Eskimo Pidgin: Eskimo-lexifier pidgins from Greenland

1. Eskimo Pidgin: Eskimo-lexifier pidgins from Greenland By Lindsey A. Lindley

2. Introduction • ‘Eskimo Pidgin’ – refers to contact-induced varieties of ‘Eskimo’ • Eskimo Pidgin varieties are “contact induced forms of a polysynthetic language” • Related Languages: Eskimo, Danish, French, Norse, English, Portuguese (Basque?) • Present Population size: No speakers • Location: Greenland, though Eskimo-lexifier pidgins also exist elsewhere (i.e., Canada’s Atlantic Coast)

3. Language classification: Pidgin Not a Creole because… No typical Creole features (i.e., strict SVO word order) Never functioned as a first language Not ‘foreigner talk’ because… Long tradition of seasonal trade – emergence of pidgin likely Contains foreign lexical items and word order

5. Sociolinguistic background • The Inuit People: Originally nomadic, practicing seasonal hunting and gathering in the arctic environment. They are also greatly dependant on sea mammals. Currently, there are about 100,000 speakers of Eskimo languages spanning over the arctic from East Greenland to Northeast Siberia. • The Greenland Inuit people: a.k.a. the ‘Kalaallit’. These people live in coastal areas only. • West Greenlanders (pop. 45,000) – located in the west coast and south, their dialect, ‘West Greenlandic,’ is the native language of the majority. • East Greenlanders (pop. 3,000) – their dialect is related to West Greenlandic, but differs due to their near isolation over the last few centuries. • The Polar Eskimos (pop. 770) – living in the Northwest Greenlandic Thule district, their dialect is related to archaic Eskimo dialects in Canada and Alaska.

6. Sociolinguistic background: Outside Contact • The Norse (contact from 900-1450) – established some permanent settlements on Greenland, but went extinct likely due to climactic conditions • Norse lexical influence on Eskimo Pidgin: only a few lexical items • kona ‘woman/wife’ • Kalaaleq (pl. Kalaallit) ‘Greenlander’ – derived from the term used by the Norse to refer to the Inuits Kalale. This word is still used by Inuits in reference to themselves when communicating with non-Inuits. • The Portuguese (contact began around 1500) • Single possible Portuguese lexical item: Inuit word Paliaarpoq ‘takes part in singing and dancing’ from the Portuguese bailar ‘to dance.’

7. Sociolinguistic background: Outside Contact • The Basques and the French (contact from 1500-1800) • late 1600s-1760 – emergence of Labrador Inuit Pidgin French for communication between Breton and Basque fishermen, French and Inuit. • Sparse linguistic evidence • The British (contact in 1576 and 1586) – British explorers trade with Inuit • 1777+ – British whalers • The Danish (contact began in 1600) • 1600+ some Danish interest in Greenland • 1721 – Danish colonization of Greenland begins, a missionary colony is established • Christianization (beginning in 1700s) Lutherans and Moravians

8. Contact History: General implications • Some Norse, Portuguese, French and Danish lexical items in Eskimo Pidgins • Short, seasonal contact situations and lack of bilingualism before the 19th century led to the creation of a pidgin • Today, many Inuit have become bilingual so the Eskimo Pidgins are no longer spoken at all (and no emergence of an Eskimo-lexifier creole) • Study of Eskimo Pidgin must be historical

9. Linguistic features: Basic Word Order • Most common word order in Eskimo pidgins: SVO • Variations: (Pidgin. Stefánsson 1909)(SOV) Awoña cavik aitcũ. ISG knife give ‘I gave him a knife.’ (Pidgin. Handury 1904) (SVOV) Awonga pihuk.tuk shiku tekuli. ISG walk.3SGm ice see ‘I will take a walk to look at the ice.’

10. Linguistic Features: Morphology • Pidgin words are morphologically simple – apparent morphological structure no longer productive, does not have the morphosyntactic functions it has in Eskimo (Pidgin) Awonga igbik ukaktũk ISG 2SG talk.3SG ‘I told you.’ (West Greenlandic) Oqaluttuup-pakkit. Tell-ISG.2SG ‘I told you.’

11. Linguistic Features: Morphology • In Eskimo pidgins there is an analytic possessive construction (possessor is an independent pronoun) instead of the synthetic expression occurring in Greenlandic: Pidgin West Greenlandic Uvanga Nulia nulia-ra ISG wife/3SG.wife wife-ISG ‘my wife’ ‘my wife’

12. Linguistic Features: Morphology • Compounding (non-existent in Eskimo): Pidgin West Greenlandic bosamia puisi-p ami-a seal.skin seal-Rel skin-3SG ‘sealskin’ ‘seal’s skin’

13. Linguistic Features: Phonology • Phonological quality is apparently absent in Greenlandic Pidgin • Phonological traits similar to those observed in modern second language learners of Greenlandic • Uvular quality of the /q/ (and the /r/) – Eskimo pidgin examples: oksok ‘bacon’ (WG) orsoq ‘blubber’ (whale or seal fat) kyak ‘ship’ (WG) qajaq ‘kayak’ kralit ‘run’ (WG) qaagit! ‘come.here-2SG’

14. Linguistic Features: Syntax • (Hanbury 1904) Eskimo pidgin has adjective-noun order differing from the canonical Eskimo noun-modifier order (and is the same as the English order): Pidgin West Greenlandic Aupuluktuk hauik savik aappalut-toq be.red.N iron iron be.red-N ‘Copper’ ‘red iron’

15. Resources Arends, J., Muysken, P, and Smith, N. (1994) Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. “World Fact Book: Greenland Map.” Accessed 4/26/06. <http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factb ook/gl/map.html;_ylt=Ag0Zmp64YPijGEvCj0 WOvhS4ecYF>