| Alutiiq | |
|---|---|
| Pacific Gulf Yupik | |
| Sugt’stun, Alutiit’stun | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | coastal Alaska (Alaska Peninsula to Prince William Sound) |
| Ethnicity | 3,500 Alutiiq people (2010) |
Native speakers | 80 (2020)[1] |
Early forms | |
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Alaska[2] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ems |
| Glottolog | paci1278 |
| ELP | Alutiiq |
 Pacific Gulf Yupik is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The Alutiiq language (also called Sugpiak, Sugpiaq,[3] Sugcestun,[4] Suk,[4] Supik,[3][4] Pacific Gulf Yupik, Gulf Yupik,[4] Koniag-Chugach) is a close relative to the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language spoken in the western and southwestern Alaska, but is considered a distinct language. It has two major dialects:
- Koniag Alutiiq: spoken on the upper part of the Alaska Peninsula and on Kodiak Island; it was also spoken on Afognak Island before that was deserted by the people in the wake of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake.
- Chugach Alutiiq: spoken on the Kenai Peninsula and in Prince William Sound.
The ethnonyms of the Sugpiaq-Alutiiq are a predicament.[5] Aleut, Alutiiq, Sugpiaq, Russian, Pacific Eskimo, Unegkuhmiut, and Chugach Eskimo are among the terms that have been used to identify this group of Native people living on the Lower Kenai Peninsula of Alaska.
About 400 of the Alutiiq population of 3,000 still speak the Alutiiq language. Alutiiq communities are currently in the process of revitalizing their language. In 2010 the high school in Kodiak responded to requests from students and agreed to teach the Alutiiq language. The Kodiak dialect of the language was spoken by only about 50 persons, all of them elderly, and the dialect was in danger of being lost entirely.[6] As of 2014, Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage is offering classes using the "Where Are Your Keys?" technique.[7]
- ^ The Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory Council (2020). 2020 Biennial Report to the Governor and Legislature (PDF).
- ^ "Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official". NPR.org.
- ^ a b "List of Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) language resources". uaf.edu. Archived from the original on 2013-02-17.
- ^ a b c d Language in the USA, Cambridge University Press, 1981
- ^ Medeia Csoba DeHass, What is in a Name?: The Predicament of Ethnonyms in the Sugpiaq-Alutiiq Region of Alaska Archived 2020-05-18 at the Wayback Machine. Arctic Anthropology. January 2012 49:3-17 (= "Aleut," "Alutiiq," "Sugpiaq," "Russian," "Pacific Eskimo," "Unegkuhmiut," and "Chugach Eskimo" are all different names that have been used to identify the group of Native people living on the Lower Kenai Peninsula of Alaska.)
- ^ Kodiak High School Adding Alutiiq Language Class Archived 2021-05-05 at the Wayback Machine, Jacob Resneck KMXT/Alaska Public Radio Network 12-17-2010
- ^ Friedman, Sam (2014-02-23). "They're speaking Alutiiq in Anchorage". Washington Times / AP. Retrieved 2014-05-03.