Iņupiatun Eskimo Dictionary - SIL International

PREFACE
“In the beginning was the Word,” we read on the first pages of one of the most important books
known to mankind. That book says that the word of God is the origin of all creation. Is it not true, in
another sense, that the word is the origin of all that we really are as humans? Our ability to think in
notions and to communicate the same is part of God’s creation. The word is truly a key to our own
being and to our communication with other humans and so to our place in history.
Words have a history. Each word contains not only the meaning that the dictionary assigns to it; it
contains at the same time, metaphorically speaking, the person who speaks it, as well as the situation
in which the speaking occurs and the reason why the person speaks the word.
In this way, this collection of words creates a sense of connectedness to the Iñupiaq history and
forefathers who lived it and to their way of life. For thousands of years words have been needed to
describe situations and reasons in the life of the Iñupiaq people. Many of these words live on in
speakers today.
This collection of words represents the cultural heritage of the Iñupiaq people. It began more than
forty years ago. Many elders contributed their word(s) to this collection. A good number of these
have died since the collection began.
When different languages come in contact, changes are inevitable. At such times, it becomes clear
that words have a mysterious nature: they can be like light that enhances life, and they can be like
lightning that destroys life. More than one hundred years ago, “White Men” came to Northwestern
Alaska. They introduced a foreign language and worldview to the people of the NANA region.
Hence, the number of Iñupiatun speakers has been decreasing since then because of the influence of
English. However, one might view the remaining speakers like the stump of a tree: it is possible for
new life to grow up. In the same way, the next generation can bring Iñupiatun back to life.
So, why is it important to know the words of the Iñupiatun language? The reason is this – the
language of a people is the soul of the people. With a history of forefathers who have survived harsh
conditions of life for thousands of years, who cannot be proud? The Iñupiaq way of life and the
Iñupiatun language are unique in this world. It would really be a shame to “lose one’s soul.”
Meaning in the Dictionary
One function in a dictionary stands out more than any other: it intends to define the meaning of
words. Although definitions are central to a dictionary and obviously involved with semantics (the
study of meaning), they deal primarily with individual words in isolation from other words. They
largely ignore the syntax (the study of grammar) and the relations above sentence level of the
language. Although I have studied the semantics and syntax for more than thirty years, I do not know
nearly enough about the language and all its intricacies.
Perhaps the first thing we need to remind ourselves of is that ‘meaning’ is an artificial, though
highly useful, concept. Meaning does not truly reside in the word, but in the minds of those who hear
or read it. The meaning of a word is as much without form as the soul of a person is; everyone knows
of its existence, but cannot grasp it. It is elusive because no two people have had exactly the same
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