Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica
Titolo: "neve" in groenlandese

Ho seguito l'acerrima lite di qualche tempo fa sui modi di esprimere "neve"
in groenlandese. Anche io, ovviamente avevo una mia opinione ... ma da semi
incompetente, non essendo io una studiosa del groenlandese e lingue affini.
Prima di gettarmi nella mischia e farmi insultare, ho quindi deciso di
interpellare gente competente.
Ho scritto quindi al NAPA, il Nordic Institute in Groenlandia (l'equivalente
della Nordic House dell'Islanda e delle Faroe, home page: 
www.napa.gl
) ed ho
chiesto che inoltrassero la mia richiesta di chiarimento a persona
competente presso l'universtà locale. "copio-incollo" la risposta
Saluti ed un augurio di una piacevole estate a tutti.
Anna
Dear Anna Ballanti Neufeld,
your letter was forwarded to me from NAPA. Please find attached my answer -
you are quite right, there is not much reliable literature on the subject,
at least not in cyberspace!
Many regards,
Birgitte Jacobsen
Birgitte Jacobsen, Ph.D., lektor
Institut for Grønlandsk Sprog og Litteratur
Ilisimatusarfik / Grønlands Universitet
postboks 279, 3900 Nuuk
tlf: 32 45 66 (dir: 32 45 22 - 126)
fax: 32 47 11
www.ilisimatusarfik.gl
ILISIMATUSARFIK    University of Greenland  Birgitte Jacobsen, Ph.D., assoc.
prof.
Dept. of Greenlandic Language and Literature
P.O.Box 279. DK-3900 Nuuk. Tel.: 
+299 324566
. Fax: 
+299 324797
www.ilisimatusarfik.gl
SNOW & ICE WORDS IN GREENLANDIC
The eskimo language family (and contemporary Greenlandic) contains but 4
snow roots:
· api- (vb) 'it is covered with snow'; lexicalized nominal derivation: aput
(nom) 'snow' (as material, fallen on the ground)
· pukak (nom) 'snow crust' pukak- (vb) 'form a snow crust'
· qanik (nom) 'snow flake'; qannir- (vb) 'it is snowing'
· pirsuq (nom) 'snowstorm'; pirsir- 'be a snowstorm'
And 4 ice roots:
· siku (nom) 'ice on the water surface' siku- (vb) 'freeze over'
· nilak (nom) 'freshwater ice' nilak- (vb) 'be glazed frost'
· sirmiq (nom) 'ice on solid objects; glacier' sirmir- 'be iced over'
· qinuq (nom) 'slush ice/snow' qini- 'is full of slush snow/ice'
Source:
Michael Fortescue, Steven Jacobson & Lawrence Kaplan: Comparative Eskimo
Dictionary. Fairbanks, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1994
It is correct that Greenlandic contains a lot of snow- and ice expressions,
but they are all derivations of other roots, not specific snow- or ice
roots, e.g. nittaappoq, derivation: [the weather is not clear] = 'it is
snowing'. As a polysynthetic language Greenlandic exploits suffixes in stead
of compounds and phrases, and that may have contributed to the mythical
amount of snow words. For example: Sirmirsuaq, derivation: [big ice]) =
'inland ice' (phrase); iluliaq, derivation, lexicalization: [something
inside/in the water]) = iceberg (compound) etc.
Highly recommendable is:
Geoffrey K. Pullum: The great Eskimo vocabulary hoax. In: Geoffrey K.
Pullum: The Great Eskimo vocabulary Hoac and Other Irreverent Essays on the
Study of Language. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press,
1991: 159-171
which explains why and how the "Hundred words for snow"-myth emerged. It is
a sober, critical and very entertaining piece of research!
Best regards,
Birgitte Jacobsen

 della Nordic House dell'Islanda e delle Faroe
    Bravissima, non ci avrei mai pensato. Ottima risposta, peraltro
corredata da qualche indicazione bibliografica, che è sempre difficile
reperire per queste lingue.
    Grazie ancora.
    Ciao,
            Nicola
--
Multa non quia difficilia sunt non audemus, sed quia non audemus sunt
difficilia (Seneca).
[it, en, ru, es, (fr, pt, la, zh, ar)]

     Grazie ancora.
Ringrazi facendo finta che la tua "verità" sia stata avvallata?
-- 
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Giancarlo Pillan  -  Ivrea  -  Italy
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