Inuit

See also: inuit

Contents

EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

• Innuit

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnjuːɪt/, /ˈɪnʊɪt/

Etymology 1Edit

First attested 1755–65. From Inuktitut ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ‎(inuit, “the people”), singular ᐃᓄᒃ ‎(inuk, “person”), from Proto-Eskimo *inguɣ.

NounEdit

Inuit ‎(plural Inuit)

1. Any of several Aboriginal peoples of coastal Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland.
2. (nonstandard) Individual members of the Inuit peoples.

SynonymsEdit

• Eskimo (potentially offensive in Alaska, Canada, Greenland)
• Inuk (proper singular form, uncommon)
• Inuits (somewhat improper plural, rare)
• Inupiat, Inupiaq, Iñupiaq, or Inupik (Alaska)
• Inuvialuit (Northwest Territories)
• Inuinnaq (Western Nunavut, Central Arctic Canada)
• Nunavummiut (Nunavut)
• Nunavimmiut (Nunavik, Northern Quebec)
• Labrador Inuit (Nunatsiavut, Labrador)
• Greenlander (Greenland)
• Kalaallit (southwest Greenland)
• Skraeling (historical)

Derived termsEdit

• Canadian Inuit dog, Inuit dog

Related termsEdit

• Inukshuk

TranslationsEdit

the people

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 因紐特人, 因纽特人 ‎(jan¹ nau⁵ dak⁶ jan⁴)

  Mandarin: 因紐特人 (zh), 因纽特人 (zh) ‎(Yīnniǔtèrén)

• Danish: inuit c
• Esperanto: inuitoj
• Inuktitut:

  Syllabics: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ‎(inuit)

  Roman: inuit

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: inuitter m

  Nynorsk: inuittar m

• Portuguese: inuítes m pl
• Russian: инуи́т m ‎(inuít), инуи́тка f ‎(inuítka)
• Ukrainian: інуї́ти ‎(inujíty)

Etymology 2Edit

Proper nounEdit

Inuit

1. Inuktitut, the Inuit language.

SynonymsEdit

• Inupiatun, or Inupiak, and Qawiaraq (Alaska)
• Inuvialuktun (Northwest Territories)
• Inuinnaqtun (Western Nunavut, Central Arctic Canada)
• Inuktitut (Nunavut)
• Nunavimmiutitut (Nunavik, Northern Quebec)
• Nunatsiavummiutut, Labradorimiutut, or locally Inuttut (Nunatsiavut, Labrador)
• Greenlandic, or Kalaallisut (Greenland)

TranslationsEdit

the language

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 因紐特語, 因纽特语 ‎(jan¹ nau⁵ dak⁶ jyu⁵)

  Mandarin: 因紐特語, 因纽特语 ‎(Yīnniǔtèyǔ)

• Inuktitut:

  Syllabics: ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ (iu) ‎(inuktitut)

  Roman: Inuktitut (iu)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: inuittisk m

  Nynorsk: inuittisk m

• Portuguese: inuíte m
• Russian: инуи́тский язы́к m ‎(inuítskij jazýk)
• Ukrainian: інуї́тська мо́ва f ‎(inujítsʹka móva), інуї́тська f ‎(inujítsʹka)

Etymology 3Edit

AdjectiveEdit

Inuit ‎(comparative more Inuit, superlative most Inuit)

1. Of or pertaining to Inuit people, language, or culture.

TranslationsEdit

of or pertaining to Inuit people, language, or culture

• Danish: inuitisk
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: inuittisk

  Nynorsk: inuittisk

• Portuguese: inuíte
• Russian: инуи́тский ‎(inuítskij)
• Ukrainian: інуї́тський ‎(inujítsʹkyj)

Usage notesEdit

The northern indigenous peoples of North America used to be called Eskimo, but the term has declined in usage in North America because it was erroneously thought to derive from a pejorative; see the usage notes at Eskimo. Inuit is the accepted term in Canada, and has gained some currency in the United States. However, Eskimo continues to be the prevalent name in Alaska, and worldwide, for both the Inuit Inupiat people and the non-Inuit Yupik.

Also note that the terms Inuit and Eskimo do not include the related Aleut people (Unangam), nor the other Native (First Nations) peoples of the Arctic.

Many dictionaries do not list Inuits as a plural form. Inuit is usually used as an ethnonym with no singular form (like Chinese). The need to treat Inuit as a singular has been obviated by wider recognition of its etymological singular form Inuk in recent times.

Etymology 4Edit

Inuit

1. plural of Inuk

ReferencesEdit

• “Inuit” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• “Inuit” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• Inuit on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Eskimo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Eskimo#Nomenclature
• Inuktitut on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Inuktitut
• Inuit language on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Inuit language

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InuktitutEdit

NounEdit

Inuit

1. plural of Inuk