Kalaallisut (lit. 'language of the Kalaallit'), also known as West Greenlandic (Danish: vestgrønlandsk), is the primary language of Greenland and constitutes the Greenlandic language, spoken by the vast majority of the inhabitants of Greenland, as well as by thousands of Greenlandic Inuit in Denmark proper (in total, approximately 50,000 people). It was historically spoken in the southwestern part of Greenland, i.e. the region around Nuuk.
| kalaallisut | |
|---|---|
| West Greenlandic | |
| Native to | West Greenland Denmark |
| Ethnicity | Kalaallit |
Native speakers | (44,000–52,000 cited 1995) |
Eskaleut
| |
Early forms | Proto-Eskimo–Aleut
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | kl |
| ISO 639-3 | kal |
| Glottolog | kala1399 |
 Inuit dialects. West Greenlandic in blue. | |
Tunumiisut and Inuktun are the two other native languages of Greenland, spoken by a small minority of the population. Danish remains an important lingua franca in Greenland and used in many parts of public life, as well as being the main language spoken by Danes in Greenland.
An extinct mixed trade language known as West Greenlandic Pidgin was based on West Greenlandic.
References
- 44,000 in Greenland, and perhaps 20% more in Denmark. Greenlandic at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
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- Peter Schmitter, Sprachtheorien der Neuzeit: Sprachbeschreibung und Sprachunterricht, Narr, 2007, p. 406.
- Silvia Kouwenberg, John Victor Singler (ed.), The Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Studies, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, West Sussex, p. 172.
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Kalaallisut lit language of the Kalaallit also known as West Greenlandic Danish vestgronlandsk is the primary language of Greenland and constitutes the Greenlandic language spoken by the vast majority of the inhabitants of Greenland as well as by thousands of Greenlandic Inuit in Denmark proper in total approximately 50 000 people It was historically spoken in the southwestern part of Greenland i e the region around Nuuk kalaallisutWest GreenlandicNative toWest Greenland DenmarkEthnicityKalaallitNative speakers 44 000 52 000 cited 1995 Language familyEskaleut EskimoInuitGreenlandickalaallisutEarly formsProto Eskimo Aleut Proto Eskimo Proto InuitLanguage codesISO 639 1 span class plainlinks kl span ISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code kal class extiw title iso639 3 kal kal a Glottologkala1399Inuit dialects West Greenlandic in blue Tunumiisut and Inuktun are the two other native languages of Greenland spoken by a small minority of the population Danish remains an important lingua franca in Greenland and used in many parts of public life as well as being the main language spoken by Danes in Greenland An extinct mixed trade language known as West Greenlandic Pidgin was based on West Greenlandic References44 000 in Greenland and perhaps 20 more in Denmark Greenlandic at Ethnologue 16th ed 2009 Peter Schmitter Sprachtheorien der Neuzeit Sprachbeschreibung und Sprachunterricht Narr 2007 p 406 Silvia Kouwenberg John Victor Singler ed The Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Studies Wiley Blackwell Chichester West Sussex p 172 This article related to the Indigenous languages of the Americas is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte
