Kalaallisut
Kalaallisut is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken in Greenland and Denmark. Glottolog rates it threatened.
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Kalaallisut (lit. 'language of the Kalaallit'), also known as West Greenlandic (Danish: vestgrønlandsk), is the primary and official language of Greenland. It is spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of Greenland, as well as by thousands of Greenlandic Inuit in Denmark proper (in total, approximately 50,000 people). It was historically spoken in the southwestern part of Greenland, i.e. the region around Nuuk, as opposed to the related Greenlandic languages in the northwestern and eastern parts of the island. It has been an official language of Greenland since the 18th century, and the sole official language since 2009.
From Wikipedia · West Greenlandic · CC BY-SA 4.0
Written down
Inuit tamarmik inunngorput nammineersinnaassuseqarlutik assigiimmillu ataqqinassuseqarlutillu pisinnaatitaaffeqarlutik. Solaqassusermik tarnillu nalunngissusianik pilersugaapput, imminnullu iliorfigeqatigiittariaqaraluarput qatanngutigiittut peqatigiinnerup anersaavani.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR in Unicode).
Words in Kalaallisut
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| mother | anaana | |
| father | ataata | |
| child | meeraq | |
| man | angut | |
| woman | arnaq | |
| person | inuk | |
| name | ateq | |
| friend | ikinngut | |
| eye | isi | |
| ear | siut | |
| nose | qingaq | |
| tooth | kigut | |
| tongue | oqaq | |
| hand | assak | |
| heart | uummat | |
| head | niaqoq | |
| blood | aak | |
| bone | saaneq | |
| skin | ameq | |
| knee | seeqqoq | |
| breast | iviangeq | |
| liver | tinguk | |
| water | imeq | |
| fire | inneq | |
| sun | seqineq | |
| moon | qaammat | |
| star | ulloriaq | |
| rain | sialuk | |
| snow | aput | |
| wind | anori |
Most similar languages
Vocabulary
- InuktitutEskimo-Aleut30% alike
- Seward Alaska InupiatunEskimo-Aleut29% alike
- Western Canadian InuktitutEskimo-Aleut29% alike
- North Alaskan InupiatunEskimo-Aleut25% alike
- Central Siberian YupikEskimo-Aleut24% alike
- Naukan YupikEskimo-Aleut18% alike
Grammar
- Western Canadian InuktitutEskimo-Aleut89% alike
- YoraPano-Tacanan84% alike
- Kosarek YaleNuclear Trans New Guinea83% alike
- EseKoiarian83% alike
- YawanawaPano-Tacanan82% alike
- AmahuacaPano-Tacanan81% alike
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · kala1399 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · kal