Many Inuit in Nunavik (Northern Quebec) speak “Inuktitut”. Note that a shorter word, ‘Inuktut’, refers to two distinct languages spoken by Inuit across Canada: Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun.
Inuktitut is used daily in Nunavik. In 1980, and even today, children in Nunavik are taught Inuktitut in kindergarten. They also continue to take classes in Inuktitut throughout elementary and high school. In addition to Inuktitut, many 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.
Author: Based on texts from the Récit de l’univers social. Adapted with additions by LEARN.
Inuktut reference: Inuktut Tusaalanga, and CBC article “Talk to me in Inuktut’: Old word nothing new, says Inuit language organization.“
To learn words in Inuktitut, visit the Inuktitut Glossary at https://nunavik-ice.com/en/glossary/
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Writing-system
Language familyA language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestral language…
Syllabics
