Dialogue: Whose is this?
Vocabulary
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Kiap una?
ᑭᐊᑉ ᐅᓇ?
Who does this belong to?
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una
ᐅᓇ
this; this one
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Kiap ukua?
ᑭᐊᑉ ᐅᑯᐊ?
Who do these (3+) belong to?
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ukua
ᐅᑯᐊ
these (3+)
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Una kiap nasanga?
ᐅᓇ ᑭᐊᑉ ᓇᓴᖓ?
Who does this hat belong to?
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nasaq
ᓇᓴᖅ
hat
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aggaak
ᐊᒡᒑᒃ
gloves (two)
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pualuuk
ᐳᐊᓘᒃ
mittens (a pair of)
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kamiik
ᑲᒦᒃ
boots (skin)
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kamaaluuk ukiuqsiutiik
ᑲᒫᓘᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᓯᐅᑏᒃ
boots (winter)
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kamikutaak
ᑲᒥᑯᑖᒃ
boots (long)
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kamaaluuk
ᑲᒫᓘᒃ
boots (rubber)
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isigaujaak
ᐃᓯᒐᐅᔮᒃ
shoes (a pair)
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qulittaujaq
ᖁᓕᑦᑕᐅᔭᖅ
parka
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silapaaq
ᓯᓚᐹᖅ
parka outer shell
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jaikak
ᔭᐃᑲᒃ
jacket
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nuijagaq
ᓄᐃᔭᒐᖅ
sweater
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ikiaq
ᐃᑭᐊᖅ
shirt
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uviniruq
ᐅᕕᓂᕈᖅ
t-shirt
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qarliik
ᖃᕐᓖᒃ
pants
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qiluaq
ᕿᓗᐊᖅ
belt
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angijuqtaq
ᐊᖏᔪᖅᑕᖅ
skirt
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atajuq
ᐊᑕᔪᖅ
dress
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kiati
ᑭᐊᑎ
blouse
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Grammar
29 » Possessions & Relations
In English we have words that we put before nouns to indicate who they belong to:
| my jacket | your parka |
In Inuktut, we add an affix to the end of the noun. The above would be translated:
| jaikaga | qulittaujait |
The same endings can be used for possessions or relations:
| ataataga | my father |
| irniit | your son |
In English the words that indicate possession: my, your, our, etc. are fairly straightforward. There is only one form that we use before any noun, be it singular or plural:
| my car | my cars |
ONE POSSESSION OR RELATION
| illuga | my house |
| illuit | your (1) house |
| illunga | his / her house |
| illuvuk | our (2) house |
| illuvut | our (3+) house |
| illusi | your (2+) house |
| illungat | their house |
SOME TRICKIER DETAILS...
(i) For nouns that end in vowels, you just add the ending.
If these endings are added to a noun that ends in a consonant, the last consonant is deleted:
| jaikak | jacket |
| jaikaga | my jacket |
| qimmiq | dog |
| qimmisi | your (2+) dog |
| allavvik | office |
| allavvingat | their office |
(ii) -ga (my) has a second form, -ra, that is used after any noun that ends in -q:
| nasaq | hat |
| nasara | my hat |
| qulittaujaq | parka |
| qulittaujara | my parka |
(iii) For the Inuktut version of 'your' just add -t (instead of -it) to roots that end in two vowels:
| tui | shoulder |
| tuit | your shoulder |
| qiluaq | belt |
| qiluat | your belt |
TWO POSSESSIONS OR RELATIONS
| panik | daughter |
| paniikka(k) | my two daughters |
| panivuk | our (2+) two daughters |
| paniikkik | your two daughters |
| panisik | your (2+) two daughters |
| paningik | his/her/their two daughters |
- The last vowel sound of the root is lengthened before the endings -kkak and -kkik.
- All dual endings delete the last consonant sound of the root to which they are added.
- The endings for “his / her” and “their” are the same. Context makes it clear who you are speaking of.
3+ POSSESSIONS OR RELATIONS
| irniq | son |
| irnikka | my sons (3+) |
| irnivut | our sons (3+) |
| irnitit | your (1) sons (3+) |
| irnisi | your (2+) sons (3+) |
| irningit | his/her/their sons (3+) |
- All plural possessive endings delete the last consonant of roots they are added to.
- The endings for “her/his” and “their” are the same. Context makes it clear who you are speaking of.
NAMING THE PERSON WHO POSSESSES SOMETHING
In English, when we want to name a person that something belongs to, we add an apostrophe + s to the person's name, followed by the object:
| Mary's car | Piita's dog |
In Inuktut, these three sentences would be written this way:
| Mialiup nunasiutinga | Piitaup qimminga |
- Note that the affix -up is attached to the possessor's name, much like apostrophe + s is used in English.
- the affix -nga is added to the person or thing that is possessed if it is singular; -ngik if it is dual; and -ngit if it is plural.
| arnaup qullinga | the woman's qulliq |
| angutiup pualungik | the man's mittens (2) |
| Naullaup qimmingit | Naullaq’s dogs (3+) |
30 » This & That
Inuktut has a complex system of words to talk about an object based on where it is located (this one right here, that one over there, this one up here, etc.). At this stage, we will just look at the simplest forms.
Localizers in the South Qikiqtaaluk dialects have two forms: one for the singular and one for the dual / plural:
| una | this one |
| ukua | these two |
| taanna | that one |
| taakkua | those two / these (3+) |
Una and ukua generally refer to something close to the speaker while taanna / taakkua refer to something farther away. This very much depends on the context of the conversation, however.
In this lesson we see localizers used to ask who something belongs to:
| Una kiap nasanga? | Whose hat is this? |
| Una nasaga. | This is my hat |
| Taakkua kiap pualungik? | Whose mitts (2) are those? |
| Taakkua pualukkik. | Those are your mitts. |
31 » Mine, Yours, Theirs
MINE, YOURS, THEIRS
To express these concepts in Inuktut, we take the possessive endings that we learned in the previous lesson and add the prefix pi-:
| Una piga. | It's mine. |
| Una piit. | It's yours. |
| Una pinga. | It's his/hers. |
| Una pingat. | It's theirs. |
Dual forms (These are slightly irregular)
| Taakkua piikka. | Those two things are mine. |
| Taakkua piikkik. | Those two things are yours. |
| Taakkua pingik. | Those two things are his/hers/theirs |
Plural forms:
| Taakkua pikka. | Those are mine. |
| Taakkua pitit. | Those are yours. |
| Taakkua pingit. | Those are his/hers/theirs. |