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Inupiaq Language Interpreters and Translators

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Iñupiaq Translation

CIT offers Iñupiaq also referred to as Iñupiat (plural) translation services. We can translate Iñupiaq to English legal, medical, and specialty documents. They include criminal and civil matters, employee meetings, engineering, patent cases, labor disputes, immigration and more.

Although based in Los Angeles, CIT offers comprehensive Inupiaq language services including interpretation, translation, and transcription, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, worldwide. Our interpreters and translators are native speakers who have been screened, certified, have provided credentials, field-tested, and kept up to date with developments in both English and the Inupiaq language through means such as lectures, conferences, and travel. CIT’s Inupiaq language interpreters and translators possess in-depth knowledge of the Iñupiaq language, as well as of the culture and history of the Iñupiaq people, allowing them to provide informed and complete interpretation and translation.

The Iñupiaq Language

The Iñupiaq language, also known as Inupiat, is a language spoken mainly in the Northern and Northwestern parts of Alaska. It is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken by about 1200-2000 people. Although Alaska has over 13,000 Inupiat people, only a few people, mainly over the age of 40, speak the language.

About 24,000 Canadian Inuit people speak Iñupiaq while the entire population of Greenland speaks Iñupiaq. Other names for the language include Inupiatun, Inyupiaq, Inyupeat, Inyupik, or Inupik. Iñupiaq means “real or genuine person.” It can either refer to a group of people or a person. The plural version of Iñupiaq is “Iñupiat.”

The Iñupiaq language has two main groups of dialects. They are the Seward Peninsula and Northern Alaska. The Seward Peninsula dialect includes Bering Strait while the Northern Alaskan dialect includes Qawiaraq, Malimiutun, and North Slope dialects.

Although rather minimally, there are also people who speak Iñupiaq living in Northwestern territories of Canada. Their dialect is known as Canadian Iñupiaq or Uummarmiutun. It is believed that their ancestors migrated from Alaska to Canada in the early 20th century. Iñupiaq is very closely related to Canadian Inuit and Greenlandic dialects. Together, they are called Inuit or Eastern Eskimo, which is different from Yupik or Western Eskimo.

There are many differences between Iñupiaq dialects when it comes to vocabulary, lexicons, and phonology. North Slope and Malimiut are very close except for some vocabulary and sound differences. However, the Seward Peninsula and North Alaska are very different. One would need to be more well-rounded in the dialects to be able to speak them. These differences include verb stems and sounds as well.

The Iñupiaq language was initially written by those who explored Alaska. They came up with several ways to write the language but they were always quite inconsistent. Finally, the Moravian missionaries who inhabited Greenland and Labrador devised a writing system, which was later used for Iñupiaq . The most current system has been developed by an Inupiaq Presbyterian minister, Roy Ahmaogak along with Eugene Nida, who was a member of the Summer Institute of Linguistics in 1946.

CIT By The Numbers

12,000 +

Worldwide Linguists

250 +

Languages

1,350,000 +

Translations

12,000 +

Clients Served

12,000 +

Worldwide Linguists

250 +

Languages

1,350,000 +

Translations

12,000+

Clients Served

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