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From Magic Words to Automated Translation: A History of the Inuit Language

This compelling and rigorous book is concerned with the historical development of Inuktitut and its linguistic relatives. Dorais describes the Asian and Alaskan origins of the Eskaleut languages, the migrations that brought some of them to Canada and Greenland, their subsequent diversification into dialects, and the processes that induced linguistic change.Dorais also engages other, related topics: semantics; coining new words for modern concepts; the introduction of writing systems and a brief overview of the theory of language change. This is a fundamental text both for students of Inuktitut and those with a deep interest in the historical processes that affect language.

Louis-Jacques Dorais has researched Inuit culture, language, and society since 1965. From 1972 to 2011, he taught anthropology at Université Laval in Quebec City, and is now Professor Emeritus. In 1991, he and Leah Otak conducted interviews on knowledge and identity in Igloolik for a project on the social role of Inuit teachers. Among other titles, Dorais has published a linguistic description of Inuktitut as it is spoken in Igloolik (Iglulingmiut Uqausingit: The Inuit Language of Igloolik NWT, 1978), as well as a general introduction to the Inuit language (The Language of the Inuit: Syntax, Semantics, and Society in the Arctic, 2010).