Chevak Cupꞌik dialect
Chevak Cupʼik or just Cupʼik is a subdialect of the Hooper Bay–Chevak dialect of Yupʼik spoken in southwestern Alaska in the Chevak by Chevak Cupʼik Eskimos. Speakers of the Chevak subdialect refer to themselves as Cupʼik, while speakers of the Hooper Bay subdialect refer to themselves as Yupʼik, as in the Yukon-Kuskokwim dialect.
The Central Alaskan Yupik who live in the village of Chevak call themselves Cupʼik, whereas those who live on Nunivak Island call themselves Cupʼig, the spelling differences serving as a self-designated cultural identifier between the two groups. In both dialects, the Yupʼik consonant c is pronounced as an English ch. The Cupʼik dialect is readily distinguished from other dialects of Yupʼik by the pronunciation of the Yupʼik "y" sound as a "ch" sound, and by some fundamental differences in the basic vocabulary.
The oldest fully bilingual person in Chevak is Leo Moses, born in 1933; there are few if any persons born after 1945 who do not speak English.
The first documentation of the Hooper Bay-Chevak dialect is found in the unpublished notes of Jesuit priests residing at Hooper Bay and Kashunuk in the 1920s and 1930s. Published recognition of Hooper Bay-Chevak as a morphologically distinct dialect of Yupʼik seems to begin with Michael E. Krauss in 1973, although the fundamental differences between the dialects were common knowledge among native speakers. Cup'ik is a critically threatened language, and English the primary language of everyday communication among most of those with knowledge of the language.
Education
Their unique cultural and linguistic identity has allowed them to form a single-site school district, the Kashunamiut School District, rather than joining a neighboring Yupʼik school district. English and Cupʼik bilingual education is done at this school. There is a tri-language system in Chevak; English, Cupʼik, and a mixture of the two languages.Before 1950 formal education for students in Chevak took place in the Qaygiq, and in the homes of the people.
Vocabulary comparison
The comparison of some words in the two dialects.| Yukon-Kuskokwim Yupʼik | Chevak Cupʼik | meaning |
| elicaraq / elitnauraq | elicaraq skuularaq | student |
| elicarista / elitnaurista | elicarta skuularta | teacher |
| yugnikekʼngaq | aiparnatugaq | friend |
| yuilquq | cuilquq | the wilderness; tundra |
| nuussiq | caviggaq | knife |
| uluaq | kegginalek | ulu, semi-lunar woman's knife |
| canek | evek | a blade or stalk of grass |
| ellalluk | ivyuk | rain |
Phonology
There are 18 letters used in the Cupʼik alphabet: a c e g i k l m n p q r s t u v w y.These letters are not used in the Cupʼik alphabet except for certain names: b d f h j o x z.
Vowels:
- Short vowels: a i u e
- Long vowels: aa ii uu
- Diphthongs: ai ui au iu ua ia
- Stops: p t c k q
- Voiced fricatives: v l y g r w
- Voiceless fricatives: vv ll ss gg rr ww
- Voiced nasals: m 'n ng
- Voiceless nasals: m' n '''ng'''
Russian loanwords
The Russian loanwords used in Chevak Cupʼik date from the period of the Russian America.- caarralaq 'sugar'
- caayuq 'tea'
- caanik 'tea kettle'
- capʼakiq 'shoe'
- cassʼaq 'clock'
- culunaq 'salted fish'
- kalantaassaq 'pencil'
- kalmaaniq 'pocket'
- kelipaq 'bread'
- luussitaq 'horse'
- massʼlaq 'butter; margarine'
- missuulleq 'burlap sack'
- mulukʼuuq 'milk'
- multʼuuq 'hammer'
- palʼtuuk 'coat; jacket'
- pelatekaq 'tent'
- putuskaq 'pillow'
- spickaq : 'match'
- tiititsaaq/tiissitsaaq 'thousand; one thousand dollars'
- yaassiik : 'box; cardboard box'
The names of days and months
- erneq day
- Agayuneq Sunday
- Pekyun Monday
- Aipirin Tuesday
- Pingayirin Wednesday
- Citamirin Thursday
- Tallimirin Friday
- Maqineq Saturday
- iraluq month
- Agayuulek January
- Nakrutlek February
- Neqlelek March
- Tunturalek April
- Cupun May
- Kaugun June
- Essgun July
- Putukuarun August
- Amiirairun September
- Cauyaun / Ipukaqun October
- Kanruyauciq November
- Angunquyugtuun December