Pacific Yupik language

Also known as: Alutiiq language, Sugpiaq language

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July 1, 2026

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The Pacific Yupik language, also known as Sugcestun, Sugpiaq, or Alutiiq, is one of the Yupik languages spoken in Alaska. It is part of the western division of the Eskimo languages, which fall under the larger Eskimo-Aleut language family. The Pacific Yupik language comprises three dialects: one spoken on the Kodiak Island group, another on the south shore of the Kenai Peninsula, and a third in Prince William Sound. The Yupik people themselves are Indigenous inhabitants of southwestern Alaska and eastern Siberia.1234

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Yupik language
Yupik
Aleut language
Arctic - Linguistic affiliations
Arctic - Linguistic composition

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Eskimo-Aleut languages
Yupik
…spoken southward from Norton Sound; Pacific Yupik, called Alutiiq, Sugcestun, and Sugpiaq, spoken from the Alaska Peninsula eastward to Prince William Sound; Naukan (Naukanski Siberian Yupik), whose speakers were resettled southward from Cape Dezhnyov, the easternmost point of the Eurasian landmass; Central Siberian Yupik (mainly Yupigestun [Akuzipik, Chaplinski Yupik]), which…
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…spoken southward from Norton Sound; Pacific Yupik, called Alutiiq, Sugcestun, and Sugpiaq, spoken from the Alaska Peninsula eastward to Prince William Sound; Naukan (Naukanski Siberian Yupik), whose speakers were resettled southward from Cape Dezhnyov, the easternmost point of the Eurasian landmass; Central Siberian Yupik (mainly Yupigestun [Akuzipik, Chaplinski Yupik]), which…
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Arctic
Linguistic composition
…Alaska Peninsula, where it met Pacific Yupik (known also as Sugcestun, Sugpiaq, or Alutiiq). Pacific Yupik comprises three dialects: that of the Kodiak Island group, that of the south shore of the Kenai Peninsula, and that of Prince William Sound.
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…Alaska Peninsula, where it met Pacific Yupik (known also as Sugcestun, Sugpiaq, or Alutiiq). Pacific Yupik comprises three dialects: that of the Kodiak Island group, that of the south shore of the Kenai Peninsula, and that of Prince William Sound.
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