Inupik, n. (and a.)
(ɪˈnʊpɪk)
[Coined by Swadesh (see Yupik a. and n., quot. 19511); cf. *Inupiaq n. (and a.).]
The language of the Inuit, a major division of the Eskimo-Aleut family, comprising numerous dialects spoken in areas ranging from north-western Alaska eastwards throughout the Canadian Arctic to Greenland. Also attrib. or as adj.
| 1951 M. Swadesh in Internat. Jrnl. Amer. Linguistics Apr. 70/2 The dichotomy between Yupik and Inupik is clear and geographically abrupt. 1962 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics VII. 96 The Inupik dialects are believed to share a phonemic, grammatical, and lexical common core large enough to make mutual understanding feasible in everyday conversation. 1979 M. E. Krauss in Campbell & Mithun Languages Native Amer. 891 The term Inupik is a false coinage by Swadesh, with the Inupiaq stem but Yupik suffix for ‘genuine’, -piaq (never -pik) in Inupiaq. 1989 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 779/1 Voiced and voiceless varieties of the continuant consonants r, g, l, and v are distinctive sounds in western dialects but in eastern Inupik they are only variants. |