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 : 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 ; 7

Uniform Title

Contemporary studies on the North ; 7.

Subject

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

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Formats (note)

• Issued also in electronic formats.

ISBN

• 0887558623
• 9780887558627
• 9780887559143
• 088755914X

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library