As reported in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, senator Lisa Murkowski refers to the Aleut language in explaining her decision to continue her re-election bid as a write-in candidate. Specifically, Lisa claims that there is no word for "impossible" in Aleut. Unfortunately, Murkowski's research falls short.
A quick look at the Aleut Dictionary* reveals the following entry on p. 88:
- haangina-lix vi. to be difficult, impossible
Seems like it couldn't be any clearer: Aleut DOES have a word for "impossible." Just what this means for Murkowski's campaign remains to be seen, but perpetuating myths about the lexical deficiencies of Native languages seems no way to start.
*Bergsland, Knut. 1994. Aleut Dictionary. Unangam Tunudgussi. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. [order]
