Native to West Greenland Official language in Greenland (Denmark) | Native speakers ca. 53,000 (1995) Glottolog kala1399 | |
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Language family Eskimo–Aleut
Inuit
Greenlandic
West Greenlandic | ||
Kalaallisut, or West Greenlandic, is the standard dialect of the Greenlandic language, spoken by the vast majority of the inhabitants of Greenland, as well as by thousands of Greenlandic Inuit in Denmark proper (in total, approximately 50,000 people). Kalaallisut means "Greenlandic" and is virtually identical to modern standard Greenlandic. It was historically spoken only in the southwestern part of Greenland, i.e. the region around Nuuk.
Tunumiit and Inuktun are regional dialects of Greenlandic, spoken by a small minority of the population. Danish remains an important lingua franca in Greenland and used in many parts of public life, as well as being the main language spoken by Danes in Greenland.
An extinct mixed trade language known as West Greenlandic Pidgin was based on West Greenlandic.