Nunivak Cup'ig language

Nunivak Cup'ig language
Cugtun
Spoken in	United States
Region	Central Alaska, Nunivak Island
Language family	Eskimo–Aleut Eskimo Yupik Central Alaskan Yup'ik Nunivak Cup'ig language
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Linguist List	esu-nun

Nunivak Cup'ig or just Cup'ig (own name Cugtun) is a language or separate^[1] 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" on the Yup’ik alphabet is equivalent on the English alphabet "ch".

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) used for Nunivak Island Yup'ik dialect. But, the name Cup'ik (with k) 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. At that time (1975) Krauss indicated, "Some of the children speak the language".^[2] Krauss documented continued decline and downgraded the status to "Very few or none of the children speak the language"^[3] in 1982.

Today Cup'ig is spoken by elders in the village of Mekoryuk.^[4]

Classification

Central Alaskan Yup'ik-speaking areas

• Central Alaskan Yup'ik language
  • Norton Sound dialect is spoken Norton Sound region. Themselves Yup’ik
    • Unaliq subdialect by spoken Unalirmiut (= Atnegmiut, Kuuyuŋmiut, Eŋlutaleġmiut etc.) tribes.
    • Kotlik subdialect by spoken Pastulirmiut tribe
  • General Central Yup’ik dialect or Yugtun is spoken in Nelson Island, the Yukon, the Bristol Bay regions, and Kuskokwim. Themselves Yup’ik (Yukon) or Yupiaq (Kuskokwim).
  • Egegik Yupik is spoken Egegik. Themselves Yup’ik
  • Hooper Bay-Chevak Cup’ik is spoken Hooper Bay and Chevak areas. Themselves Cup’ik
  • Nunivak Cup'ig language or dialect is spoken Nunivak Island. Themselves Cup’ig

The comparison of number names in the three dialects

Yukon-Kuskokwim Yup’ik [5][6][7]	Hooper Bay-Chevak Cup’ik [8]	Nunivak Cup’ig [9]	Meaning
atauciq	atauciq	ataucir	1
malruk	malruk	malzrug	2
pingayun	pingayun	pingayun	3
cetaman	citaman	cetaman	4
talliman	talliman	talliman	5
arvinglegen / arvinelgen	arvinelgen	arwinleg	6
malrunlegen / malrunelgen	malrunelgen	malzrunleg	7
pingayunlegen / pingayunelgen	pingayunelgen	pingayunleg	8
qulngunritaraan	qulngunritaraq	qulngunrita’ar	9
qula / qulen	qula	qula	10
qula atauciq	qula atauciq	qula-ataucir	11
qula malruk	qula malruk	qula-malzrug	12
qula pingayun	qula pingayun	qula-pingayun	13
akimiarunrita’ar	akimiarunritaraq	akimiarunrita’ar	14
akimiaq	akimiaq	akimiar	15
akimiaq atauciq	akimiaq atauciq	akimiar ataucir	16
akimiaq malruk	akimiaq malruk	akimiar malzrug	17
akimiaq pingayun	akimiaq pingayun	akimiar pingayun	18
yuinaunrita’ar	cuinaunritaraq	cuinaunrita’ar	19
yuinaq	cuinaq	cuinar	20
yuinaq qula / yuinaq qulen	cuinaq qula	cuinar-qula	30
yuinaak malruk / malruk ipiaq (Yukon)	malruk ipiaq	malzrug-ipiar	40
yuinaak malruk qula	malruk ipiaq qula	.	50
yuinaat pingayun / pingayun ipiaq	pingayun ipiaq	pingayun ipiar	60
yuinaat pingayun qula	pingayun ipiaq qula	.	70
yuinaat cetaman	citaman ipiaq	cetaman-ipiar	80
yuinaat cetaman qula	citaman ipiaq qula	talliman ipiar qula	90
yuinaat talliman	talliman ipiaq	talliman ipiar	100
tiissitsaaq	tiititsaaq / tiissitsaaq	tiisiss'ar	1.000
qulen tiissitsaat	.	.	10.000
yuinaat talliman tiissitsaaq	.	.	100.000
miilicaaq	.	.	1.000.000
tiissitsaaq miilicaaq	.	.	1.000.000.000

