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44-849: The Semichi Islands ( Samiyan in Aleut ; Russian : Семичи ) are a cluster of small islands in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands , Alaska . They are located southeast of Attu Island and northeast of Agattu Island , near 52°44′06″N 173°59′28″E  /  52.73500°N 173.99111°E  / 52.73500; 173.99111 . Named islands in the group include Alaid Island , Hammerhead Island , Lotus Island , Nizki Island , and Shemya . The Semichi Islands are an important nesting area for red-faced cormorants and glaucous-winged gulls . They also provides important habitat for waterfowl: The Aleutian subspecies of cackling goose nests on

88-485: A coronal , /a/ is raised to [e] or [ɛ] , and /u/ is fronted to [ʉ] . The mid-vowels [ɔ] and [ɛ] occur only in family names like Nevzorof and very recently introduced Russian loanwords. (C)(C)V(V) ± {C(C)(C)V(V)} ± C An Aleut word may contain one to about a dozen syllables, all syllables with a vocalic nucleus. In Atkan and Attuan, there is a word-final CC due to apocopation . There also exist word initial CCC in loanwords. A word may begin or end in

132-415: A breathy voice. The preaspiration of devoiced nasals starts with a voiceless airstream through the nose and may end voiced before a vowel. The preaspiration feature is represented orthographically with an ⟨h⟩ preceding the given sound. For example, a devoiced, preaspirated labial nasal would be written ⟨hm⟩ . Voiced approximants and nasals may be partly devoiced in contact with

176-415: A much simpler consonant inventory because the voice contrasts among nasals, sibilants and approximants have been lost. Consonants listed in the dental column have varied places of articulation. The stop, nasal, and lateral dentals commonly have a laminal articulation. The voiced dental fricative is pronounced interdentally. The pronunciation of the sibilant /s/ varies from an alveolar articulation to

220-514: A period of cultural affinity with southeastern Alaska and the Pacific Northwest Coast, which may explain linguistic features that Aleut shares with neighboring non-Eskimo languages, such as rules of plural formation. Due to colonization by Russian colonizers and traders in the 18th and 19th centuries, Aleut has a large portion of Russian loanwords. However, they do not affect the basic vocabulary and thus do not suggest undue influence on

264-456: A retracted articulation like a palato-alveolar consonant. There is no contrast between / s / and ʃ in Aleut. Many Aleut speakers experience difficulties with this distinction while learning English. Aleut has a basic three-vowel system including the high front /i/ , low /a/ , and high back /u/ . Aleut vowels contrast with their long counterparts /iː/ , /aː/ , and /uː/ . Notably, Aleut /u/

308-536: A short vowel and a following stressed syllable. For example, ìláan 'from him' pronounced [-ll-] and làkáayax̂ 'a boy' pronounced [-kk-] . The following descriptions involve phonological processes that occur in connected speech. Nikolski, Alaska Nikolski ( Chalukax̂ in Aleut ; Russian : Никольский ) is a census-designated place (CDP) on Umnak Island in Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska , United States. The population

352-461: A small home owned by the school district adjacent to the school building and purpose-built for teachers and their family. The school was constructed in 1939 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs . Circa 1978, the school had a single teacher, and 15 students. In 2008, the number of students fell below 9. Beginning in 1998, schools in rural Alaska had to have at least 10 students, in order to retain funding from

396-474: A voiceless consonant and at the end of a word. The voiceless glottal approximant / h / functions as an initial aspiration before a vowel. In Atkan and Attuan, the prevocalic / h / aspiration contrasts with an audible but not written glottal stop initiation of the vowel. Compare halal ('to turn the head') and alal ('to need'). This contrast has been lost in Eastern Aleut. Modern Eastern Aleut has

440-430: A vowel, both short and long, with few exceptions. Due to apocopation, short /u/ is not found in the final position. The same is true for short /i/ , except in some obsolete suffixes, such as -chi 'your' (pl.) which is realized as -chin and -chix in modern Eastern and Atkan Aleut. Vowels within a word are separated by at least one consonant. All single consonants can appear in an intervocalic position, with

