11 Aullaqsimava?

Dialogue: Travel

Piita:
Juana suli aullaqsimava?ᔪᐊᓇ ᓱᓕ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅᓯᒪᕙ? Is Juana still out of town?
Aisaki:
ii, Illulimmiittuq.ᐄ, ᐃᓪᓗᓕᒻᒦᑦᑐᖅ. Yes, she is in Iglulik.
Piita:
Uingattauq Illulimmiippa? ᐅᐃᖓᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐃᓪᓗᓕᒻᒦᑉᐸ?And her husband, Is he in Iglulik?
Aisaki:
Aagga, uinga Iqalunniittuq.ᐋᒡᒐ, ᐅᐃᖓ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓃᑦᑐᖅ. No, her husband is in Iqaluit.
Piita:
Qanga Juana utilaaqqa?ᖃᖓ ᔪᐊᓇ ᐅᑎᓛᖅᑲ? When will Juana return?
Aisaki:
Aatsuu, Illulimmi maanna iqqanaijariaqsimajuq.ᐋᑦᓲ, ᐃᓪᓗᓕᒻᒥ ᒫᓐᓇ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕆᐊᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ. I don't know, she went to Iglulik for work.

Vocabulary

tariuq
sea
tasiujaq
bay
imaup sinaa
seashore
nuvua
point of land
qikiqtaq
island
kangiqtuk
inlet; fiord
tasiq
lake
kuugalaak
creek
kuuk
river
qurlurniq
waterfall
nuna
land
kinngait
mountains
qaqqajaaq
hill
Iqaluit
Iqaluit

Grammar

23 » in, to, from

Inuktut has three handy affixes for describing where you are, where you are going, or where you are coming from.  They follow a similar pattern.

-mi at / in
Kanatami in Canada
   
-mit from
Kanatamit from Canada
   
-mut to 
Kanatamut to Canada

 

When -mi, -mut, & -mit are added to stems ending in -q, they change final -q to -r :
Qurluqtuq Kugluktuk
Qurluqturmit from Kugluktuk
Qurluqturmut to Kugluktuk

...and they change all other final consonants to -m :

Ikpiarjuk Arctic Bay
Ikpiarjummit from Arctic Bay
Ikpiarjummut to Arctic Bay
   
Nunavut Nunavut
Nunavummit from Nunavut
Nunavummut to Nunavut

Some speakers delete the final consonant sound when the vowel sound that comes before it is long or doubled:

Panniqtuuq Pangnirtung
Panniqtuumi in Pangnirtung
Panniqtuumut from Pangnirtung
   
Qikiqtarjuaq Qikiqtarjuaq
Qikiqtarjuami in Qikiqtarjuaq
Qikiqtarjuamit from Qikiqtarjuaq

The above affixes have a plural form: -ni, -nut, & -nit :

kinngaq hill
kinngarni in the hills; also in Cape Dorset
kinngarnit from the hills; from Cape Dorset
kinngarnut to the hills; to Cape Dorset
We can use these affixes when answering the following questions :
namiippit? Where are you?
allavvimmi at the office
 
namunngaqqit? Where are you going?
Pirurvimmut to Pirurvik
 
nakingaaqqit? Where are you coming from?
uvattinnit from our place

Or, in conversation, you may hear one of these short questions:

nami ? where?
namut? to where?
nakit? from where?

24 » Names of Communities

There is a little trick in dealing with the names of communities, in that several are considered plural, instead of singular :

Singluar Plural
Sanikiluaq Iqaluit
Kimmirut Kinngait
Qamanittuaq Naujaat
Uqsuqtuuq Arviat
Qurluqtuq Salliit

 

This affects what affix we can use with them. For the singular place names, we use -mi, -mut, & -mit. For the plural place names we have to use -ni, -nut, & -nit :

Namiippit?  
Sanikiluarmi (singular) Iqalunni (plural)
   
Namuungaqqit?  
Ikpiarjummut (singular) Sallirnut (plural)
   
Nakingaaqqit?  
Uqsuqtuurmit (singular) Kinngarnit (plural)

 

The affixes -miit-, -muuq-, and -minngaaq- also follow this pattern :

Singluar Plural
Uqsuqtuumuuqtunga Arvianuuqtunga
I am going to Gjoa Haven. I am going to Arviat.
   
Iqaluktuuttiarmiittuq Kinngarniittuq
She is in Cambridge Bay. She is in Kinngait.

 

When using the plural endings -ni, -nut, & -nit, remember to tack them on to the singular form of the noun :

Iqaluit Iqaluit; also fishes
iqaluk fish
Iqalunni in Iqaluit
   
Salliit Coral Harbour; also flat hills
salliq flat hill
Sallirni in Coral Harbour

25 » Going somewhere to do something

The handy affix -jaqtuq- / -giaq- / -riaq- is used to talk about going somewhere for a specific purpose. It has several forms depending on the last letter of the root it is attached to.

Following roots ending in vowels, use -jaqtuq- :

niri- to eat
nirijaqtuqtunga I am going (somewhere) to eat.
   
katima- to meet
katimajaqtuqtugut We are going to a meeting.

Following roots ending in -q, use -riaq- :

pinnguaq- to play; to compete
Aatuvaamut pinnguariaqtuq. he/she is going to Ottawa to compete
   
qikaq- to rest
Kalaallit Nunanganut qikariaqtuq. He/she is going to Greenland for a holiday.
   
pulaaq- to visit
Piitakkunnut pulaariaqtunga. I am going to visit at Piita's place.

Following -k, use -giaq- :

sinik- to sleep
sinigiaqtut They are going (somewhere) to sleep.