Central Alaskan Yupʼik
Central Alaskan Yupik | |
---|---|
Yupʼik | |
Yugtun, Cugtun | |
Native to | United States |
Region | western and southwestern Alaska |
Ethnicity | Central Alaskan Yupik people |
Native speakers | 19,750 (2013)[1] |
Early forms | |
Dialects |
|
Yugtun syllabary | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Alaska[2] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | esu |
Glottolog | cent2127 |
ELP | Central Alaskan Yup'ik |
Glottopedia | Zentralalaska-Yup'ik [3] |
Central Alaskan Yupik is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Central Alaskan Yupʼik (also rendered Yupik,
Yupʼik, like all Eskimo languages, is
Language name
The Yup'ik language goes by various names. Since it is a geographically central member of the
Other endonyms are used regionally: Cup'ig in the Nunivak dialect, Cup'ik in Chevak (these terms are cognate with Yup'ik, but represent the pronunciation of the word in the respective dialect), and Yugtun in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region.
Geographic distribution and use
Yupʼik is spoken primarily in southwestern Alaska, from
Of a total population of more than 23,000 people, more than 14,000 are speakers of the language.[10] Children still grow up speaking Yupʼik as their first language in 17 of 68 Yupʼik villages, those mainly located on the lower Kuskokwim River, on Nelson Island, and along the coast between the Kuskokwim River and Nelson Island. The variety of Yup'ik spoken by the younger generations is being influenced strongly by English: it is less synthetic, has a reduced inventory of spatial demonstratives, and is lexically Anglicized.[8]
Dialects
Yup'ik is typically considered to have five dialects: Norton Sound, General Central Yup'ik,
The Yupʼik dialects, sub-dialects and their locations are as follows:[14]
- Yup'ik
- Norton Sound (alternatively, Unaliq-Pastuliq); spoken around Norton Sound
- Unaliq sub-dialect; spoken by Unalirmiut (= Atnegmiut, Kuuyuŋmiut, Eŋlutaleġmiut etc.) tribes in Elim (Neviarcaurluq), Golovin (Cingik), St. Michael (Taciq)
- Kotlik sub-dialect; spoken by the Pastulirmiut tribe in Kotlik (Qerrulliik)
- General Central Yupʼik (Yugtun); spoken on Nelson Island, on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, and in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska[11]
- Core dialects; spoken on the lower Kuskokwim, on the coast up to Nelson Island, and in Bristol Bay[12]
- Lower Kuskokwim sub-dialect; spoken in Akiachak (Akiacuaq), Akiak (Akiaq), Atmautluak (Atmaulluaq), Bethel (Mamterilleq), Eek (Ekvicuaq), Goodnews Bay (Mamterat), Upper Kalskag (Qalqaq), Lower Kalskag (Qalqaq), Kipnuk (Qipnek), Kongiganak (Kangirnaq), Kwethluk (Kuiggluk), Kwigillingok (Kuigilnguq), Napakiak (Naparyarraq), Napaskiak (Napaskiaq), Nunapitchuk or Akolmiut (Nunapicuar), Oscarville (Kuiggayagaq), Platinum (Arviiq), Quinhagak (Kuinerraq), Tuluksak (Tuulkessaaq), and Tuntutuliak (Tuntutuliaq)