484-422: A wider variety of stress patterns. Stress may be attracted to another syllable by a long vowel or relatively sonorant consonant, or by a closed syllable. It is possible the stress can be determined by rhythmic factors so that one word will have different stress in different contexts, such as áĝadax̂ compared to àĝádax̂ , both meaning 'arrow'. In Atkan and Attuan Aleut, stronger stress more commonly falls on

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528-534: Is coming'. There is a similar structure for polite requests: qadá 'please eat!' vs qáda 'eat'. Under ordinary strong stress, a short syllable tends to be lengthened, either by lengthening the vowel or geminating the following single consonant. Lengthening of the vowel is most common in Eastern, but is found in Atkan before a voiced consonant. In all dialects gemination is common between an initial stressed syllable with

572-425: Is indeterminate and often difficult to define. Stress varies based on the relation to the beginning or end of the word form, the length of the vowels, the sonority of the consonants, open- or closeness of the syllables, or the number of syllables in sentential rhythm and intonation. Stress affects the length of both vowels and consonants. Stress underlies the distinctive syncopation characteristics of Eastern Aleut. In

616-422: Is pronounced slightly lower than /i/ in the vowel space. The long vowel /aː/ is pronounced retracted in the vowel space creating a significant distinction relative to the vowel length of /a/ . The two high vowels are pronounced with the same vowel quality regardless of vowel length. In contact with a uvular , /i/ is lowered to [e] , /a/ is backed to [ɑ] , and /u/ is lowered to [o] . In contact with

660-536: Is tectonically active, and an eruption last occurred on March 11, 1957, following an earthquake. A cataclysmic eruption of Mount Okmok in the northernmost part of the island severely affected Nikolski residents in July 2008. The boundary between the Alaska Time Zone ( UTC−9 ) and Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone ( UTC−10 ) passes just west of Nikolski, along the line of 169°30'W through Samalga Pass. This places Nikolski in

704-416: Is water. The island is in the maritime climate zone. Temperatures range from 11 degrees F (−11 C) to 65 degrees (18 C). Snowfall is considerable and covers Mount Vsevidof and other peaks, with rain and strong winds much of the year, and summer fog. On a clear day the view from Nikolski is dominated by Mount Vsevidof to the northeast, the highest point on Umnak Island (7,051 ft; 2,149 m). Vsevidof

748-467: The 10th student, but he chose not to, partly because the Nikolski School could not offer welding classes, and thus the school could not reach the 10 student threshold. The school closed down after the conclusion of the 2009–2010 school year. The permanent teacher left during the fall semester, so a volunteer had to fill in for the rest of the school year. After it closed down, some of the students left

792-454: The 1930 census and to date, it has reported as Nikolski. It was made a census-designated place (CDP) in 1980. As of the census of 2000, there were 39 people, 15 households, and 12 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 0.3 inhabitants per square mile (0.12/km ). There were 28 housing units at an average density of 0.2 units per square mile (0.077 units/km ). The racial makeup of

836-473: The 1960s. Previous activities from the 1800s included sea otter hunting and fox farming. A sheep ranch was established in 1926 as part of the Aleutian Livestock Company and there are thousands on the island today. In the early 1900s the residents purchased a large fishing boat with money made from those activities, the “Umnak Native”, but it was wrecked in 1933. In June 1942 during World War II ,

880-673: The Alaska Time Zone. However, as Nikolski is part of the Aleutian Region School District the settlement effectively observes Hawaii–Aleutian time. Nikolski first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the unincorporated Aleut village of "Nikolsky." It had 127 residents, of whom 117 were Aleut, 8 were Creole (Mixed Russian & Native) and 2 were White. In 1890, it returned as "Umnak", with 94 residents, of whom 80 were native and 14 were Creole. It did not appear again until 1920, when it again reported as "Umnak." Beginning with

924-414: The CDP was 30.77% White and 69.23% Native American . Of the 15 households, 40.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% were married couples living together, 20.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.0% were non-families. 20.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

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968-467: The Eastern Aleutian Islands as early as 4,000 years ago, followed by a gradual expansion westward over the next 1,500 years to the Near Islands . Another westward expansion may have occurred about 1,000 years ago, which may explain the lack of obvious diversification among the Aleut dialects, with Eastern Aleut features having spread westward. This second westward expansion is characterized as

