Alutiiq language
The Alutiiq language (also called Sugpiak, Sugpiaq, Sugcestun, Suk, Supik, Pacific Gulf Yupik, Gulf Yupik, 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.
| 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) |
Early forms | Proto-Eskimo–Aleut
|
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Alaska |
| 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 ethnonyms of the Sugpiaq-Alutiiq are a predicament. 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. As of 2014, Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage is offering classes using the "Where Are Your Keys?" technique.