- Bristol Bay sub-dialect; spoken in Aleknagik (Alaqnaqiq), Clark's Point (Saguyaq), Dillingham (Curyung), Ekuk, Manokotak (Manuquutaq), Togiak (Tuyuryaq), and Twin Hills (Ingricuar)
- Peripheral dialects; spoken on the upper Kuskokwim, on the Yukon, and around Lake Iliamna[12]
- Yukon or Lower Yukon sub-dialect; spoken in Alakanuk (Alarneq), Emmonak (Imangaq), Holy Cross (Ingirraller), Marshall or Fortuna Ledge (Masserculleq), Mountain Village (Asaacaryaraq), Nunam Iqua or Sheldon Point (Nunam Iqua), Pilot Station (Tuutalgaq), Pitkas Point (Negeqliim Painga), Russian Mission (Iqugmiut), St. Mary's (Negeqliq), Scammon Bay (Marayaarmiut)
- Upper or Middle Kuskokwim sub-dialect; spoken in Aniak (Anyaraq), Chuathbaluk (Curarpalek), Crooked Creek (Qipcarpak), McGrath, Sleetmute (Cellitemiut), Stony River
- Lake Iliamna sub-dialect; spoken in Egegik (Igyagiiq), Igiugig (Igyaraq), Iliamna (Illiamna), Kokhanok (Qarrʼunaq), Levelock (Liivlek), Naknek (Nakniq), South Naknek (Qinuyang)
- Mixed dialects (i.e., those that share features of core and peripheral varieties)
- Nelson Island & Stebbins sub-dialect; spoken in Chefornak (Cevvʼarneq), Newtok (Niugtaq), Nightmute (Negtemiut), Stebbins (Tapraq), Toksook Bay (Nunakauyaq or Qaluuyarmiut), Tununak (Tununeq)
- Nushagak River sub-dialect; spoken in Ekwok (Iquaq), Koliganek (Qalirneq), New Stuyahok (Cetuyaraq), Portage Creek
- Core dialects; spoken on the lower Kuskokwim, on the coast up to Nelson Island, and in Bristol Bay[12]
- Egegik (extinct), once spoken in Egegik (Igyagiiq)
- Hooper Bay-Chevak
- Hooper Bay sub-dialect; spoken in Hooper Bay (Naparyaarmiut)
- Chevak sub-dialect; spoken in Chevak (Cevʼaq),
- Nunivak; spoken in Mekoryuk (Mikuryar).
- Norton Sound (alternatively, Unaliq-Pastuliq); spoken around Norton Sound
The last of these, the Nunivak dialect (Cupʼig) is distinct and highly divergent from mainland Yupʼik dialects. The only significant difference between Hooper Bay and Chevak dialects is the pronunciation of the initial y- [j] as c- [tʃ] in Chevak in some words: Yupʼik in Hooper Bay but Cupʼik in Chevak.[8]
Even sub-dialects may differ with regard to pronunciation and lexicon. The following table compares some words in two sub-dialects of General Central Yupʼik (Yugtun).[15]
Yukon (Kuigpak) |
Kuskokwim (Kusquqvak) |
meaning |
---|---|---|
elicar- | elitnaur- | to study (intrans.); to teach someone (trans.) |
elicaraq | elitnauraq | student |
elicari- | elitnauri | to teach (intrans.) |
elicarista | elitnaurista | teacher |
aiggaq | unan | hand |
ikusek | cingun | elbow |
ayuqe- | kenir- | to cook by boiling |
cella | ella | weather, outside, universe, awareness |
naniq | kenurraq | lamp, light |
uigtua- | naspaa- | to sample or taste, attempt, try |
Writing and literature
A
Orthography
While several different systems have been used to write Yupʼik, the most widely used orthography today is that adopted by the Alaska Native Language Center and exemplified in Jacobson's (1984) dictionary, Jacobson's (1995) learner's grammar, and Miyaoka's (2012) grammar. The orthography is a Latin-script alphabet; the letters and digraphs used in alphabetical order are listed below, along with an indication of their associated phonemes in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
