The new hospital being built is called the Calricaraq Project. Instinctively, I know this should be pronounced "Kal-rik-a-rak" - don't say it like that, you will be scorned. It is pronounced "Jala-gay-jahak" or "jalgeejagak" meaning "to come together". The "c" sounds like "j" and the "r" is..., well the "r" is a throaty "khy" sound that could be "g", "k", or "y" to my Western ears; there's no easy equivalent in the Latin alphabet. To hear them speak, native Yupiks use a great deal of this gutteral sound in their conversations, lots of hard "k" & "g", almost clicking their tonsils together - hard, but not harsh. "Kayak" is one of their easier words. Their conversation is melodic, like a mash-up of Sioux, Russian, & Chinese, with a lilting rythm that carries over into their pronunciation of English, if they speak it. I could listen to it all day. I just despair of ever actually learning it.
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