Endangered Languages Profile: Kalaallisut/Tunumiisut (Western & Eastern Greenlandic)

Figure 1: Map of Greenland with place names in Kalaallisut/Tunumiisut (Greenlandic) and Dutch

 

Today’s blog post will feature an endangered language but with a twist.  Typically, when endangered languages are discussed in this medium the tone is very somber and grave, but in the case of Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut (known in English as Western/Eastern Greenlandic) the situation is not as dire.  This blog post will explore what this language is, where it is spoken, and how it may be removed from the endangered list.

 

Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut are part of the same language subgroup of the larger language family of which it belongs, which is the Inuit language family.  Many linguistic scholars often refer to these as separate languages, but the Inuit prefer and have requested that all languages within the Inuit language family be considered dialects, which is how they will be referred to herein.  The reason for this request is related to the active misinformation and extermination of Inuit identity over the decades, and by recognizing these as dialects of one Inuit language (and identity) better efforts at preserving the language, its dialects, and Inuit identity can be realized.

 

Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut are spoken throughout Greenland (Figure 1), and they are considered the official language of the country.  These dialects are classified as a polysynthetic, noun-incorporating language.  Put simply, speakers add prefixes, suffixes, and even combine nouns to create multiple meanings in short phrases.  These very large nouns can be very difficult for adult learners to catch onto and learn because the morphology and grammar of the language is so widely different from Indo-European languages.  You can hear how the language is spoken and how daunting it may seem to pick up here.

 

Because Greenland was a Dutch colony until the 1950s and did not become independent until the 1970s Dutch is still widely spoken within Greenland, as well as serves as the primary language of government, commerce, and higher education.  This adds a barrier to learning Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut because they are not seen as important as Dutch or other languages of commerce and politics.  However, the government of Greenland has put forth efforts to encourage the learning of Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut.  They are making efforts to translate government documents into Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut, as well as renaming places throughout the country with Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut names (as seen in Figure 1).  There are also efforts to create words and phrases for science and industry to entice outsiders to learn Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut.  Lastly, there is an active Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut media that provides information and news via written and oral format, with there being newspapers, news channels, and radio programming dedicated to only being delivered in these dialects.  This means that there is hope to remove this language from the endangered languages list if these efforts continue and are fully successful.

 

Works Cited

Endangered Languages Project. "Kalaallisut." n.d. Endangered Languages Project. Electronic. 6 May 2022.

Grenoble, Lenore. "Kalaallisut." n.d. Sorosoro. Electronic. 6 May 2022.

Yoder, Kate. "As ice melts and seas rise, can endangered languages survive?" 12 October 2016. Grist. Electronic. 5 May 2022.