Letter / digraph | IPA | Letter / digraph | IPA | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
a | /a/ | p | /p/ | ||
c | /tʃ/ | q | /q/ | ||
e | /ə/ | r | /ʁ/ | represents /χ/ word-finally | |
g | /ɣ/ | rr | /χ/ | ||
gg | /x/ | s | /z/ | represents /s/ word-initially | |
i | /i/ | ss | /s/ | ||
k | /k/ | t | /t/ | ||
l | /l/ | u | /u/ | ||
ll | /ɬ/ | u͡g | /ɣʷ/ | ||
m | /m/ | u͡r | /ʁʷ/ | ||
ḿ | /m̥/ | u͡rr | [χʷ] | does not contrast with /ʁʷ/ | |
n | /n/ | v | /v/ | ||
ń | /n̥/ | vv | /f/ | ||
ng | /ŋ/ | w | /xʷ/ | ||
ńg | /ŋ̊/ | y | /j/ |
The vowel qualities /a, i, u/ may occur
Phonology
Vowels
Yup'ik contrasts four
Front (unrounded) |
Central (unrounded) |
Back rounded | |
---|---|---|---|
Non-low | i | ə | u |
Low
|
a |
The vowel qualities [e o] are allophones of /i u/, and are found preceding uvular consonants (such as [q] or [ʁ]) and preceding the low vowel [a].[8]
Consonants
Yup'ik does not contrast
Labial | Alveolar | Postalv./ Palatal |
Velar | Uvular | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | labialised | plain | labialised | |||||
Nasal | voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ŋ̊ | ||||
voiced | m | n
|
ŋ | |||||
Stop
|
p | t
|
k | q | ||||
Affricate
|
(t͡s) | t͡ʃ | ||||||
Fricative
|
voiceless | f | s | x | xʷ | χ | (χʷ) | |
voiced | v | z | ɣ | ɣʷ | ʁ | ʁʷ | ||
lateral | ɬ
|
|||||||
Approximant
|
l
|
j | (w) |
The table above includes the allophones [χʷ], [ts], and [w]. The voiceless labialized uvular fricative [χʷ] occurs only in some speech variants and does not contrast with its voiced counterpart /ʁʷ/. The
Dialect variations
In Norton Sound, as well as some villages on the lower Yukon, /j/ tends to be pronounced as [z] when following a consonant, and geminate /jː/ as [zː]. For example, the word angyaq "boat" of General Central Yup'ik (GCY) is angsaq [aŋzaq] Norton Sound.[12][8]
Conversely, in the Hooper Bay-Chevak (HBC) dialect, there is no /z/ phoneme, and /j/ is used in its place, such that GCY qasgiq [qazɣeq] is pronounced qaygiq [qajɣeq]. HBC does not have the [w] allophone of /v/, such that /v/ is pronounced [v] in all contexts,[12] and there are no labialized uvular fricatives.[8]
In the Nunivak dialect, one finds /aː/ in place of GCY /ai/, such that GCY cukaitut "they are slow" is pronounced cukaatut, there is no word-final fortition of /x/ and /χ/ (see below), and word-initial /xʷ/ is pronounced [kʷ].[12]
Voicing alternations
There are a variety of voicing
- The regressively(right-to-left). Thus ekvik is pronounced [əkfik], and qilugtuq /qiluɣ-tu-q/ is pronounced [qiluxtoq] (compare qilugaa /qiluɣ-a-a/ [qiluːɣaː]).
- Progressive voicing assimilation occurs from fricatives to fricatives: inarrvik /inaχ-vik/ is pronounced [inaχfik].
- Progressive voicing assimilation occurs from stops to nasals: ciut-ngu-uq "it is an ear" is pronounced [tʃiutŋ̊uːq].
