Nunivak Cupʼig language
Nunivak Cup'ig or just Cup'ig (own name Cugtun) is a language or separate dialect of Central Alaskan Yup'ik spoken in Central Alaska at the Nunivak Island by Nunivak Cup'ig people (own name Cup'it or Nuniwarmiut). The letter "c" in the Yup’ik alphabet is equivalent to the English alphabet "ch".
| Nunivak Cup'ig | |
|---|---|
| Cugtun | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Central Alaska, Nunivak Island |
| Ethnicity | Cupʼig |
Eskaleut
| |
Early forms | Proto-Eskimo–Aleut
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
esu-nun | |
| Glottolog | None |
The Central Alaskan Yupik who live on Nunivak Island (Nuniwar in Nunivak Cup'ig, Nunivaaq in Central Yup'ik) call themselves Cup'ig (plural Cup'it). Those who live in the village of Chevak call themselves Cup'ik (plural Cup'it). The name Cup'ig (with g) is used for the Nunivak Island Yup'ik dialect and the name Cup'ik (with k) is used for Hooper Bay-Chevak Yup'ik dialect.
The Cup'ig dialect is threatened. This fact was documented by Dr. Michael E. Krauss of the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska and is illustrated on the map. In 1975, Krauss indicated, "Some of the children speak the language". Krauss documented continued decline and downgraded the status to "Very few or none of the children speak the language" in 1982.
Today Cup'ig is spoken by elders in the village of Mekoryuk.