Inuktitut

(Redirected from Inuktitut language)

Inuktitut is a language of the Arctic, spoken by Inuits in Canada and in Greenland. Inuktitut is a very complex language. It is an official language in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

Inuktitut
Eastern Canadian Inuktitut
ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ
Inuktitut dialect map.svg
Distribution of Inuit languages across the Arctic. East Inuktitut dialects are those east of Hudson Bay, here coloured dark blue (on the south of Baffin Island), red and pink, and the brown in NW Greenland.
Native toCanada, United States
RegionNorthwest Territories, Nunatsiavut (Newfoundland and Labrador), Nunavik (Quebec), Nunavut, Alaska
Native speakers39,475  (2016 census)[1]
36,000 together with Inuvialuktun (2006)
Language family
Dialects
Qikiqtaaluk nigiani (South Baffin)
Inuttitut (Labrador)
Inuktun (Thule)
Writing systemInuktitut syllabics, Inuktitut Braille, Latin
Official status
Official language inNunavut
Northwest Territories
Recognised minority language inQuebec (Nunavik)
Newfoundland and Labrador (Nunatsiavut)
Yukon (Inuvialuit Settlement Region)
Regulated byInuit Tapiriit Kanatami and various other local institutions.
Language codes
ISO 639-1iu
ISO 639-2iku
ISO 639-3ikuinclusive code Inuktitut
Individual codes:
ike – Eastern Canadian Inuktitut
ikt – Inuinnaqtun
Distribution of Inuit language variants across the Arctic.

The Inuit write Inuktitut in two ways. One way to write Inuktitut is by using the Roman alphabet. The other way to write Inuktitut is by using an abugida, which is a kind of alphabet which has letters based on syllables.

The Inuktitut syllabary uses a small part of the Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics, a set of letters made up for writing down many of the languages of the First Nations people in Canada.

Some words in English come from Inuktitut or another Inuit language. Among them are the words anorak, igloo, and kayak.

Inuktitut Media

References

  1. "Census in Brief: The Aboriginal languages of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit". Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-12.