- Progressive voicing optionally occurs from voiceless fricatives to nasals: errneq is pronounced [əχn̥əq] or [əχnəq].[8]
Occasionally these assimilation processes do not apply, and in the orthography an apostrophe is written in the middle of the consonant cluster to indicate this: at'nguq is pronounced [atŋoq], not [atŋ̊oq].[12]
Fricatives are devoiced word-initially and word-finally.[8]
Word-final fortition
Another common phonological alternation of Yup'ik is word-final fortition. Among consonants, only the stops /t k q/, the nasals /m n ŋ/, and the fricative /χ/ may occur word-finally. Any other fricative (and in many cases also /χ/) will become a plosive when it occurs at the end of a word. For example, qayar-pak "big kayak" is pronounced [qajaχpak], while "kayak" alone is [qajaq]; the velar fricative becomes a stop word-finally. Moreover, the [k] of -pak is only a stop by virtue of it being word-final: if another suffix is added, as in qayar-pag-tun "like a big kayak" a fricative is found in place of that stop: [qajaχpaxtun].[8]
Elision
The voiced velar consonants /ɣ ŋ/ are elided between single vowels, if the first is a full vowel: /tuma-ŋi/ is pronounced tumai [tumːai] (with geminate [mː] resulting from automatic gemination; see below).[8]
Prosody
Yup'ik has an iambic
The iambic stress system of Yup'ik results in predicable iambic lengthening, a processes that serves to increase the weight of the prominent syllable in a foot.[17] When lengthening cannot apply, a variety of processes involving either elision or gemination apply to create a well-formed prosodic word.[12][8]
Iambic lengthening
Iambic lengthening is the process by which the second syllable in an iambic foot is made more prominent by lengthening the duration of the vowel in that syllable.[17] In Yup'ik, a bisyllabic foot whose syllables each contain one phonologically single vowel will be pronounced with a long vowel in the second syllable. Thus pissuqatalliniluni /pisuqataɬiniluni/ "apparently about to hunt" is pronounced [(pi.'suː)(qa.'taː)(ɬi.'niː)lu.ni]. Following standard linguistic convention, parentheses here demarcate feet, periods represent the remaining syllable boundaries, and apostrophes occur before syllables that bear stress. In this word the second, fourth, and sixth syllables are pronounced with long vowels as a result of iambic lengthening.[17][18][19] Iambic lengthening does not apply to final syllables in a word.[12][8]
Because the vowel /ə/ cannot occur long in Yup'ik, when a syllable whose
Regressive stress
There are a variety of prosodic factors that cause stress to retract (move backward) to a syllable where it would not otherwise be expected, given the usual iambic stress pattern. (These processes do not apply, however, in the Norton Sound dialects.[8]) The processes by which stress retracts under prosodically-conditioned factors are said to feature regression of stress in Miyaoka's (2012) grammar. When regression occurs, the syllable to which stress regresses constitutes a monosyllabic foot.[8]
The first of these processes is related to the inability of /ə/ to occur long. Outside of Norton Sound, if the consonants before and after /ə/ are phonetically dissimilar, /ə/ will elide, and stress will retract to a syllable whose nucleus is the vowel before the elided /ə/. For example, /nəqə-ni/ "his own fish" is not pronounced *[(nə.'qəː)ni], which would be expected by iambic lengthening, but rather is pronounced neq'ni [('nəq)ni], which features the elision of /ə/ and a monosyllabic foot.[8]
Second, if the first syllable of a word is
Another third prosodic factor that influences regressive is
Yup'ik also disallows iambic feet that consist of a closed syllable followed by an open one, i.e. feet of the form CVC.'CV(ː), where C and V stand for "consonant" and "vowel" respectively. To avoid this type of foot, stress retracts: cangatenrituten /tʃaŋatənʁitutən/ has the stress pattern [(tʃa.'ŋaː)('tən)(ʁi.'tuː)tən] to avoid the iambic foot *(tən.'ʁiː) that would otherwise be expected.[8]
Grammar
Yup'ik has highly
Three parts of speech are identified: nouns, verbs, and
Morphology
In
Stem | Postbases | Ending | Enclitic |
---|---|---|---|
angyar boat |
-u
-nga 1SG |
||
"I wished very much to build a big boat" |
Stem | Postbases | Ending | Enclitic | |
---|---|---|---|---|
assir good |
-tu
-a 1SG |
=gguq RPR | ||
"(he says) I'm fine" | ||||
"(tell him) I'm fine" |
Stem | Postbases | Ending | Enclitic | |
---|---|---|---|---|
kipus buy |
-vik LOC |
-Ø
|
||
"store" (lit. "place for buying") |
Stem | Postbases | Ending | Enclitic | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
qayar kayak |
-q
-a 1SG |
|||||
"the way I make a big kayak" |
Because post-bases are derivational morphemes, and thus can change the part of speech of a word, many verbs are built from noun stems, and vice versa. For example, neqe-ngqer-tua "I have fish" is a verb, despite the fact that neqe- "fish" is a noun; the postbase -ngqerr "have" makes the resulting word a verb. These changes in grammatical category can apply iteratively, such that over the course of word formation, a word may become a noun, then a verb, then back to a noun, and so on.[8][21]
