Linguistics
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The Inupiaq dialects, like other Eskimo–Aleut languages, represent a particular type of agglutinative language called a polysynthetic language: it "synthesizes" a root and various grammatical affixes to create long words with sentence-like meanings.
Inupiaq has three basic vowels: a i u, phonemically /a i u/, phonetically ??. The vowels can also appear long: aa ii uu /aː iː uː/. When adjacent to the uvular consonants q ġ /q ʁ/, short vowels are lowered allophonically to respectively. Length is important in distinguishing meaning in Inupiaq. Short vowels may be joined to produce the diphthongs ai ia au iu ui.
The vowel i /i/ is derived historically from the merger of Proto-Inuit /i/ and /ǝ/; only the former causes palatalization of the following consonant. Only in pedagogical texts are the two kinds of i written differently.
Inupiaq has around 21 consonants. All stops are voiceless. The following consonants are found:
- Stops: /p t k q/
- Sibilant fricatives/affricates: /s ʂ ʐ tʃ/
- Other voiced fricatives: /v ɣ ʁ/
- Laterals: /l ʎ ʎ̥ ł/
- Nasals: /m n ɲ ŋ/
- Approximants: /h j/
Read more about this topic: Inupiat Language