Article

2007-12-05 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Greenland: All civil servants must speak Greenlandic - Danes unhappy

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Posted by mrp 2007-12-05 09:27|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 They didn't teach Greenlandic in my school...

Posted by Iblis 2007-12-05 14:13|| 2007-12-05 14:13|| Front Page Top

#2 As an Anglophone Canadian I understand I will never have a job in the federal government. It would actually be more likely if we made "Greenlandic" mandatory because this would at least put the French and the English on level pegging. Civilized countries used Latin to deal with the same sort of problem once upon a time.

Posted by Excalibur 2007-12-05 15:22|| 2007-12-05 15:22|| Front Page Top

#3 There's a separate language called Greenlandic?

Who knew?

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2007-12-05 17:35|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/] 2007-12-05 17:35|| Front Page Top

#4 #3 There's a separate language called Greenlandic?
Who knew?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut

apparently New Mexican and New Hampshiric are also seeing revivals among the multi-culti

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-12-05 18:04|| 2007-12-05 18:04|| Front Page Top

#5 Seriously, folks, there is a Greenlandic language. The Wikipedia article is here. They use the Latin alphabet, and a linguistic reform in 1973 got rid of its only extra character, the kra (ĸ).

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2007-12-05 20:37|| 2007-12-05 20:37|| Front Page Top

#6 Thanks, Eric. I never really thought about it, but if I had, I'd have thought they spoke some variation of a Viking Language (Norwegian or Swedish maybe, which, after 1000 years, it may well be).

I love learning something new! :-D

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2007-12-05 21:22|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/] 2007-12-05 21:22|| Front Page Top

#7 The Canadian Arctic people east of Inuvik, NWT speak a language different than Inupiaq, which you see in Northern and northwestern Alaska.

I knew this lady in Cambridge Bay from Inuvik that married a Cambridge Bay fellow. It took her two years to speak his lanugage well. She said that it was backwards. Their alphabet kind looks like cuneform shapes, and not the latin alphabet used in Greenland.

My late wife spoke Inupiaq, and had a linguistically challenging time speaking the Greenland dialect. Much more gutteral sounds, from the harsh environment, compared to the melodic sounds of polynesian languange, where they are in love with vowels that roll off the pallete like a sea breeze.

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2007-12-05 21:33|| 2007-12-05 21:33|| Front Page Top

#8 Denmark
Canada
Northwest Passage
Territorial disputes
Greenland nationalists
Greenland independence movement

Posted by mrp 2007-12-05 21:35|| 2007-12-05 21:35|| Front Page Top

23:56 JosephMendiola
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22:21 Old Patriot
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22:16 Mike N.
22:11 Barbara Skolaut
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22:07 Alaska Paul
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21:33 Alaska Paul
21:30 Geoffro
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20:56 Barbara Skolaut
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20:37 Eric Jablow