Verb conjugation
The
Grammatical mood
Yup'ik has a great number of grammatical moods. The moods can be categorized according to whether the clause in which they are found is independent or subordinate. There are four so-called independent moods: the indicative, optative, interrogative, and participial; these typically are found on the main verbs of
Forms | Common uses (not exhaustive) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Independent moods | Indicative | -gur (intransitive)
-gar (transitive) |
Used to form declarative sentences
|
Participial | -lriar, or -ngur after /t/ (intransitive)
-ke (transitive) |
(Varied) | |
Interrogative | -ta (after a consonant, if subject is third person)
-ga (after a vowel, if subject is third person) -ci (if subject is first or second person) |
Used to form wh-questions | |
Optative | -li (if subject is third person)
-la (if subject is first person) -gi or -na (if subject is second person) |
Used to express wishes, requests, suggestions, commands,
and occasionally to make declarative statements | |
Co-subordinate | Appositional | -lu, or -na after certain suffixes | Used for cosubordination, coordination, and in independent clauses |
Connective moods | Causal | -nga | Used to form subordinate clauses (translated "because, when") |
Constative | -gaq(a) | Used to form subordinate clauses (translated "whenever") | |
Precessive | -pailg | Used to form subordinate clauses (translated "before") | |
Concessive | -ngrrarr | Used to form subordinate clauses (translated "although, even if") | |
Conditional | -k(u) | Used to form subordinate clauses (translated "if") | |
Indirective | -cu(a) | Used to express indirect suggestions, admonishment | |
Contemporative | -llr | Used to form subordinate clauses (translated "when") | |
Simultaneous | -nginanrr | Used to form subordinate clauses (translated "while") | |
Stative | -Ø | Used to form subordinate clauses (translated "being in the state of") |
In addition to the connective moods listed above, there are five so-called "quasi-connective" moods. Though these are adverbial adjuncts to main clauses and thus are similar in function to the connective moods, they inflect like nominals (they inflect with case, not agreement).[8]
Agreement
Yup'ik has a rich system of agreement on verbs. Up to two nominal arguments may be cross-referenced (intransitive verbs agree with their sole argument, and transitive verbs agree with both arguments). Three numbers (singular, dual, and plural) are distinguished, as well as at least three persons (first, second, and third). The third person is unmarked when cross-referencing subjects,[8] and the verbs of dependent clauses may have two types of third person forms depending on whether some argument is co-refers with the subject of the verb in the independent clause (see "Co-reference across clauses" below).[12][8] To the extent that subject and object agreement markers are not fusional, subject agreement linearly precedes object agreement.
Depending on the grammatical mood of the verb and which grammatical persons are being cross-referenced, agreement may display either an ergative pattern (where the sole argument of an intransitive verb is cross-referenced with the same morpheme that it would be if it were the object of a transitive verb) or an accusative pattern (where the sole argument of an intransitive verb is cross-referenced with the same morpheme that it would be if it were the subject of a transitive verb).[8]
Agreement markers vary in form depending on the grammatical mood of the verb. The two examples below illustrate this. In (1), the 1SG>3SG agreement marker is -qa because the verb is in the indicative mood, while in (2) the agreement marker is -ku due to verb being in the optative mood.
assik-a-qa
like-IND.TR-1SG>3SG
"I like him/her/it"
patu-la-ku=tuq
close-OPT-1SG>3SG=wish
egaleq
window.ABS
"I hope I will close the window"
The participial and indicative share a set of agreement markers, and all the connective moods likewise share a common set (which is shared also with some possessed nouns).[8]
Co-reference across clauses
The form of 3rd-person agreement in dependent clauses may vary depending on whether that 3rd-person argument is the same referent as, or a different referent than, a 3rd-person subject of the independent clause. In some descriptive work on the language, when the subject of the independent clause is co-referential with the relevant argument in the dependent clause, the agreement in the dependent clause is said to reflect a "fourth"[12] or a "reflexive third"[8] person. Jacobson (1995) uses the following contrast to illustrate:
Nere-llru-uq
eat-PST-IND.3SG
ermig-pailg-an
wash.face-before-3SG
"She ate before she (another) washed her face."
