[monochrom] "Eskimo" words for Snow

[das ende der nahrungskette]

Stuart P. Derby discusses what is probably the most often mentioned 
factiod in folklore linguistics, the great number of words for "snow" 
in the "Eskimo language":
Does "Eskimo" REALLY have some megaboss number of words for snow? 
Well that depends on what "megaboss" means, of course. And it also 
depends on what language you decide is "Eskimo". The dialects spoken 
by coastal native peoples from the east of Siberia to Greenland are 
classed as Eskimo, but many scholars divide them into two languages, 
Yupik and Inuit, with some scholars further sub-dividing these 
dialects. Inuit (also called Inupik) is the best candidate from a 
folkloric point of view, being spoken most widely, from Greenland to 
northeastern Alaska, having been written earlier (1742), having about 
twice as many speakers, and having had longer and greater contact 
with "Western Civilization". (Greenlandic Inuit contains 4 words 
borrowed from medieval Norse.[1])

Derby counts 10 words for snow and ice in Labradoran Inuit and 49 
words for snow and ice from West Greenlandic. 
<http://tafkac.org/language/eskimo_words_for_snow_derby.html>Link

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Posted By johl to 
<http://www.monochrom.at/english/2009/02/eskimo-words-for-snow.htm>monochrom 
at 2/16/2009 10:37:00 AM