{"id":6663,"date":"2019-03-28T12:20:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T12:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.utalk.com\/news\/?p=6663"},"modified":"2020-06-22T13:06:14","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T13:06:14","slug":"the-fascinating-greenlandic-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/the-fascinating-greenlandic-language\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fascinating Greenlandic Language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By our multi-lingual friend Brian Loo Soon Hua, a.k.a. uTalk\u2019s Language Guru.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo Smoking\u201d signs in Nuuk, Greenland are often in three languages: Greenlandic (Pujortarfigeqqusaanngitsoq<\/em>), Danish (R\u00f8gfrit Omr\u00e5de<\/em>\u2013 literally \u201cSmoke-free Area<\/em>\u201d) and English (No Smoking<\/em>). Notice anything special about the Greenlandic version?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenlandic, like several other indigenous languages in North and South America, allows the formation of very long words by stringing together roots (the main idea of the word, like \u201cchild\u201d, \u201cplay\u201d or \u201ceat\u201d) with various suffixes. A simple, casual word used in conversation might be several syllables long and could be equivalent to an entire sentence in English. For example, \u201cThey say that it is good\u201d, is \u201cpitsaanirarpaat<\/em>\u201d in Greenlandic. \u201cThere is no one at home\u201d is \u201cangirlasimasuqanngilaq<\/em>\u201d! \u201cShe is good at singing\u201d is \u201cerinarsullaqqippoq<\/em>\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does that mean that Greenlandic is incredibly difficult to learn? Well, yes and no. This is because among other things, the grammar is very regular and highly systematic. Once the learner becomes familiar with a language rule, he or she can be confident that this rule will be strictly followed in speech and in writing with very few exceptions. Another plus, compared to European languages like English and French, the Greenlandic alphabet and writing system are completely regular and even beginners can effortlessly read long words that they have never encountered before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenlandic has however, a few sounds that English-speakers would find exotic, such as the letter \u201cq\u201d which represents a uvular<\/em>stop, rather like a \u201ck\u201d made at the back of the throat. This sound is common in Standard Arabic, for example, and is the first sound in the word \u201cQatar\u201d. The other one that might pose difficulties (unless you happen to know Welsh), is the \u201cll\u201d sound. As in Welsh, the double-L in Greenlandic is a gentle hissing sound made by placing one\u2019s tongue in the position to pronounce an L, but then allowing the breath to blow out from the sides of the tongue. It is found in the word \u201cillu<\/em>\u201d meaning \u201chouse\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most common suffixes is –mik<\/em>. It is used in introducing oneself, \u201cBrian-mik ateqarpunga<\/em>\u201d (\u201cMy name is Brian\u201d or literally, \u201cI have a name, specifically Brian\u201d). It can be used to indicate an instrument or a tool, such as in the word \u201csavimmik<\/em>\u201d (\u201cwith a knife\u201d). It could also be used as a light command, tacked to the end of a noun to request it: \u201cImermik!\u201d<\/em>or \u201cGive me water!\u201d. Lastly it appears as a suffix in the word \u201ckaffemik<\/em>\u201d, an important Greenlandic tradition to celebrate births, birthdays, graduations and other major celebrations. The family prepares a lavish spread of cakes and sweets and even entire meals complete with fish, seal, reindeer, whale and other Arctic foods. There is always coffee and cake in large quantities. Many guests will be invited, and a kaffemik<\/em>is an occasion for them to mingle, chat, eat, drink and enjoy themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, there are also quite a few Danish loanwords in common use in Greenlandic. For example, \u201cgood morning\u201d is \u201ckumoorn<\/em>\u201d from the Danish \u201cgod morgen<\/em>\u201d. \u201cHello\u201d is \u201ckutaa<\/em>\u201d (from \u201cgod dag<\/em>\u201d) Good night\u201d is \u201ckunaat<\/em>\u201d (from \u201cgod nat<\/em>\u201d) and \u201cgoodbye\u201d is often simply \u201cbaj<\/em>\u201d or \u201cbaaj<\/em>\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that, we leave you with this wise word in Greenlandic: \u201cSilagissiartuaarusaarnialerunarpoq<\/em>\u201d meaning, \u201cThe weather will slowly and gradually become good again\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start learning Greenlandic with uTalk today!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By our multi-lingual friend Brian Loo Soon Hua, a.k.a. uTalk\u2019s Language Guru. \u201cNo Smoking\u201d signs in Nuuk, Greenland are often in three languages: Greenlandic (Pujortarfigeqqusaanngitsoq), Danish (R\u00f8gfrit Omr\u00e5de\u2013 literally \u201cSmoke-free Area\u201d) and English (No Smoking). Notice anything special about the Greenlandic version? Greenlandic, like several other indigenous languages in North and South America, allows the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[1656,249,1376,1655],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6663"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}