Nere-llru-uq
eat-PST-IND.3SG
ermig-paileg-mi
wash.face-before-4SG
"She ate before she (herself) washed her face."
The intransitive agreement in the dependent clause ermig-pailg-an in (3) is -an, indicating that the argument of the dependent clause is a different referent than the subject of the independent clause nerellruuq, while in (4) the agreement -mi indicates that the arguments of each clause are co-referential. Some grammatical moods do not have associated agreement markers that contrast these two types of third person.[8]
Some researchers have argued that the contrast in (3-4) exemplifies a type of switch-reference,[23][24] though McKenzie (2015) claims Yup'ik does not have the true characteristics of switch-reference, and that the Yup'ik system is better understood in terms of obviation or long-distance anaphora.[25]
Nouns
Yup'ik nouns inflect for number, case, and show agreement with the person and number of a possessor if present.[8]
Grammatical case
The
In addition to the absolutive and ergative structural cases (the latter of which is syncretic with the genitive; collectively the ergative and genitive are usually called the relative case[12][8]), there are at least five other cases that are mostly-nonstructural: ablative-modalis (a historical syncretism of ablative and instrumental cases), allative, locative, perlative, and equalis.[8]
Common function(s) | English equivalents | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Structural | Absolutive | Identifies the sole argument of an intransitive verb
Identifies the definite object of a transitive verb |
(none) | |
Relative | Ergative | Identifies the subject of a transitive verb | (none) | |
Genitive | Identifies a possessor | 's (as in John's book) | ||
Non-structural | Ablative-modalis | Identifies a spatial or temporal starting point
Marks nominals demoted from absolutive case under valency reduction |
from
(none) | |
Allative | Identifies a spatial or temporal end point
Marks nominals demoted from relative case under valency reduction |
to
(none) | ||
Locative | Identifies spatial or temporal locations
Indicates the standard of comparison in comparatives |
at, in, during
than | ||
Perlative | Identifies a spatial or temporal route through which movement occurs | along, via, by way of | ||
Equalis | Marks a nominal that is similar/equivalent to another; commonly
co-occurs with the verb ayuqe- "resemble" |
(none) |
The forms of these grammatical cases are variable, depending on the grammatical person and number of the head noun as well as the person and number of its possessor (if there is one).
Possession
Possessed nouns, like all other nouns, inflect for number and case, but also show person and number agreement with their possessor. For example, consider a few forms of saskaq "cup". The two leftmost nouns below are unpossessed, but the third is marked for a first person singular possessor -ka (pronounced in this case as -qa after assimilating to a uvular place of articulation). The final example marks plural number for both the noun itself and its possessor.
Word:
Component morphemes:
Interlinear gloss:
Translation:
saskaq
saskar-∅
cup-ABS.SG
"cup"
saskat
saskar-t
cup-ABS.PL
"cups"
saskaqa
saskar-∅-ka
cup-ABS.SG-1SG
"my cup"
saskaa
saskar-nga-∅
cup-ABS.SG-3SG
"his/her cup"
saskait
saskar-ngi-t
cup-ABS.PL-3PL
"their cups"
Possessors are often optional, but when present are marked with relative case:[8]
angute-m
man-REL.SG
kuuvviar-a
coffee.ABS.SG-3SG
"the man's coffee"
Word order
Yup'ik has considerably more freedom of word order than English does. In English, the word order of subjects and objects with respect to a verb reflects the thematic roles of the subject and object. For example, the English sentence The dog bit the preacher means something different than The preacher bit the dog does; this is because in English, the noun that comes before the verb must be the agent (the biter), while the noun following the verb must be the theme (the individual or thing that is bitten).
In Yupʼik, word order is freer because the rich inflectional system often serves to unambiguously identify thematic relations without recourse to word order. These Yup'ik sentences both mean "the dog bit the preacher", for instance.
