Get to Know the Kalaallisut language of Greenland

 

The Kalaallisut language (West Greenlandic) is a dialect of the Greenlandic language - which is part of the Inuit-Yupik-Unangan language family.

The other dialects are Tunumiit oraasiat (East Greenlandic) and Avanersuarmiutut (North Greenlandic), which is also known as Inuktun. Standard Greenlandic is based on the Kalaallisut language, and is spoken by the Kalaallit, Tunumiit, and Inughuit. It is spoken by around 57,000 people.

The Tunumiit also speak their own dialect - Tunumiit oraasiat - whilst the Inughuit also speak Inuktun, with around 1,000 speakers in the north of Greenland. Inuktun is a dialect between Greenlandic and the Inuktitut language spoken in northern Canada.

 

Why learn the Kalaallisut language?

The northern lights seen from Greenland

Speakers :

170,000

Where :

Greenland

Dialects :

Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic) is a dialect of the Greenlandic language. The other dialects are Tunumiit oraasiat (East Greenlandic) and Avanersuarmiutut (North Greenlandic). Standard Greenlandic is based on Kalaallisut

A map showing where the Kalaallisut language is spoken in Greenland
 

Cover Image

Aasiaat, Grønland

Photo by Visit Greenland on Unsplash

Map

By Fobos92 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32467030

Resources for learning the Kalaallisut language

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