Oqaasileriffik The Greenland Language Secretariat Annual Report 2009 Oqaasileriffik – The Greenland Language Secretariat Manutooq 1 – PO Box 980 – DK 3900 Nuuk, Greenland. Tel. +299 36 23 26, Fax +299 36 23 21 e-mail: [email protected] - Home page: www.Oqaasileriffik.gl Staff at Oqaasileriffik – The Greenland Language Secretariat 2010……….3 Members of Oqaasiliortut – the Greenland Language Committee …………………….4 Inuit Aqqinik Akuersisartut – Personal Names Committee………………………….4 Nunat Aqqinik Aalajangiisartut – the Greenland Place Names Authority………4 Annual Report 2009 Inquiries to Oqaasileriffik – The Language Secretariat in 2009………………….….5 Inquiries to the Oqaasiliortut – Greenland Language Committee re. terminology in 2009…………………………………………………………………………...5 Place names…………………………………………………………………………………….10 Greenlandic Personal Names – 2009……………………………………………………14 Cooperation with institutions which gives recommendations on Greenlandic names…………………………………………………………………………………………… Inuit Aqqinik Akuersisartut (IAA) – the Personal Names Committee…………….. Registering names and research on meaning of names…………………………….15 Inquiries re. Greenlandic personal names in 2009…………………………………..15 Registration and collection of responses ……………………………………………….16 Approved names, names on our web page, and a future names lexicon……..…16 A names’ index ………………………………………………………………………………18 Language technology………………………………………………………………………..18 Kukkuniiaat, the Kalaallisut speller…………………………………………………….19 Co-operation with institutions in Greenland and abroad…………………….….20 International Mother Language Day…………………………………………………….21 Greenlandic as the official language ……………………………………………………21 Dictionaries……………………………………………………………………………………21 Collaboration with institutions……………………………………………………………21 Collaboration with Nordic countries…………………………………………………….22 The Arctic Region and the United Nations………………………………………….….22 Travels, meetings and lectures activities……………………………………………23 Seminar/workshop on Greenlandic Grammar, April 27th 2009…………………24 Nordterm, June 9.-12th 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark…………………………….24 Nordic Phoneticians Seminar, Sept. 23-24th 2009, Nuuk, Greenland……….…25 Planned activities for 2010…………………………………………………………….….26 Dictionaries ……………………………………………………………………………….….26 Continued cooperation with KNR (Greenlandic Broadcasting Corp.)……………26 The International Mother Language Day ……………………………………………...27 Registration of place names…………………………………………………………….…27 Tasks re. personal names……………………………………………………………….…27 Words approved by Oqaasiliortut in 2009………………………………………..…28 Publications from Oqaasileriffik…………………………………………………….…32 2 Staff at Oqaasileriffik – The Greenland Language Secretariat 2010 Carl Christian Olsen (Puju), Director, Oqaasileriffik Lisathe Møller Kruse, Special Consultant Administrator for Place Names and Consultant re. Terminology Per Langgård, Chief Consultant Administrator for Language Technology Katti Frederiksen, Head of Section Secretary for Oqaasiliortut – the Greenland Language Committee 3 Nuka Møller, Head of Section Administrator for Personal Names Beatrine Heilmann, Head of Section Assistant for Language Technology Judithe Denbæk, Head of Section Assistant for Language Technology Members of Oqaasiliortut – the Greenland Language Committee Carl Christian Olsen, chairman Stephen Heilmann, vice-chairman Ellen J. Karlsen Abia Abelsen Eva Møller Thomassen Inuit Aqqinik Akuersisartut – Personal Names Committee Carl Christian Olsen, chairman Sofie Petersen Ellen J. Karlsen Nunat Aqqinik Aalajangiisartut – the Greenland Place Names Authority Carl Christian Olsen, chairman Karl Elias Olsen, vicechairman Abia Abelsen Stephen Heilmann Tukummeq Qaavigaq 4 Annual Report 2009 Inquiries to Oqaasileriffik – The Language Secretariat in 2009 A total of 589 inquiries on a variety of language related topics were received from the pu were not registered, as well as a number of e-mails lost when our office trans ferred to anotherblic ininternet 2009, mostservice of companythese sent during through the e-mail. last month Some of telephone the year. enquiries Although the number of inquiries are estimates, we can see from the previous year that there was a total increase of 140 inquiries. This is an indication that there is a growing interest for Oqaasilieriffik’s work, both within Greenland and from abroad. Table 1 shows that the highest number of inquiries were received in January, with a downward trend towards spring and increasing again during the fall. The month of December was a period with fewest inquiries, but the reason could be the above mentioned transfer to another company and the problems of receiving e-mails during the period. Table 1 – Number of inquiries 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 - januaari februaari Inquiries fromJan the Feb public March can beApril