Yupik | |
---|---|
Geographic distribution | Alaska, Chukotka |
Ethnicity | Yupik peoples |
Linguistic classification | Eskaleut
|
Subdivisions | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-2 / 5 | ypk |
Glottolog | yupi1267 |
The Yupik languages (/ˈjuːpɪk/[1]) are a family of languages spoken by the Yupik peoples of western and south-central Alaska and Chukotka. The Yupik languages differ enough from one another that they are not mutually intelligible, although speakers of one of the languages may understand the general idea of a conversation of speakers of another of the languages. One of them, Sirenik, has been extinct since 1997.
The Yupik languages are in the family of Eskaleut languages. The Aleut and Proto-Eskimoan diverged around 2000 BCE; within the Proto-Eskimoan classification, the Yupik languages diverged from each other and from the Inuit languages around 1000 CE.