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Mednyj Aleut Language (Medny, Copper Island Creole)

Language: Mednyj Aleut was a mixed language spoken by indigenous Aleut people on two islands of Russia, Medny Island (known as "Copper Island" in English) and Bering Island. Called a "pidgin" by some people and a "creole" by others, Mednyj Aleut arose in the early 1800's after Russian fur traders began trading and intermarrying with Aleut and Alutiiq communities. It is no longer used today, as the Aleuts in Russia have all switched to speaking Russian. The language combined grammatical elements of Russian with simplified Unangan (Aleut) vocabulary.

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Mednyj Aleut Language Resources

Mednyj Aleut Wordlist:
    Vocabulary words in the Mednyj Aleut language.
Wikipedia: Mednyj Aleut:
    Encyclopedia entry on the Mednyj Aleut language.
Copper Island Aleut Language Tree:
    Theories about Mednyj Aleut's language relationships compiled by Linguist List.
Copper Island Aleut: A Mixed Language * A Case of Language Resurrection:
    Linguistics articles on the Mednyj Aleut Creole.
Endangered Languages Project: Mednyj Aleut:
    Bibliography of Mednyj language resources.
Unangan Language:
    Our directory of resources related to the Aleut language in general.

Books for sale on Medniy Aleut
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Contact Languages: A wider perspective:
    Book on mixed languages by linguist Sarah Thomason, including a chapter on Mednyj Aleut.

Culture and History of the Russian Aleuts

How Russian Aleuts live at the edge of the world:
    Article about the perseverence of Aleut culture on Bering Island in Russia.
Peoples of the Russian Empire: The Aleuts:
    Historical and cultural profile of the Aleuts of the Commander Islands.

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Additional Resources, Links, and References

  OLAC: Mednyj Aleut:
  Reference list of Mednyj Aleut language materials.
  Wikipedia: Aleut-Mednovsky * Aleutskiy-Mednovskiy:
  Information about the Mednyj Aleut language in Russian.



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