Research Catalog

Title

Words of the Inuit : a semantic stroll through a northern culture / Louis-Jacques Dorais.

Author

Dorais, Louis-Jacques, 1945-

Publication

• Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada : University of Manitoba Press, [2020]
• ©2020

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xi, 325 pages : illustration, maps; 23 cm.

Summary

"Words of the Inuit is an important compendium of Inuit culture illustrated through Inuit words. It brings the sum of the author's decades of experience and engagement with Inuit and Inuktitut to bear on what he fashions as an amiable, leisurely stroll through words and meanings. Inuit words are often more complex than English words and frequently contain small units of meaning that add up to convey a larger sensibility. Dorais' lexical and semantic analyses and reconstructions are not overly technical, yet they reliably evince connections and underlying significations that allow for an in-depth reflection on the richness of Inuit linguistic and cultural heritage and identity. An appendix on the polysynthetic character of Inuit languages includes more detailed grammatical description of interest to more specialist readers. Organized thematically, the book tours the histories and meanings of the words to illuminate numerous aspects of Inuit culture, including environment and the land; animals and subsistence activities; humans and spirits; family, kinship, and naming; the human body; and socializing with other people in the contemporary world. It concludes with a reflection on the usefulness for modern Inuit--especially youth and others looking to strengthen their cultural identity--to know about the underlying meanings embedded in their language and culture. With recent reports alerting us to the declining use of the Inuit language in the North, Words of the Inuit is a timely contribution."--

Series Statement

Contemporary studies on the North, 1928-1722 ; 8

Uniform Title

Contemporary studies on the North ; 8.

Subject

• Inuit language
• Inuit language > Social aspects
• Inuit language > Semantics
• Inuit language > Grammar
• Language and culture > Canada, Northern
• Anthropological linguistics > Canada, Northern
• Inuit > Canada > Social life and customs
• Anthropological linguistics
• Inuit > Social life and customs
• Language and culture
• Canada
• Northern Canada

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-325).

Additional Formats (note)

• Issued also in electronic formats.

Call Number

JFE 21-5147

ISBN

• 0887558623
• 9780887558627
• 9780887559143
• 088755914X

OCLC

1149369915

Author

Dorais, Louis-Jacques, 1945- author.

Title

Words of the Inuit : a semantic stroll through a northern culture / Louis-Jacques Dorais.

Publisher

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada : University of Manitoba Press, [2020]

Copyright Date

©2020

Type of Content

text

still image

cartographic image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Contemporary studies on the North, 1928-1722 ; 8

Contemporary studies on the North ; 8.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-325).

Additional Formats

Issued also in electronic formats.

Other Form:

Online version: Dorais, Louis-Jacques, 1945- Words of the Inuit. Winnipeg, Manitoba : University of Manitoba Press, 2020 088755864X 9780887558641 (OCoLC)1150885695

Research Call Number

JFE 21-5147