Do Inuits really have 300 words for snow

Q. Do Inuits really have 300 words for snow

A. No, though this whole topic seems to be a minefield of misinformation and it's hard to find out the truth without actually asking an inuk (Inuktikuk - the actual name for the language - for 'person', plural inuit, 'people').

Q. So how many are there

A. Opinions differ. Linguist Stephen Pinker in his book The Language Instinct says: 'Counting generously, experts can come up with about a dozen.' However, if you look at lists put out by those who should know, there do seem to be more.

Q. Such as

A. The Public Library in Edmonton, Canada ' some way short of the Arctic Circle, but pretty cold in winter (down to average lows of -18 degrees Centigrade in January) ' lists 15, from aput (a general word for snow) to aniuvak (the snow that remains in depressions on a hill after the other snow has melted) to kussak (icicle) and piqsiq (blizzard) - though there are words for the latter two in all languages which developed in areas where ice and snow occur even rarely, so it isn't really that extraordinary. You can find the full list at http://www.publib.edmonton.ab.ca/infofile/detail.cfm subject_detail=Inuit%20Words%20For%20Snow

The Leo Ussak Elementary School in the Canadian Arctic has a website http://www.arctic.ca/LUS/ that lists rather more variations on this theme with 33 entries including aqillutaq (new snow), pukajaak (sugary snow) and qiqumaaq (snow with a frozen surface after the spring thaw), though none of them seem to be the same as the Edmonton ones. This is perhaps explained by the fact that there are a number of distinct dialects within the Inuit language and the geographical spread of Inuit speakers ranges severla thousand miles from northern Alaska through Canada to Greenland. Another closely related language is Yupik, spoken in Siberia and south-western Alaska.

Q. So where did the story arise

A. It seems to have started in 1911 when anthropologist Franz Boaz casually mentioned that the 'Eskimos' had four different words for snow. With each succeeding reference in textbooks and the popular press the number grew to sometimes as many as 400 words. Perhaps this is in itself an urban myth. All languages develop in their geographical context, and it is hardly surprising to find more variety in one-word (or compound-word) descriptions of snow in an Arctic language or different types of sand in Moghrebi and Arabic than in English. In English, after all, we have numerous ways of describing rain and other precipitation ' drizzle, shower, downpour, spitting, storm, dew, ground-frost, hoar-frost and so on ' no surprise, really, given that the language developed on a rather damp island.

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By Simon Smith