Qimugtem
dog.ERG
keggellrua
bit
agayulirta
preacher.ABS
Agayulirta
preacher.ABS
keggellrua
bit
qimugtem
dog.ERG
The word order varies between these sentences, but the fact that qimugtem ("dog") is marked with ergative case (-m) is sufficient to identify it as the thematic agent. Thus, to say "the preacher bit the dog" in Yup'ik, one would need change which noun gets ergative case and which gets absolutive:[27]
qimugta
dog.ABS
keggellrua
bit
agayulirtem
preacher.ERG
"the preacher bit the dog"
Despite the greater freedom of word order, there seems to be a general preference for Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order (though VSO is also common, and pragmatic factors also play a significant role).[8] This can be observed in circumstances where the inflectional system will not unambiguously determine which noun is the agent and which is the theme. This obtains, for instance, when both arguments of an indicative transitive verb are third person plural and unpossessed: elitnauristet mikelnguut assikait can, in principle, mean either "the teachers like the children" or "the children like the teachers", since the case marking on elitnauristet "teachers" and mikelnguut "children" does not distinguish ergative from absolutive case (-t marks unpossessed ergative plurals as well as unpossessed absolutive plurals). In cases like this, the SOV preference comes into play, and the sentence is most readily interpreted as "the teachers like the children".
Spatial deixis
Yup'ik has a rich system of
There are twelve categories that define the orientation of a thing or event with respect to the environment. The environment in this sense includes topographical features (e.g., there is a contrast between upriver and downriver), the participants in the speech event (e.g., there is a contrast between proximity to the speaker and proximity to the hearer), and the linguistic context (one of these twelve categories is used for anaphora). This twelve-way contrast is cross-cut by a trinomial contrast in horizontal extension/motion: this determines whether the referent is extended (horizontally long or moving) or non-extended, and if non-extended, whether distal (typically far away, indistinct, and invisible) or proximal (typically nearby, distinct, and visible).
To illustrate, the spatial demonstrative roots of Yup'ik (which are then inflected for case and number) are presented in the following table from Miyaoka (2012).
Class | Translation of class | Extended | Non-extended | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Distal | Proximal | |||
I | here (near speaker) | mat- | u- | |
II | there (near hearer) | tamat- | tau- | |
III | aforementioned / known | im- | ||
IV | approaching (in space or time) | uk- | ||
V | over there | au͡g- | am- | ing- |
VI | across there, on the opposite bank | ag- | akm- | ik- |
VII | back/up there, away from river | pau͡g- | pam- | ping- |
VIII | up/above there (vertically) | pag- | pakm- | pik- |
IX | down/below there, toward river (bank) | un- | cam- | kan- |
X | out there, toward exit, downriver | un'g- | cakm- | ug- |
XI | inside, upriver, inland | qau͡g- | qam- | kiug-/kiu͡g- |
XII | outside, north | qag- | qakm- | kex- |
Note that Classes I and II lack distal forms due to an inherently non-distal meaning (these forms only locate things that are near to the speaker/hearer). Class III is purely anaphoric, and thus only has a distal form.[8]
Yupʼik language education
Small changes have been made towards teaching Yupʼik to the native Alaskan Yupʼiks. In 1972, the
Later, during the 1987-8 school year, three organizations, including members of the
In 2018, Anchorage's first Yup'ik immersion program was launched at College Gate Elementary.[31] Yup'ik language courses are offered at the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The latter also offers Bachelor's degrees in Yupʼik Language and Culture, as well as associate degrees in Native Language Education with a concentration in Yupʼik, and certificates in Yupʼik Language Proficiency.[32][33]
See also
- Chevak Cupʼik language
- Nunivak Cupʼig language
- Alaska Native Language Center
- Lower Yukon School District (Yupʼik)
- Lower Kuskokwim School District (Yupʼik & Cupʼig)
- Yupiit School District (Yupʼik)
- Kashunamiut School District (Cupʼik)
References
- ^ "Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2009-2013". U.S. Census Bureau. 2015.