Grammatical numbers

The grammatical numbers:

singular	dual	plural	meaning
qusngir	qusngig	qusngit	reindeer
iqalluyagar	iqalluyagag	iqalluyagat	Dolly Varden
qay'ar	qay'ag	qay'at / qass'it	kayak
tuutangayag	tuutangayiigeg	tuutangayit	Canada goose
alpa	alpag	alpat	murre
qimugta	qimugteg	qimugtet	dog

Education

The Cup'ig people's school only Lower Kuskokwim School District, Nuniwarmiut School PK-12 in the village of Mekoryuk. English and Cup’ig bilingual education with 32 students ^[10] is done at this school.

Example phrases

A Nunivak Cup'ig man with raven maskette. The raven (Cup'ig tulukarug) is Ellam Cua or Creator god in the Cup’ig mythology

• Cangacit? - How are you?
• Canritua - I am fine
• Unuakukegci - Good morning
• Agayunerpakegcikici - Have a very Merry Christmas
• Allrakularakegciluci-llu - And have a Happy New Year
• Taqukat, maklit neqkanka - Seals, bearded seals is my food
• Quyana - Thanks
• Quyana niicugnillua - Thank you for listening to me.
• Quyana naqluki allnganka - Thank you for reading what I wrote.

Russian loanwords

The Russian loanwords used in Nunivak Cup’ig date from the period of the Russian America (1733–1867).

• caarralar (< Rus. сахар) 'sugar'
• caayu (< Rus. чай) 'tea'
• cainig (< Rus. чайник) 'tea kettle'
• cap’akir ( < Rus. сапоги) 'shoe'
• cass’ar (< Rus. часы) 'clock'
• culunar (?< Rus. солонина 'salted meat') 'salted fish'
• kelipar (< Rus. хлеб) 'bread'
• maslar (< Rus. масло) 'butter; margarine'
• miss’ug (< Rus. мешок) 'burlap bag'
• mulut’ug (< Rus. молоток) 'hammer'
• paltug (< Rus. пальто) 'coat; jacket'
• pelatekar (< Rus. палатка) 'tent'
• putuskar (< Rus. подушка) 'pillow'
• tiisiss’ar (< Rus. тысяча) 'thousand; one thousand dollars'
• yaassig : (< Rus. ящик) 'box; cardboard box'

See also

• Chevak Cup’ik language
• Alaska Native Language Center

References

1. ^ Steven A. Jacobson (2006), The participial oblique, a verb mood found only in Nunivak Central Alaskan Yup'ik and in Siberian Yupik, ÉTUDES/INUIT/STUDIES, 2006, 30(1): 135-156 (= Nunivak Island has the most divergent dialect of Central Alaskan Yup'ik Eskimo, the language of southwestern Alaska)
2. ^ Krauss, Michael E. (1975). Native peoples and languages of Alaska. [Map]. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska.
3. ^ Krauss, Michael E. (1982). Native peoples and languages of Alaska. [Map]. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska.
4. ^ Lower Kuskokwim School District
5. ^ Jerry Lipka, Culturally Negotiated Schooling: Toward a Yup’ik Mathematics
6. ^ How to count in Yup’ik
7. ^ Yup’ik Eskimo Grammar, Irene Reed and all.(1977)
8. ^ On the Facebook: Cup'ik Word Of The Day - Chevak by Rebecca Nayamin (Kashunamiut School Cup’ik Language Teacher)
9. ^ Nuniwarmiut Piciryarata Tamaryalkuti, Nunivak Island Cup'ig Language Preliminary Dictionary
10. ^ Mekoryuk Schools

External links

• Nuniwarmiut Piciryarata Tamaryalkuti : Nunivak Island Cup'ig Language Preliminary Dictionary
• http://www.jstor.org/pss/40316565 Griffin, Dennis, A history of human settlement on Nunivak Island, Alaska: Insights from recent investigations at Nash Harbor village.