Aleut
Unangam Tunuu Уна́ӈам тунуу́ or унаӈан умсуу
Pronunciation
Native to	Alaska (Aleutian, Pribilof Islands, Alaskan Peninsula west of Stepovak Bay), Kamchatka Krai (Commander Islands)
Ethnicity	7,234 Aleut
Native speakers	<80 (2022)[1] in Alaska; extinct in Russia 2021
Language family	Eskaleut Aleut
Early form	Proto-Eskimo–Aleut
Writing system	Latin (Alaska) Cyrillic (Alaska, Russia)
Official status
Official language in	Alaska[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ale
ISO 639-3	ale
Glottolog	aleu1260
ELP	Aleut
Aleut is spoken on the Aleutian Islands
Aleut is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Aleut (/ˈæliuːt, əˈluːt/ AL-ee-oot, ə-LOOT) or Unangam Tunuu^[3] is the language spoken by the Aleut living in the Aleutian Islands, Pribilof Islands, Commander Islands, and the Alaska Peninsula (in Aleut Alaxsxa, the origin of the state name Alaska).^[4] Aleut is the sole language in the Aleut branch of the Eskimo–Aleut language family. The Aleut language consists of three dialects, including Unalaska (Eastern Aleut), Atka/Atkan (Atka Aleut), and Attu/Attuan (Western Aleut; now extinct).^[4]

Various sources estimate there are fewer than 100 to 150 remaining active Aleut speakers.^[5][6][7] Because of this, Eastern and Atkan Aleut are classified as "critically endangered and extinct"^[8] and have an Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS) rating of 7.^[9] The task of revitalizing Aleut has largely been left to local government and community organizations. The overwhelming majority of schools in the historically Aleut-speaking regions lack any language/culture courses in their curriculum, and those that do fail to produce fluent or even proficient speakers.^[10]

History

The Eskimo and Aleut peoples were part of a migration from Asia across Beringia, the Bering land bridge between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago. During this period, the Proto-Eskimo-Aleut language was spoken, which broke up around 2000 BC. Differentiation of the two branches is thought to have happened in Alaska because of the linguistic diversity found in the Eskimo languages of Alaska relative to the entire geographic area where Eskimo languages are spoken (eastward through Canada to Greenland). After the split between the two branches, their development is thought to have occurred in relative isolation.^[11]

Evidence suggests a culture associated with Aleut speakers on the Eastern Aleutian Islands as early as 4,000 years ago, followed by a gradual expansion westward over the next 1,500 years to the Near Islands.^[12] Another westward expansion may have occurred about 1,000 years ago, which may explain the lack of obvious diversification among the Aleut dialects, with Eastern Aleut features having spread westward.^[13] This second westward expansion is characterized as a period of cultural affinity with southeastern Alaska and the Pacific Northwest Coast,^[14] which may explain linguistic features that Aleut shares with neighboring non-Eskimo languages, such as rules of plural formation.^[15][16]

Due to colonization by Russian colonizers and traders in the 18th and 19th centuries, Aleut has a large portion of Russian loanwords. However, they do not affect the basic vocabulary and thus do not suggest undue influence on the language.^[17]

In March 2021, the last native speaker of the Bering dialect, Vera Timoshenko, died aged 93 in Nikolskoye, Bering Island, Kamchatka.^[18]

Dialects

Within the Eastern group are the dialects of the Alaskan Peninsula, Unalaska, Belkofski, Akutan, the Pribilof Islands, Kashega and Nikolski. The Pribilof dialect has more living speakers than any other dialect of Aleut.

The Atkan grouping comprises the dialects of Atka and Bering Island.

Attuan was a distinct dialect showing influence from both Atkan and Eastern Aleut. Copper Island Aleut (also called Medny Aleut) was a Russian-Attuan mixed language (Copper Island (Russian: Медный, Medny, Mednyj) having been settled by Attuans). Despite the name, after 1969 Copper Island Aleut was spoken only on Bering Island, as Copper Islanders were evacuated there. After the death of the last native speaker in 2022, it became extinct.

All dialects show lexical influence from Russian; Copper Island Aleut has also adopted many Russian inflectional endings. The largest number of Russian loanwords can be seen in the Bering Aleut.

Orthography

The modern practical Aleut orthography was designed in 1972 for the Alaskan school system's bilingual program:^[20]

* denotes letters typically used in loanwords

† only found in Atkan Aleut

The historic Aleut (Cyrillic) alphabet found in both Alaska and Russia has the standard pre-1918 Russian orthography as its basis, although a number of Russian letters were used only in loanwords. In addition, the extended Cyrillic letters г̑ (г with inverted breve), ҟ, ҥ, ў, х̑ (х with inverted breve) were used to represent distinctly Aleut sounds.^[21][22][23]

A total of 24+ letters were used to represent distinctly Aleut words, including 6 vowels (а, и, й, у, ю, я) and 16 consonants (г, г̑, д, з, к, ҟ, л, м, н, ҥ, с, т, ў, х, х̑, ч). The letter ҟ has been used in modern Aleut Cyrillic publications to denote the letter ԟ (Aleut Ka) traditionally used to mark the voiceless uvular plosive /q/.