Focus marking in Kalaallisut

The Inuit language with most speakers is Kalaallisut, the official language of Greenland. Nevertheless, linguistic descriptions of Kalaallisut are far less numerous and complete than for European languages like English. In particular, there is little research on how speakers highlight new information and relate it to information already discussed earlier in a conversation – even though doing so is fundamental to successful communication. We know that Kalaallisut can change the order of words much more flexibly than English. For example, while English speakers would only say “She read a book”, but never “A book read she”, both orders are acceptable in Kalaallisut. English speakers instead modulate the pitch, duration and loudness of individual words within a sentence (e.g. “Did she write a book?” – “No, she READ a book” vs. “Did she read an article?” – “No, she read a BOOK”). Our previous research indicates that some modulation like that is also possible in Kalaallisut. But how do these two grammatical tools, changes in word order and modulation of words, work together? Do speakers use both at the same time? Do they prefer one over the other? In this project, we will develop a first description, initiating a multi-year collaboration.

Faculty Supervisor:

Anja Arnhold

Student:

Partner:

Ilisimatusarfik; The University of Greenland

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other; Indigenous Innovation

University:

University of Alberta

Program: