Jemppu’s Reviews > The Language of the Inuit: Syntax, Semantics, and Society in the Arctic > Status Update

|| Federal bureaucrats had not considered the strength of aboriginal identity. Forcing Inuit to become anglicized did not yield the expected results. On the contrary, the first generation of young educated bilinguals entered into politics and established associations and other organizations that challenged Euro-Canadian control over the North.

|| Linguistic and cultural assimilation then came into fashion. It was believed that the only way for Inuit to become full-fledged modern participants in mainstream society was to educate them in a school system whose curriculum would closely copy that in use in southern Canada and would resort to English as the exclusive teaching language.

|| Up to the Second World War, Inuit were generally considered unfit for formal education. The following words from a high-ranking civil servant in the federal Department of the Interior clearly express prewar views: “The educational needs of the Eskimos ... are very simple and their mental capacity for assimilating academic matters is limited”.

|| Noun
pisiq (plural pisiit)

A traditional Inuit chant or song.

Made me right away look up the etymology of the FIN casual speech word "biisi"/"biisit" (song/songs). As expected, far too recent to be related - derives from English "piece" (as in a "single") -, but I do still dig the likeness.

(This is also a great place to declare my appreciation for the familiarity in the plural formation).

|| Unikkausiq is a legend or a myth ... considered to have happened a very long time ago.

Unikkausiq? Which my FIN brain immediately registered coincidentally poetic, wanting to perceive in it likeness to "unikausi" - or "dream season/era/age".

Trying to think of possible matching phrases in FIN:

asuguuq “I totally agree with you” - "ehdottomasti" (lit. "absolutely")
aatsuk “I don’t know” - "tiedäpä…" (lit. "would that (one) knew…")
immaqaa “it is quite possible, maybe” - "ehkäpä"
amma “and, also” - "myöskin"
uvva “or” - "taikka"
aatataa “ouch!” - "auts!" (Onomatopoeia checks)
qanga “when?” - "koska?"
namut “whereto?” - "minnekä?"/"mihinkä?"

tusaqsunga aliasuttunga
“while hearing, I am glad”
- kuullessani olen onnellinen

tusaqtilugu aliasuttunga
“while [3SG] is hearing, I am glad”
- kuullessaan olen onnellinen

ikajuqtilunga aliasuttuq
“while I help, [3SG] is glad”
- auttaessani hän on onnellinen

takutillutit aliasuttugut
“while you (one) are seeing, we are glad”
- näkiessäsi olemme onnellisia