In order to talk about where one works and what one does at work, there are some affixes and endings that are good to learn.
THE AFFIX -JI / -TI
This affix is added to the end of a verb to indicate, a person who does the action described by the root. It shows up frequently in job titles:
| tusaa- | to hear a continous sound |
| tusaaji | an interpreter (literally, someone who hears a continuous sound) |
| kiu- | to answer |
| kiuji | a receptionist |
| ilinniaqtitsi- | to teach |
| ilinniaqtitsiji | a teacher |
-ji is the form of the affix that is used with roots that end in a vowel sound. After a consonant sound, -ti is used:
| angunasut- | to hunt |
| angunasutti | a hunter |
| miqsuq- | to sew |
| miqsuqti | a seamstress |
THE AFFIX -LIRI
This affix -liri- is often added before -ji to talk about something one deals with or is involved with. The combination -liriji- is added to noun roots:
| kiinaujaq | money |
| kiinaujaliriji | someone who works with money (e.g. a banker or a finance officer) |
| uumajuq | animal |
| uumajuliriji | a wildlife officer |
| maligaq | law |
| maligaliriji | a lawyer |
THE AFFIX -KKUT
Many names of organizations end with the affix -kkut. Among its various meanings, -kkut is used to refer to a group of people (in this case the people who work at the organization):
| paliisi | police officer |
| paliisikkut | police department |
| qattiriji | firefighter |
| qattirijikkut | fire department |
| kiinaujaliriji | someone who deals with money |
| kiinaujalirijikkut | an organization of people who deal with money (Dept. of Finance) |
| illuliriji | housing officer |
| Illulirijikkut | Housing Corporation |
-mi is a noun ending and is translated as ‘in’ or ‘at’ in English. It has a plural form -ni that we are using in this lesson:
| illu | house |
| illumi | in the house |
| illuni | in the houses (3+) |
As mentioned above, the affix -kkut that we are using here with the names of organizations refers to a group of people. As a result, we have to use the plural ending -ni to talk about something that is happening within that organization:
| illu + liriji + kkut + ni = | |
| illulirijikkunni | in/at the Housing Corporation |
| qattiriji + kkut + ni = | |
| qattirijikkunni | in/at the fire department |
Note that according to the rules of Inuktut pronunciation, when the ending -ni is added to a root ending in -t, the final t softens and becomes an n sound.
So, to the question:
| Nami iqqanaijaqqit? | Where do you work? |
One could answer:
| Kiinaujalirijikkunni iqqanaijaqtunga. | I work at the Department of Finance. |