Greenland Languages

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Greenland

Languages

Description

Greenlandic became the sole official language in June 2009.

• West Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) - A majority of the population speaks West Greenlandic, most of them bi- or tri-lingually.
• East Greenlandic (Tunumiit oraasiat) - spoken in eastern Greenland
• Danish language - still widely used in the administration and in higher education, as well as remaining the first or only language for some Danish immigrants
• English - another important language for Greenland, taught in schools from the first school year.

Word List(s)

• Danish Genealogical Word List
• Greenlandic Phrase List - WikiVoyage
• Greenlandic Vocabulary - Learn101
• Greenlandic Vocabulary - ILanguages.org
• 1,000 Most Common Danish Words - 101Languages

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Alphabet

• Greenlandic Vowels and Consonants - Wikipedia
• Greenlandic alphabet - Omniglot
• Greenlandic Alphabet - Learn101
• Danish alphabet - Omniglot

Pronunciation

• Greenlandic pronunciation - Omniglot
• Danish pronunciation - Omniglot

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Dictionaries

• Christian Wilhelm Schultz-Lorentzen, Dictionary of the west Greenland Eskimo language, København : C.A. Reitzel, 1927 - Available at WorldCat
• Marianne Holmen, Danish-English, English-Danish Dictionary, Hippocrene Books, 1990 - Available at GoogleBooks
• Anna Garde & W Glyn Jones, Danish dictionary : English-Danish, Danish-English, London : Routledge, 2015 - Available at WorldCat

Online Dictionaries

• Greenlandic to English Dictionary - PolarHusky
• Dictionary English - Kalaallisut - Glosbe
• Dictionary English - Danish - Glosbe

Language Aids

• Lily Kahn & Riitta-Liisa Valijärvi, West Greenlandic : an essential grammar, London : Routledge, 2021 - Available at WorldCat
• Jerrold M. Sadock, A Grammar of Kalaallisut, Lincom, 2003 - Available at GoogleBooks
• Greenlandic Grammar - Wikipedia
• Danish grammar - MemRise

References

By Greenlandic law, Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) is now the official language. Greenlandic is an Eskimo language and belongs to the East-Inuit family of languages. The Greenlandic and Danish languages are used in politics and administration. English is the third language. Most records are in Danish, but some are in Norwegian, and some in German. Modern records would be written in Greenlandic.

For word lists and help researching in Greenland records, see: