canada and Greenland. With roughly 2,000 speakers, most aged 40 or above, Iñupiaq is considered a threatened language, though it is an official language of the State of Alaska.
- Language family
- Inuit–Yupik–Unangan
- Number of speakers
- Roughly 2,000
- Status
- Threatened
- Official status
- Official language of the State of Alaska (since 2014)
- Major dialects
- North Slope Iñupiaq and Seward Peninsula Iñupiaq
- Region
- Northern and northwestern Alaska, and a small part of the Northwest Territories, Canada
Lore & Background
The Iñupiaq language has been spoken in northern Alaska for as long as 5,000 years. Between 1,000 and 800 years ago, Inuit migrated east from Alaska to Canada and Greenland. Iñupiaq dialects are the most conservative forms of the Inuit language, with less linguistic change than other Inuit languages. Contact with English began in the late 19th century. In 1885, American territorial General Agent of Education Rev. Sheldon Jackson enforced English-only education, forbidding Iñupiaq and other indigenous languages. After decades of such policy, with strict punishment for speaking Iñupiaq, most Iñupiat after the 1970s did not pass the language to their children for fear of punishment.
Reader's Guide
The Iñupiaq language's significance lies in its deep history in Alaska and its role as the most conservative branch of the Inuit language family. Despite severe decline due to American territorial acquisition and boarding school policies, revitalization efforts have emerged. In 1972, Alaska mandated that schools with at least 15 non-English-primary pupils have a fluent native-language teacher. The University of Alaska Fairbanks now offers bachelor's degrees in Iñupiaq language and culture, and a preschool/kindergarten immersion school, Nikaitchuat Iḷisaġviat, operates in Kotzebue. In 2014, Iñupiaq became an official state language. Linguist Edna Ahgeak MacLean published a grammar and dictionary with over 19,000 entries in 2014, later released online. Facebook added Iñupiaq as a language option in 2018, and an Iñupiaq version of Wordle appeared in 2022. These steps, along with ongoing community work, represent efforts to reverse the language's decline.
Did You Know?
- Iñupiaq has roughly 2,000 speakers, most aged 40 or above.
- The Bering Strait dialect has a fourth vowel ⟨e⟩ /ə/, preserving the proto-Eskimo vowel */ə/.
- In 2014, Iñupiaq became an official language of the State of Alaska alongside English and nineteen other indigenous languages.
- An Iñupiaq version of Wordle was created in 2022.
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