he work ‘Inuktut’ to refer to two distinct languages spoken by Inuit: Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun.

Many Inuit in Nunavik speak Inuktitut. Inuktitut is used daily in Nunavik. In 1980, and even now, children in Nunavik are taught Inuktitut in kindergarten. They also have classes in Inuktitut throughout elementary and high school. In addition to Inuktitut, a lot of people in Nunavik also speak English. More and more people are learning French too.

At first, the Inuit didn’t have a written language. Their knowledge, traditions and histories were passed orally from generation to generation.

Non-Inuit originally used roman orthography to try to write words in Inuit languages. In the early 1900s, missionaries developed a form of writing that many Inuit still use today. It is a type of syllabic writing, where words are formed by combining symbols that represent different syllables. Small signs are placed like exponents to represent additional sounds. In 2020, many people in Nunavik use syllabics and roman orthography when writing in Inuktitut.

AuthorAuthor –  A person who writes something Auteur – Une personne qui écrit quelque chose: Based on texts from the Récit de l’univers social.  Adapted with additions by LEARN. Reference: Inuktut Tusaalanga

To learn words in Inuktitut, visit the Inuktitut Glossary at https://nunavik-ice.com/en/glossary/

 

Concepts and Big Ideas

Writing-system
Language familyA language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestral language…
Syllabics

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