# What would be the words for 'cat' and 'hat' in Inuit/Eskimo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555 "2019-01-28T16:16:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/1 "2019-01-28T16:16:31Z")
In the 1971 cartoon “The Cat in the Hat,” the cat sings about what his name is in various languages. When he comes to ‘Eskimo,’ he says he’s a \*‘gwonka in a bonkequank.’ So what do those words actually mean? I’m guessing the Eskimos didn’t see much of domestic cats, so it’s a word for ‘cat,’ it’s probably a lynx or something wild. ‘Bonkequank’ could mean something like ‘head covering.’ Anyone??? Could be these words were just made up for the song, and in 1971, it would have been practically impossible to check them out. Copied from a website, spelling could be way off. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/2 "2019-01-28T18:38:57Z")
I would guess it is made up, unfortunately possibly similar to “ching chang chong” pejorative vocalizations when emulating Chinese speakers. As Eskimo includes Aleut, Yupik and Inuit people with 11 languages in the Eskimo–Aleut language family the use if the term probably indicates a native speaker wasn’t consulted. Yupik and Inuit do not seem to have anything similar for headware. > **[Yup'ik clothing | Headwear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yup%27ik_clothing#Headwear)** > > Hood or Parka hood (nacaq, uqurrsuk in Yup'ik, nacar in Cup'ig) is a common hat on the parka. The Greenlandic Inuit (Kalaallit, Tunumiit, and Inughuit), the Canadian Inuit, and the Alaskan Iñupiat and Yup’ik usually wear a parka style which has an attached hood with a fur ruff to protect the face. These hoods are usually trimmed with an Arctic fox tail, or a broad strip of wolf or wolverine fur. The tengqucuk is a tip of parka hood; the kak’acuk is a pompon on tip of parka hood or hat; the kak Se... ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/3 "2019-01-28T19:06:59Z")
Using an online [url=]Yupik/English translator: nacarpig’ar = men’s dance hat palagg’aayar = fur hat I would assume that since the Cat in the Hat wore a tophat, the ‘men’s dance hat’ might be the closest translation. (NB: A ‘men’s dance hat’ may be a hat specific to tribal dances. It doesn’t say so, but it came to my mind.) It had no translation for ‘cat’. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/4 "2019-01-28T19:28:59Z")
The [Inuktitut Lexicon](https://inuktutlexicon.gcrc.carleton.ca/) lists a few different Inuit words for lynx from different languages, none of which is anything like “gwonka”. Of course, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t some other Eskimo/Aleut language out there for which the word is “gwonka”. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/5 "2019-01-28T19:36:57Z")
There is a “less reliable” translation here, but this is not a academic source. > **[cat in Central Yupik - English-Central Yupik Dictionary | Glosbe](https://glosbe.com/en/esu/cat)** > > Check 'cat' translations into Central Yupik. Look through examples of cat translation in sentences, listen to pronunciation and learn grammar. > [@](#): > > qimugta back translations: dog “Cat” seems to be a loan word of “kat” in the sources I can find. This video for Yup’ik [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CrVkfq5eXos/hqdefault.jpg "Yupiugukut - We Are Yup'ik") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrVkfq5eXos) And one in Inuktitut [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/iPGAbctSHuY/hqdefault.jpg "Learn Inuktitut part 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPGAbctSHuY) which will show how different the actual song is. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZLgJvqyZNjs/hqdefault.jpg "Cat, Hat with lyrics") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLgJvqyZNjs&t=118) This page gets semi close, but the possessive rules would take some time. But note how hat or “nasara” is in the phrase but not in the song. The “gwonka” probably is meant to start with a q and relate to possession. [https://tusaalanga.ca/node/1106](https://tusaalanga.ca/node/1106) > [@](#): > > Ququsuqtumik nasaqsimajuq. He is wearing a yellow hat. Perhaps it is a dialect? But at best it is modified for rhyming and English sounds. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/6 "2019-01-28T19:43:35Z")
There is one picture of a nacarpiaq/nacarpig’ar in **rat avatar** ’s link, in which it does not resemble a top hat. But that is the essential problem with translating a word by another word without any context. I’m sure anyone who speaks an Eskimo language could immediately tell you whether a European top hat is classified as a nacarpiaq, a nasqurrun, or simply a nacaq or nacar. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/7 "2019-01-28T21:27:30Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > I would guess it is made up, unfortunately possibly similar to “ching chang chong” pejorative vocalizations when emulating Chinese speakers. As Eskimo includes Aleut, Yupik and Inuit people with 11 languages in the Eskimo–Aleut language family the use if the term probably indicates a native speaker wasn’t consulted. > > Yupik and Inuit do not seem to have anything similar for headware. > > [Yupʼik clothing - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yup%27ik_clothing#Headwear) In the not-so-fine tradition of [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NOhQomiFZM). ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/8 "2019-01-28T22:33:41Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > There is a “less reliable” translation here, but this is not a academic source. > > [cat in Central Yupik - English-Central Yupik Dictionary | Glosbe](https://glosbe.com/en/esu/cat) > “Cat” seems to be a loan word of “kat” in the sources I can find. Inuit speakers in Greenland and Inuttut speakers in Labrador have the borrowings _pussik_ and _posik_ for English “cat”. Apparently comes from “pussy(cat)”, though I am unsure if the _-k_ ending is a phonotactic obligation or else a case ending. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/9 "2019-01-28T22:38:46Z")
In the “University of Alaska Yup’ik Eskimo Dictionary” under “cat” we have: kuskaq, kuuskaq, puss’iq, puussiq, IE simply the Russian or English word. “Lynx” is niutuayaq (from Inupiaq niutuuyiq (ultimately from Athabascan). There are loads of different hats described, as explained above, including all’ugaq (hat), nacaq (hat; parka hood; cap), uqerrsuun (hat), uqurrsuk; as well as ugtarcurcuun (bentwood hunting hat), cillapak, esslaapaq, selapaq (broad-brimmed hat), cillapak (cowboy hat), nacarrluk (dance hat), nacarpiaq (fancy hat), paallaguaq (fur hat), malagg’aayaq, palagg’aayaq, qacap’aguaq (fur hat with ear flaps), caguyaq, ciayaq (semi-conical bentwood hat), maqissuun (hat worn in sweatbath), etc. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/10 "2019-01-28T23:12:24Z")
Thanks, all. I’ll go out on a limb and guess that Dr. Seuss (who is credited with the lyrics) just made up some meaningless words. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/11 "2019-01-29T01:00:40Z")
doda koo pan gama doda koo kala. doda koo pan ga-oo kala sha-tini. ETA: Leon Russell reference. . ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-words-for-cat-and-hat-in-inuit-eskimo/828555/12 "2019-01-29T13:48:02Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > There are loads of different hats described, as explained above, including all’ugaq (hat) The alley cat in the all’ugac 🙂