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Tasawaq

Tasawaq (also spelled Tasermiut) is a language spoken in Greenland. It is a member of the East Greenlandic languages, which are a subgroup of the Inuit languages. Tasawaq is spoken in the town of Tasiilaq, on the east coast of Greenland. Tasawaq is one of the few Inuit languages that is not written. However, there have been efforts to create a writing system for the language. In 2007, a group of linguists and educators created a Tasawaq alphabet. The alphabet has 27 letters, which are based on the Latin alphabet. Tasawaq is a polysynthetic language, which means that words can be very long and complex. For example, the word for "reindeer" is qimuqtaq, which is made up of the roots qimu- (animal) and -taq (large). The Tasawaq language is endangered. It is estimated that there are only about 1,500 speakers of the language. Most Tasawaq speakers are over the age of 40. Many younger Greenlanders are not learning the language, as they prefer to speak Danish or Greenlandic, which are the official languages of Greenland. The Tasawaq language is unique and complex. It is a shame that it is endangered and may eventually disappear.

Language group

Songhai languages

Language locales, regions and scripts

Tasawaq
twq
Tasawaq, Niger, Latin
twq-Latn-NE
Tasawaq, Niger
twq-NE
Tasawaq, Latin
twq-Latn