- ^ Chappell, Bill (21 April 2014). "Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official". NPR.
- ^ Glottopedia article on Central Alaskan Yupʼik.
- Census.gov.
Yupik
- ^ Central Alaskan Yupʼik at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: ess". ISO 639-3 Registration Authority - SIL International. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
Name: Central Yupik
- ^ Siebens, Julie; Julian, Tiffany (2011). "Native North American Languages Spoken at Home in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2006–2010" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at Miyaoka 2012.
- ^ Jacobson 1984, p. 5.
- ^ "Yuungnaqpiallerput – The Way We Genuinely Live – Masterworks of Yupʼik Science and Survival". Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d Jacobson 1984, p. 6.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Jacobson 1995.
- ISBN 0-585-12190-7.
- E. Irene Reed, Steven Jacobson, Lawrence Kaplan, and Jeff Leer (1985). Alaskan Eskimo Languages population, dialects, and distribution based on 1980 Census[permanent dead link]. Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks 1985.
- ^ "ERIC – Education Resources Information Center" (PDF). Retrieved 3 July 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Yupik writing". Blackwell Reference Online. Archived from the original on 2013-01-19.
- ^ a b c d Buckley 1998.
- ^ a b Krauss 1985.
- ^ a b Hayes, Bruce (1985). "Iambic and trochaic rhythm in stress rules". Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, ed. Mary Niepokuj et Al.: 429–446.
- ^ a b Reed et al. 1977, p. 18.
- OCLC 1078287179.
- ^ Mithun 1999, pp. 234–235.
- ISBN 9780521402293.
- ^ Woodbury 1983.
- OCLC 915142700.
- ^ Reed et al. 1977, p. 64.
- ^ "Central Yupʼik and the Schools". www.alaskool.org. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
- ^ Krauss, Michael E. 1974. Alaska Native language legislation. International Journal of American Linguistics 40(2).150-52.
- ^ a b c MacLean 2004, p. 13.
- ^ Jacobson 1984, p. 1.
- ^ "The latest language immersion program for Anchorage students: Yup'ik". adn.com. 27 April 2018.
- ^ "2014–2015 Catalog". Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ "Yup'ik Language and Culture Bachelor's Degree Program". uaf.edu.
Bibliography
- Buckley, Eugene (1998). "Iambic Lengthening and Final Vowels". International Journal of American Linguistics. 64 (3): 179–223. S2CID 145804018.
- Jacobson, Steven A. (1984). Central Yupʼik and the Schools: A Handbook for Teachers.
- Jacobson, Steven A. (1995). A Practical Grammar of the Central Alaskan Yupʼik Eskimo Language (PDF). Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. OCLC 883251222.
- Jacobson, Steven A. (1990). "Comparison of Central Alaskan Yupik Eskimo and Central Siberian Yupik Eskimo". International Journal of American Linguistics. 56 (2). International Journal of American Linguistics: The University of Chicago Press: 264–286. S2CID 144786120.
- Jewelgreen, Lydia (2008), Central Alaskan Yupik, archived from the original on May 26, 2019
- Krauss, Michael (1985). Yupic Eskimo prosodic systems : descriptive and comparative studies. OCLC 260177704.
- MacLean, Edna Ahgeak (2004), Culture and Change for Iñupiat and Yupiks of Alaska (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-07, retrieved 2010-06-04
- .
- ISBN 978-0-521-29875-9.
- Reed, Irene; Miyaoka, Osahito; Jacobson, Steven A.; Afcan, Paschal; Krauss, Michael (1977), Yupʼik Eskimo Grammar, University of Alaska
- Woodbury, Anthony C. (1983). "Switch-reference, syntactic organization, and rhetorical structure in Central Yup'ik Eskimo". In John Haiman; Pamela Munro (eds.). Proceedings of a symposium on switch reference and universal grammar, Winnipeg, May 1981. Typological Studies in Language. Vol. 2. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 978-90-272-2866-6.
- Miyaoka, Osahito (2012). A Grammar of Central Alaskan Yupik (CAY). De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 978-3-11-027857-6.