Language

The Greenlandic language belongs to the Eskimo family of languages. Each word can convey the meaning of an entire sentence.

WHOLE SENTENCES IN A SINGLE WORD

Greenlandic belongs to the Eskimo family of languages. It is a ‘polysynthetic’ language, which means that words are formed with a root, one or more affixes and a suffix.
A Greenlandic word can thus be very long and can mean what corresponds to a whole sentence in other languages.

"Greenlandic belongs to the Eskimo family of languages."

Package Tours

Greenland Travel: A long weekend out of the ordinary in Ilulissat!

Greenland Travel

A long weekend out of the ordinary in Ilulissat!

Clear your schedule and recharge your batteries in a very special way during this journey of indulgence to Greenland.

Arctic Umiaq Line: Discover Greenland from the sea

Arctic Umiaq Line

Discover Greenland from the sea

The coastal ship Sarfaq Ittuk sails from southern Greenland up along Greenland’s west coast to Disko Bay.

Blue Ice Explorer: Plan your own holiday in Greenland

Blue Ice Explorer

Plan your own holiday in Greenland

Are you dreaming of going to Greenland and would you prefer to plan your own trip?

Blue Ice Explorer: Backpacking and hiking in Greenland

Blue Ice Explorer

Backpacking and hiking in Greenland!

A backpacking trip where you get off the beaten track! Experience life at sheep farms, settlements and the town Narsaq.

DIFFERENT DIALECTS

The Greenlandic language is roughly divided into four dialects: South Greenlandic, West Greenlandic, East Greenlandic and the Thule dialect. West Greenlandic is the official language which all children learn in addition to Danish and English.

In small towns and settlements it is not unusual for only Greenlandic to be spoken and English may possibly be understood or spoken only to a very limited degree.

It is therefore a good idea to learn a few words during your trip that can open up for communication.

Young greenlanders at the cafe in Katuaq culture centre, by David Trood

Two football loving kids from Itilleq in Greenland, by Mads Pihl

Two supporters of Isortoq team IT-80 at the East Greenland football championships in Tasiilaq. By Mads Pihl

IT-80 football supporters from the village Isortoq at the 2013 East Greenland football championships. By Mads Pihl

Four kids from Kangaamiut in Greenland hanging out in an outdoor sofa. Photo by Mads Pihl

Passengers sharing the table in Cafe Sarfaq in the coastal ferry Sarfaq Ittuk in Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl

Three young people in the sunset in Ukkusissat, Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl

Language - A Greenland Travel hiking guide and a local camp manager from East Greenland discussing the pronounciation of East Greenlandic words

GREENLANDIC LOAN WORDS

Greenlanders are always delighted when visitors try to speak at least a few words of the local language. To make it easy, you can start by learning the words “hello”, which is called “aluu”, or “goodbye”, which is simply “baaj” – and thus are reminiscent of English.

These words are loan words that were probably introduced when the Americans came to Greenland during the Second World War.

A DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE

As is the case for all languages, Greenlandic continues to evolve, and when loan words are not used, new, highly descriptive words are created.

The word ‘computer’ is ‘qarasaasiaq’ in Greenlandic, which directly translated means ‘artificial brain’, whilst ‘potato’ is called ‘naatsiiat’ – which actually means ‘something for which one waits for a long time to grow up’.

The written language and pronunciation are something else again and can be read about in several of the books on the Greenlandic language that are available on the Internet.

By Visit Greenland

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