ANNA BERGE

Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska

Round Table Discussion on Comparative Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut Linguistics

The session will present an opportunity for the linguists attending the Inuit Studies Conference to exchange information and ideas relating to the structures of the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut languages. The comparative work on these languages has largely been restricted to differences in phonology and lexicon, and relatively little has been done on other aspects of the languages, including especially syntax and discourse. Many linguists are experts in one or another of these Arctic languages, and it would therefore be greatly beneficial to have a forum in which to discuss the uniqueness of each of these languages. My intent, as facilitator of this session is to provide a one-half hour introduction to the theme, and then to have two 1-hour discussions about different aspects of higher-level linguistic structure, such as morphology, syntax, semantics, or discourse, based on participant choice.

Special Equipment:

Overhead projector and blackboard

Outcomes and Transferability:

Round table discussions have been productive and well-attended when offered at previous conferences, and participants generally leave with many ideas for future research. The goals of this round table include expanding current understanding of the individual languages to understudied aspects of language, such as semantics or discourse, and fostering the development of research on comparative issues regarding Arctic languages, and thus a broader understanding of the different paths that the respective Arctic languages are following.

Relation to Conference Theme:

This session is specifically a linguistics session, and complements the proposed linguistic sessions "Theoretical and Descriptive Linguistics"; it is also applicable to the sessions on "Narrative and Discourse" or "Special Topics in Language Research".