1012-559: The Japanese attacked Unalaska to the East and had also seized Attu and Kiska islands, to the west. Residents of Umnak Island were evacuated to the Ketchikan area in far southeastern Alaska, although an American airstrip and military base on the north of the island, Fort Glenn Army Air Base (abandoned by 1950) repelled Japanese forces. The Battle of Attu and associated campaigns in 1943 recaptured

1056-557: The death of the last native speaker in 2022, it became extinct. All dialects show lexical influence from Russian ; Copper Island Aleut has also adopted many Russian inflectional endings. The largest number of Russian loanwords can be seen in the Bering Aleut. The consonant phonemes of the various Aleut dialects are represented below. Each cell indicates the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) representation of

1100-437: The dialects of Atka and Bering Island . Attuan was a distinct dialect showing influence from both Atkan and Eastern Aleut. Copper Island Aleut (also called Medny Aleut ) was a Russian-Attuan mixed language ( Copper Island ( Russian : Медный , Medny , Mednyj ) having been settled by Attuans). Despite the name, after 1969 Copper Island Aleut was spoken only on Bering Island, as Copper Islanders were evacuated there. After

1144-482: The extensive syncopation characteristic of the Eastern Aleut dialect are described below. In the examples, the syncopated vowel will be shown in parentheses. A word medial short vowel may be syncopated between single consonants, except after an initial open short syllable and/or before a final open short syllable. For example, ìx̂am(a)nákux̂ 'it is good' and alqut(a)maan 'what for?'. The syncopation often creates consonant clusters beyond those prescribed by

1188-429: The first syllable. However, long vowels, sonorants, etc. have similar effects on stress as in Eastern Aleut. For example, qánáang 'how many' vs qánang 'where'; ùĝálux̂ 'spear' vs álaĝux̂ 'sea'. Stress may also be expressive, as with exclamations or polite requests. Stronger stress falls on the last syllable and is accompanied by a lengthening of a short vowel. For example, kúufyax̂ àqakúx̂! 'coffee

1232-528: The following discussion, the acute accent (á) indicates the stronger stress and the grave accent (à) indicates the weaker. In Eastern Aleut, stronger stress tends to fall on the penultimate syllable if it is short (has a short vowel), or on the last syllable if it is long (has a long vowel). The weaker stress commonly falls on the first syllable. For example, úlax̂ 'house', tùnúnax̂ 'talked', tùnulákan 'without talking', ìnaqáam 'he himself'. Eastern Aleut words with more than two syllables exhibit

1276-497: The following exceptions: Words begin with any consonant except / θ / and preaspirated consonants (with the exception of the preaspirated / ŋ̥ / in Atkan Aleut). Only in loanwords do / v / , / z / , and the borrowed consonants ( p, b, f, d, g, ɹ / ɾ ) appear word-initially. The word-initial CC can take many forms, with various restrictions on the distribution of consonants: Intervocalic CC can occur in normal structure or as

1320-537: The general rules of Aleut phonotactics. The resulting clusters include: In some frequently encountered syncopated forms, which otherwise result in irregular three consonant clusters, the middle uvular fricative is deleted along with the preceding vowel. For example, (h)iis(ax̂)talix 'saying' and (h)iil(ax̂)talix 'being said'. At slower speeds of speech, the syncopation may not be realized. Compare txin saakutikux̂txin 'you are getting skinny' beside ting saak(u)tikuqing 'I am getting skinny'. Aleut stress

1364-414: The harsh weather conditions. Nikolski has no harbour. Nikolski is located at 52°56′29″N 168°51′39″W  /  52.941485°N 168.860765°W  / 52.941485; -168.860765 . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the CDP has a total area of 132.8 square miles (344 km ), of which, 132.1 square miles (342 km ) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km ) of it (0.55%)

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1408-533: The historically Aleut-speaking regions lack any language/culture courses in their curriculum, and those that do fail to produce fluent or even proficient speakers. The Eskimo and Aleut peoples were part of a migration from Asia across Beringia , the Bering land bridge between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago. During this period, the Proto-Eskimo-Aleut language was spoken, which broke up around 2000 BC. Differentiation of

1452-738: The islands in significant numbers, and common eider and emperor goose winter in the area. Black oystercatchers are also found in significant numbers. This article about a location in the Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Aleut language Various sources estimate there are fewer than 100 to 150 remaining active Aleut speakers. Because of this, Eastern and Atkan Aleut are classified as "critically endangered and extinct" and have an Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS) rating of 7. The task of revitalizing Aleut has largely been left to local government and community organizations. The overwhelming majority of schools in

