Central Alaskan Yup'ik language

Central Alaskan Yup'ik or just Yup'ik (also called Yupik, Central Yup'ik, or indigenously Yugtun) is one of the languages of the Yupik family, in turn a member of the Eskimo–Aleut language group, spoken in western and southwestern Alaska. Both in ethnic population and in number of speakers, Central Alaskan Yup'ik is the largest of the languages spoken by Alaska Natives. As of 2010 it was also the second largest aboriginal language in the United States in terms of numbers of speakers. Yup'ik should not be confused with the related language Yupik spoken in Chukotka and St. Lawrence Island.

Central Alaskan Yup'ik lies geographically and linguistically between Alutiiq ~ Sugpiaq and Central Siberian Yupik. The use of the apostrophe in Central Alaskan Yup'ik, as opposed to Siberian Yupik, denotes a long p. The word Yup'ik represents not only the language but also the name for the people themselves (yuk, 'person,' and pik, 'real'.)

Of a total population of more than 23,000 people, more than 14,000 are speakers of the language. Children still grow up speaking Yup'ik as their first language in 17 of 68 Yup'ik villages, those mainly located on the lower Kuskokwim River, on Nelson Island, and along the coast between the Kuskokwim River and Nelson Island.

The difference between Yup'ik and Iñupiaq is roughly the same as the difference between Spanish and French.

The dialect that holds the largest majority within Yup’ik is General Central Yup’ik, which is spoken in Nelson Island, the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, and the Bristol Bay regions of Alaska. There are four other dialects within Central Yup’ik: Norton Sound, Nunivak, Egegik, and Hooper Bay-Chevak. Differences in pronunciation “(or accent)” and lexicon exist across these dialects and between them and General Central Yup’ik. In fact, speakers may be reluctant to take on another dialect’s lexicon or spelling because they “often feel proud of their own dialects,” which has led certain Yup’ik groups to call themselves “Cup’ik” (Chevak) or “Yupiaq” (Kuskokwim).