Yup'ik/Central
Central Alaskan Yup'ik lies
geographically and linguistically between Alutiiq and Siberian Yupik. The use of
the apostrophe in Central Alaskan Yup'ik, as opposed to Siberian Yupik, denotes
a long p. The word Yup'ik represents not only the language but also the
name for the people themselves (yuk 'person' plus pik 'real'.)
Central Alaskan Yup'ik is the largest of the state's Native languages, both in
the size of its population and the number of speakers. Of a total population of
about 21,000 people, about 10,000 are speakers of the language. Children still
grow up speaking Yup'ik as their first language in 17 of 68 Yup'ik villages,
those mainly located on the lower Kuskokwim River, on Nelson Island, and along
the coast between the Kuskokwim River and Nelson Island.
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