18 Ilakka

Dialogue: Birthdays

Aani:
Pinasuarusiup nunnguani sulauqqilli?ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᐅᑉ ᓄᙳᐊᓂ ᓱᓚᐅᖅᑭᓪᓕ?What did you do this weekend?
Simiuni:
Anaanakkutinnuulauqtunga. Ivvilli?ᐊᓈᓇᒃᑯᑎᓐᓅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ. ᐃᕝᕕᓪᓕ? I went to my mother's place. What about you?
Aani:
Nukakkutinnuulauqtunga. Nalliutilaurmat. ᓄᑲᒃᑯᑎᓐᓅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ. ᓇᓪᓕᐅᑎᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ.I went to my younger sister's place. It was her birthday.
Simiuni:
Asukuluk. Nukait qatsiuliqqa? ᐊᓱᑯᓗᒃ. ᓄᑲᐃᑦ ᖃᑦᓯᐅᓕᖅᑲ?I see.  How old is your sister now?
Aani:
37-nik arraaguqaliqtuq.37-ᓂᒃ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᖃᓕᖅᑐᖅ. She is thirty-seven.
Simiuni:
Qangakkut nalliutisuunguvilli? ᖃᖓᒃᑯᑦ ᓇᓪᓕᐅᑎᓲᖑᕕᓪᓕ?And when is your birthday?
Aani:
Juunimi nalliutisuungujunga. ᔫᓂᒥ ᓇᓪᓕᐅᑎᓲᖑᔪᖓ.My birthday is in June.

Vocabulary

ilagiit
family
ila
relative; family member
anaana
mother
ataata
father
uik
husband
nuliaq
wife
panik
daughter
irniq
son
anik
brother of a female
najak
sister of a male
angijuk
older sibling (same sex)
nukaq
younger sibling (of the same sex)
ataatatsiaq
grandfather
anaanatsiaq
grandmother
attak
aunt (father’s sister)
ajak
aunt (mother’s sister)
angak
uncle (mother’s brother)
akkak
uncle (father’s brother)
sakik
parents-in-law
ukuaq
daughter-in-law; sister-in-law (brother’s wife)
sakiaq
sister-in-law (husband’s sister)
ningauk
son-in-law; brother-in-law (of the same sex)
airaapik
brother-in-law (sister’s husband)
airaapik
sister-in-law (brother’s wife)
sakiqpaaq
grandparents-in-law

Grammar

35 » Going to someone’s house

In the dialogue for this lesson we see one way of talking about going to someone's house:

anaanakkutinnuulauqtunga I went to my mother's house.
nukakkutinnuulauqtunga I went to my younger sibling's house.

Both of these words feature the affix -kkut. Among its various meanings, -kkut can be used to describe households:

Piitakkut Peter’s house
Qajaakkut Qajaaq’s house

To this affix we can add other affixes:

Qajaakkunni at Qajaaq’s house
Qajaakkunniittuq He/she is at Qajaaq’s house.
   
Piitakkunnut to Peter’s house
Qajaakkunnuuqtunga I am going to Peter’s house.

Now we will add an extra layer of complexity:

anaana mother
anaanakkutinni at my mother’s place
anaanakkusinni at your mother’s place
   
piqati friend
piqatikkuttinni at my friend’s place
anaanakkusinni at your friend’s place

The ending -tinni comibnex the idea of being somewhere with the possessive ‘my’ or ‘our'

The ending -sinni comibnex the idea of being somewhere with the possessive ‘your’.

Look at these two very common expressions

uvatinni at my place; at our place
ilitsinni at your place

But there are many more possibilities here:

uvatinnut to my place
uvatinnit from my place
   
ilitsinnut to your place
ilitsinnit from your place

Or, if we want to speak more completely:

anaanakkusinnuuqqit? Are you going to your mother’s place?
anaanakkuttinnuuqtunga I am going to my mother’s place?
   
nukakkusinninngaaqqit? Are you coming from your younger sibling’s place?
nukakkusinninngaaqtunga I am coming from my younger sibling’s place.
   
piqatikkusinniippit? Are you at your friend’s place?
piqatikkuttinniittunga I am at my friend’s place.

36 » Birthdays

Some notes on birthdays. 

nalliutijuq She has a birthday (that very day).
nalliutisuuq maimi. She has his/her birthday in May.

You will remember the affix -suuq (meaning “someone who does something regularly”) from such expressions as:

immulisuunguvit? immuliusuungujunga.
Do you take milk (with your coffee)? I take milk.
   
Inuktitusuunguva? ii, inuktituusuuq.
Does he/she speak Inuktitut? Yes, he/she speaks Inuktitut.

 

Remember that when making a simple statement in the third person (he / she / it), -suuq can appear, on its own, at the end of the word.

Sitipirimi nalliutisuuq.
His/her birthday is in September.

 

In any other situation, you normally add the verb -u-/-ngu- (meaning ‘to be’) after -suuq- followed by the appropriate ending:

Tisipirimi nalliutisuunguvit? Is your birthday in December?
Aagga, nalliutisuungujunga iipurimi. No, my birthday is in April.
   
Maatsimi nalliutisuunguva? Is his/her birthday in March?
ii, maatsimi nalliutisuuq. Yes, his/her birthday is in March.

 

Let’s say we want to ask someone how old they are: 

qatsit? how many?
qatsiuvit? How old are you (literally, how many are you?)

In answering, we do like in French and talk about how many years we “have”: 

30-nik + arraagu + qaq + tunga  
30-nik arraaguqaqtunga. I am 30 (literally, I have 30 years.)

Remember that when -qaq- comes together with -tuq-, we get the affix -lik :

Qatsiuva? How old is he/she ?
24-nik arraagulik. He/she is 24.

 

If, on the day of someone’s birthday, we want to ask them how old they are turning, we use the affix -liq-to express something that is changing:

Qatsinik arraguqaliqqit? How old are you turning today?
8-nik arraaguqaliqtunga. I am turning 8 (today).

Finally, if you are looking for something to write on a birthday card:

ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᓇᓕᐅᑎᑦᓯᐊᕆᑦ ! Happy Birthday!