St. Lawrence Island Eskimo Phonology and Orthography

The Central Siberian Yupik Eskimo language in Siberia & on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska is described in terms of its external history, phonology, & the implications of the latter for linguistic theory. Also treated is the development of orthographies for this language as it is found both in the USSR & the US, in terms of their practical implications for applied linguistics--an area of great importance for those who care about native American languages. Siberian Yupik is 1 of the 2 branches of the Yupik branch of Eskimo. The other branch of Eskimo is Inupiaq, spoken from Unalakleet in Norton Sound, Alaska northwards, in Alaska, Canada, & Greenland. The other branch of Yupik, spoken in Alaska from Unalakleet south, is Alaskan Yupik. Siberian & Alaskan Yupik are not mutually intelligible, though closely related. About two-thirds of the words on the Swadesh 100-word list are cognate in tests between Central Alaskan Yupik & Central Siberian Yupik. Speakers of 1 often "catch a few words" or "get the gist" of the other, but on initial contact, mutual intelligibility is in practical reality so marginal that the 2, certainly by European standards, would be considered different languages. HA