categorized May June into July different Aug topics.Sept Oct Nov Dec lated inquiries” marsi about specific Greenlandic words as well as grammar. apriili maaji had to do with certain words and phrases, nouns etc., questions juuni juuli aggusti septembari oktobari novembari decembari 5 “Language re - The “Personal names” category had to do with specific personal names and regis- tration, application for approval of personal names as well as inquiries re. the meaning and background of a personal name. The “Place names” category did not comprise of a high annual number this year, but regardless of this fact, it is an important area, which includes registration of place names as well as applications for approval of place names in relation to mineral exploration activities. The “Terminology” category dealt with terminology from Danish and English, which had not yet been conferred a corresponding term in Greenlandic, or several terms for the same topic were in existence. The inquiries dealt with which term should be approved and used. The “Translation” category dealt with inquiries re. phrases in Danish and English with no corresponding Greenlandic phrase and how to adapt them into Green- landic. This area, as well as reply on the matter, is under the auspices of the Oqaasiliortut – the Greenland Language Committee to which Oqaasileriffik – the Greenland Language Secreariat functions as the intermediary. The “Language Technology” category primarily dealt with questions about “Kukkuniiaat – Greenlandic spellchecker” and other questions related to language technology. Another category is called “Other” and includes questions concerning dictionar- ies, Oqaasileriffik’s publications, inquiries concerning the status of the Green- landic language and questions concerning teaching Greenlandic as a second lan- guage. A total number of inquiries of 97 for the month of January is noteworthy. During the summer period inquiries from the public dropped, but the number increased again during the fall months. For the month of September, most inquiries were about the meaning of Greenlandic personal names and questions regarding ter- minology. For the month of November there was a marked increase in questions about Greenlandic words, and the highest number of questions regarding place names were during the month of March, with a total number of 7. Compaired to the number of inquiries to the previous year, there was an increase of inquiries regarding Greenlandic words during the months of October and November. The 6 months of February, March and August were dominated by inquiries regarding place names. On fig. 3 the types of questions are compared to the previous year. There has been a significant increase in interest for personal names. Another increase in in terest was in the area of job titles in Greenlandic. This is an indication that the introduction of Self-Government and the passing of the Bill on Greenlandic as the official language, have spurred a need for a more uniform terminilogy which is of ficially recognized. Figure 2 – Number of types of inquiries distributed over the year 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 januaari Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec februaari When comparing the types of inquiries from 2008 and 2009 on fig. 3, a relatively - set pattern appears, but again withmars ia rise in inquiries re. the meaning of personal names, also concerning terminology and under the category: apriili Personal names - Request for translations maaji Place namesWords Language technologyTerminology Orthography juuni juuli Other aggusti septembari Oqaatsit oktobari Inuit aqqi Nunat aqqi Taaguutit novembari Allattaaseq Nutseqqusat Sprogteknologi decembari Allat “other” . 7 Figure 3 – Types of inquiries in comparison 2008 - 2009 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Oqaatsit When taking the types of inquiries into consideration, one must expect an i Words Pers. namesIn u iPlacet aqq namesi Term. Orthography Transl. Lang. Technology other crease in the public interest of Oqaasileriffik’s work in the years to come, as well as an increase of inquiries in 2010. Especially bearing in mind the recent lan guage development, one must assume thatNu thisnat a qwillqi generate a growing interest in the general language situation Taaguutit Inquiries to the Oqaasiliortut – Greenland Language Committee Allattaaseq Kommuneqarfikre. te Sermersooq – The Municipality of Sermersooq When the municipalities merged to become 4 large municipalities, with the su Nutseqqusat sequent administrtive restructuring, rminology in 2009 siliortut – the Greenland Language Committee, to assist in developing a more uni 1 Sprogteknologi 2008 form terminology. After Oqaasiliortut met with the Transitional. Committee, the 2009 Oqaasiliortut - Greenland Language Committee