 Niiĝuĝim
Tunugan Ilakuchangis
Introduction to Atkan Aleut
Grammar and Lexicon
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ALEUT-
ENGLISH
DICTIONARY
Introduction
This
publication in Atkan Aleut, commonly referred to as Western
Aleut, is one of ten similar projects undertaken by the National
Bilingual Materials Development Center. It consists of two
major sections: the Elements of Atkan Aleut Grammar and the Junior
Dictionary.
The
Elements of Atkan Aleut Grammar
The
Elements of Grammar section was written by Knut Bergsland in
July of 1977. Bergsland had this to say of the introduction to
Atkan Aleut grammar:
This
is a teacher's aid, rather than a complete grammar. The purpose
is to make the Aleut speaking teacher aware of how the language "operates",
in order that it may be cultiviated in its own right: according
to its own rules, which sometimes differ rather deeply from English.
The true cultivation of the language, however, goes through careful
speech with a clear thought and through creative writing.
The
headings indicate the respective subject matters, but there
is no technical terminology, only examples to show how words
and sentences are formed and "twisted". To simplify the exposition,
some of the examples are rather schematic: illustrations
of rules, rather than models of style.
Some
of the material may have an archaic flavor to it, originating
from my work with the people of Atka as far back as in 1950
and 1952. The rest is based upon work done in 1971, when
I continued my own scientific work, and in 1973, when I had
the privilege of assisting the Bilingual Program, giving
back some of what I had gotten in the previous years, as
well as in 1976, when Moses Dirks was with me in Oslo, Norway,
and now, in 1977, when we have been working together in Atka
village. Moses Dirks has checked all the examples, but the
responsibility for possible mistakes rests with me.
Junior
Dictionary
The
Junior Dictionary contains 1,500 main entries with one or more
derived forms listed under each main entry bringing the total
to about 2,500 entries. Moses Dirks selected all of the entries
in this dictionary, choosing words that are commonly used by
the young people of Atka today.
The
dictionary is based upon the National Bilingual Materials Development
Center's talking pictionary of approximately 500 entries, which
was compiled by Nadesta Golley and Moses Dirks, and on Knut Bergsland's
manuscript vocabulary (about 5,000 entries), which was compiled
with the help of the people of Atka in 1950, 1952, 1971, and
1973. A few words were also added from joint work done by Bergsland
and Dirks in 1976 in Oslo, and in 1977 in Atka village.
Entries
are made in alphabetical order with basic words listed flush
with the left margins of the pages. These are followed by English
translations. Derived words are listed under the basic words
followed by their English translations. Then one or more sentences
using basic words, and/or any of their derived forms are given
as examples of usage. All Native language materials is underlined.
[]
An
Aleut word is very often used both as a noun and as a verb; therefore,
the distinction is made only in the English translation and by
the choice of forms.
The
following notes on the pronunciation of Atkan Aleut should be
of great help to users of this work. They have been taken largely
from material prepared for the Center by Bergsland and Dirks
in the summer of 1977.
Return
to the Atkan Grammar and Lexicon
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