Greenland Languages

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Greenland

Languages

Description[edit | edit source]

Greenlandic became the sole official language in June 2009. ^[1]

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)[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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

Additional Resources[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Greenland," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#Languages#:~:text=Greenlandic%20became%20the%20sole%20official%20language%20in%20June%202009, accessed 26 Oct 2021.

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:

[1] Wikipedia contributors, "Greenland," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#Languages#:~:text=Greenlandic%20became%20the%20sole%20official%20language%20in%20June%202009, accessed 26 Oct 2021.

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