Comparative Eskimo Dictionary: With Aleut Cognates - Second Edition - Taschenbuch

The Eskimo branch of the family includes the four Yupik languages of Alaska and Siberia as well as Inuit and Sirenikski. Inuit is a dialect continuum extending from the Bering Strait to East Greenland. It shows almost as much diversity as the Yupik languages, but it does not have the same clear-cut divisions. Sirenikski is an extinct Siberian Eskimo language whos exact linguistic position is open to question.

In this dictionary, related words from the modern Eskimo languages are grouped together in comparative sets with English equivalents. Then linguistic varieties are compared, including five Inuit dialect groups, the four Yupik languages, and Sirenikski. On the bases of these sets, the compilers have reconstructed forms of the ancestor language, Proto-Eskimo. Aleut cognates are given when possible. Separate sections are devoted to derivational suffixes, inflectional endings, and demonstratives. Indices lead from standard spellings in several Eskimo languages and from English glosses to the relevant comparative sets.

Compiling this dictionary has truly been a circumpolar effort. It has been a cooperative project of scholars at the Alaska Native Language Center in Fairbanks and the University of Copenhagen, with assistance from scholars in Russia, Canada, and Norway. The compilers have used all available lexical sources, both published and unpublished, and in some cases direct fieldwork has supplemented philological research. A complete bibliography of lexical sources used for Eskimo in this dictionary is included.

This 2nd ed. incorporates new comparative sets & other additions & reformulations based on new data that have become available since the 1st ed.