One may think that the native language of the vast majority of Canadians is English or French—and in most parts of the country, that’s true. But in Nunavut, the easternmost territory in the Canadian North, English is not the dominant language. Rather, the biggest mother tongue in Nunavut is Inuktitut, a language of the native Inuit people—as many as 63% of Nunavut residents report Inuktitut as their native language.
While it doesn’t have the most speakers of any indigenous language in the United States or Canada, Inuktitut is considered the indigenous North American language that is the least endangered. Since the Inuit continue to comprise the majority in Nunavut, Inuktitut is widely used in the territory, despite the ubiquity of English and the necessity of children to learn English as well. Professional Inuktitut translation services are difficult to find, however, because the language is nonetheless vulnerable and spoken by only about 40,000 people. TranslationServices.com isn’t like other translation companies, though—and we’re proud to offer Inuktitut translation services.
Let us offer a free quote for our Inuktitut translation services—just reach out and ask today.
A little bit about Inuktitut
Inuktitut, which comes from the Eskimo–Aleut language family, is considered an official language of Nunavut, alongside English, French, and Inuinnaqtun, which is sometimes considered a dialect of Inuktitut. In fact, Inuktitut can be used to refer to a number of Inuit languages or dialects spoken across Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Yukon), Alaska, Nunatsiavut (Labrador), and Nunavik (Quebec). Inuktun, spoken in northern Greenland, may also be a distant dialect of Inuktitut. Inuktitut is written either in a Latin script or in the Canadian Aboriginal syllabic writing system, depending on the dialect.
Inuktitut is not a simple language. It’s famous for its highly polysynthetic nature, where a single very long word can sometimes express a full and informationally dense sentence. The language distinguishes three numbers in pronouns—singular, dual, and plural—and marks these on verbs. Another distinct feature of Inuktitut is its ergative–absolutive alignment, wherein the subjects of intransitive sentences and the objects of transitive sentences are left unmarked, while the subjects of transitive sentences are marked with an ergative suffix. Inuktitut can distinguish between indefinite and definite nouns via infixes on the verb.
Inuktitut presents many difficulties to learners (although that’s not a reason not to learn the language). However, our Inuktitut translators are experts in the language, so they can translate it effortlessly.
There are many reasons to get Inuktitut translation services.
Our goal with our Inuktitut translation services is to offer as much flexibility as possible. That includes providing services translating both into Inuktitut and out of Inuktitut, allowing clients to complete a wide range of Inuktitut translation projects. Our team stands ready to translate Inuktitut-language material like historical documents, literature, academic notes, and more into English, allowing Inuit people to communicate easily with the outside world, including by sharing their rich culture. We’re also available to translate various types of content into Inuktitut—business materials, academic papers, books, games, websites, apps, and more! We’re passionate about translating content into Inuktitut because it helps preserve the language by creating more opportunities for speakers and learners to use it.
So, let us help you with your Inuktitut translation needs—whatever they are. Message us today!