West Greenlandic

West Greenlandic, also known as Kalaallisut, is the standard dialect of 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).[3] It is virtually identical to modern standard Greenlandic.[3] It was historically spoken only in the southwestern part of Greenland, i.e. the region around Nuuk.

West Greenlandic
Kalaallisut
Native toWest Greenland
Denmark
EthnicityKalaallit
Native speakers
44,000[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologkala1399
ELPKalaallisut[2]
Inuit dialects. West Greenlandic in blue.

Tunumiit and Inuktun are regional dialects of Greenlandic, 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.[4]

References
  1. Greenlandic at Ethnologue (23nd ed., 2020)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Kalaallisut.
  3. Peter Schmitter, Sprachtheorien der Neuzeit: Sprachbeschreibung und Sprachunterricht, Narr, 2007, p. 406.
  4. Silvia Kouwenberg, John Victor Singler (ed.), The Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Studies, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, West Sussex, p. 172.
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