Foreign Language Study Native American Languages
From Magic Words to Word Processing
A History of the Inuit Language
- Publisher
- Nunavut Arctic College
- Initial publish date
- Jun 2016
- Category
- Native American Languages
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781895050042
- Publish Date
- Jun 2016
- List Price
- $24.95
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Description
This compelling and rigorous book is concerned with the historical development of Inuktitut and its linguistic relatives. Dorais describes the Asian and Alaskan origins of the Eskaleut languages, the migrations that brought some of them to Canada and Greenland, their subsequent diversification into dialects, and the processes that induced linguistic change.
Dorais also engages other, related topics: semantics; coining new words for modern concepts; the introduction of writing systems and a brief overview of the theory of language change.
This is a fundamental text both for students of Inuktitut and those with a deep interest in the historical processes that affect language.
About the author
Louis-Jacques Dorais has researched Inuit culture, language, and society since 1965. From 1972 to 2011, he taught anthropology at
Université Laval in Quebec City, and is now Professor Emeritus. In 1991, he and Leah Otak conducted interviews on knowledge and identity in Igloolik for a project on the social role of Inuit teachers. Among other titles, Dorais has published a linguistic description of Inuktitut as it is spoken in Igloolik (Iglulingmiut Uqausingit: The Inuit Language of Igloolik NWT, 1978), as well as a general introduction to the Inuit language (The Language of the Inuit: Syntax, Semantics, and Society in the Arctic, 2010).
Other titles by
From Magic Words to Automated Translation
A History of the Inuit Language
Inuit Languages and Dialects
Inuit Uqausiqatigiit
Words of the Inuit
A Semantic Stroll through a Northern Culture
The Language of the Inuit
Syntax, Semantics, and Society in the Arctic
Language in NUNAVUT: Discourse and Identity in the Baffin Region
Quaqtaq
Modernity and Identity in an Inuit Community
Quaqtaq
Modernity and Identity in an Inuit Community
Language in Inuit society