1496-589: The language. In March 2021, the last native speaker of the Bering dialect, Vera Timoshenko, died aged 93 in Nikolskoye , Bering Island , Kamchatka. Within the Eastern group are the dialects of the Alaskan Peninsula, Unalaska , Belkofski , Akutan , the Pribilof Islands , Kashega and Nikolski . The Pribilof dialect has more living speakers than any other dialect of Aleut. The Atkan grouping comprises

1540-487: The lost islands to the west. Nikolski locals returned in 1944, but some had experienced the outside world for the first time and since then, many natives have remained offshore, working in canneries or on fishing vessels. The US Air Force built a White Alice radar communication site on the edge of town in the 1950s, but it was abandoned by 1977. A 3,500-foot gravel runway, the unattended Nikolski Air Station remains, and there are passenger, mail and cargo services depending on

1584-521: The median income for a family was $ 40,250. Males had a median income of $ 26,250 versus $ 11,875 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $ 14,083. There were 23.5% of families and 20.7% of the population living below the poverty line , including 13.6% of under eighteens and 55.6% of those over 64. Nikolski is served by the Aleutian Region Schools . The Nikolski School served grades K-12. The school had one live-in teacher that occupied

1628-439: The middle consonant is either / t / , / tʃ / , / s / . For example, taxtxix̂ 'pulse', huxsx̂ilix 'to wrap up', chamchxix̂ 'short fishline'. The most common single consonants to appear word-final are / x / , / χ / , / m / , / n / , / ŋ / , and / j / . Through apocopation, word-final single consonants / l / and / s / occur, and word-final consonant clusters ending with / t / or / s / . The details of

1672-455: The phoneme; consonants existing only in loanwords are in parentheses. Some phonemes are unique to specific dialects of Aleut. The palato-alveolar affricate / tʃ / and uvular stop / q / are pronounced with strong aspiration. Attuan labial fricative / v / is pronounced voiced or devoiced. Voiceless approximants and devoiced nasals are preaspirated . The preaspiration of approximants causes very little friction and may pronounced more as

1716-533: The result of syncopation. In CC clusters of two voiced continuants, there is often a short transitional vowel. For example, qilĝix̂ 'umbilical cord' is pronounced [-l ĝ-] similar to qiliĝi-n 'brain'. Almost all possible combinations of coronal and postlingual consonants are attested. The combination of two postlingual or two coronal consonants is rare, but attested, such as hux̂xix 'rain pants', aliĝngix̂ 'wolf', asliming 'fit for me', iistalix 'to say; to tell; to call'. In CCC clusters,

1760-405: The state, and campuses not meeting the number had to close. The school district used its budget to keep the school open. An American Samoan family arrived, but as the school lost more students, that family did not have enough children to enroll to make up the required 10 students and, subsequently, the family moved away. A student living elsewhere was offered to relocate to Nikolski, where he would be

1804-517: The two branches is thought to have happened in Alaska because of the linguistic diversity found in the Eskimo languages of Alaska relative to the entire geographic area where Eskimo languages are spoken (eastward through Canada to Greenland). After the split between the two branches, their development is thought to have occurred in relative isolation. Evidence suggests a culture associated with Aleut speakers on

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1848-556: The world. Archaeological evidence from Ananiuliak Island , 5 km offshore in Nikolski Bay, dates human habitation to 8,500 years ago. A site known as Chaluka in Nikolski shows 4,000 years of virtually continuous occupation. Subsistence activities, sheep and cattle raising, and fishing are the main livelihoods and the latter has been traced back thousands of years by archaeologists, through analysis of midden sites and fish hook designs in

1892-412: Was 2.60 and the average family size was 2.92. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 35.9% under the age of 18, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $ 38,750, and

1936-414: Was 39 at the 2020 census , up from 18 in 2010. Nikolski is on Nikolski Bay, off the southwest end of the island. It is 116 air miles west of Unalaska , and 900 air miles from Anchorage . Residents are known as Unangan, and Aleut is spoken in most of the remaining homes. The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association reports that Nikolski is thought to be one of the oldest continuously occupied communities in

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