engleski

English-Eskimo and Eskimo-English Vocabularies (1890)

This presentation is focused on the English-Eskimo and Eskimo-English Vocabularies, published by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. in 1890, as a compilation by Ensign Roger Wells, Jr. and John W. Kelly, the interpreter. The publication itself consists of letter of transmittal sent by the Secretary of the US Department of the Interior to the Bureau of Education, introductory note signed by the Lieutenant-Commander of the Thetis that cruised in the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean for the US commercial interests, sketch map of Alaska, map showing tribal boundaries of the Arctic Eskimos in Alaska in 1889, ethnographic memoranda concerning Eskimos in Alaska and Siberia, and two bilingual lists of 11, 318 words (vocabularies). Its general purpose was to encourage learning about the Arctic Eskimos and to enable easier communication with them, but it was primarily intended to be used by the Alaskan teachers as a hand-book in schools. The given publication can be approached from different perspectives, opening space for a variety of interpretations, such as: (1) linguistic (drawing special attention to the Eskimo-Aleut or Inuit-Yupik-Unangan language family), (2) ethnographic/ethnolinguistic (raising interest in their ethnography / specific data collection in early field linguistics), (3) historical-and-political (putting emphasis on the wider historical and political context), and (4) educational (recognising the importance of learning languages for various purposes). Although the current author uses a source from the late 19th century, she suggests further investigations into these ethnic groups far beyond their past, towards better understanding of their present and future, especially in the English-speaking part of the world.

Eskimo-Aleut languages ; Eskimos ; ethnographic linguistics ; historical, political and educational contexts

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