4 Sila qanuippa?

Dialogue: Weather

ᒥᐊᓕ ᐅᖄᓚᔪᖅ ᐃᓚᒥᓄᑦ ᑭᒻᒥᕈᕐᒧᑦ      Miali uqaalajuq ilaminut Kimmirurmut.

Miali calls her friend in Kimmirut.

Miali:
Silasi qanuippa taavani? Qanniqqa?ᓯᓚᓯ ᖃᓄᐃᑉᐸ ᑖᕙᓂ? ᖃᓐᓂᖅᑲ?How's your weather there? Is it snowing?
Inuki:
Aagga qanningittuq. Piqsiqqa Iqalunni?ᐋᒡᒐ ᖃᓐᓂᖏᑦᑐᖅ. ᐱᖅᓯᖅᑲ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂ?No, it's not snowing. Is there a blizzard in Iqaluit?
Miali:
Suli piqsilinngittuq, kisiani anuraaqtuq.ᓱᓕ ᐱᖅᓯᓕᙱᑦᑐᖅ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᐊᓄᕌᖅᑐᖅ. There isn’t a blizzard yet but it's windy.
Inuki:
Asu. Tamaanili silatsiaq kisiani siqinningittuq.ᐊᓱ. ᑕᒫᓂᓕ ᓯᓚᑦᓯᐊᖅ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᓯᕿᓐᓂᖏᑦᑐᖅ I see. Well, here it is nice weather but the sun is not shining.

Vocabulary

sila
weather; the environment; outdoors
Sila qanuippa?
What's the weather like?
qanniqqa?
snowing (Is it...?)
qanniqtuq
snowing (it's...)
piqsiqqaa?
blizzard (Is there a...?)
piqsiqtuq
blizzard (there is a...)
piqsinngittuq
blizzard (there is not a...)
siqiniq
sun
siqinniqtuq
sunny (it's...)
siqinningittuq
sunny (It is not ...)
anuraaqtuq
windy (it's...)
ikulliaqtuq
wind (There's no...)
silaluttuq
raining (it is...)
nuvujajuq
cloudy (it is...)
nillasuktuq
It is cold (weather).
silattiavak
beautiful weather
ii
yes
aagga
no

Grammar

9 » The Negative

In English we often use the word not to turn an affirmative sentence into a negative one:

It is sunny. It is not sunny.

 

In Inuktut, to express the negative, we often insert the affix -nngit- just before the verb ending:

nuvuja + nngit + tuq =  
nuvujanngittuq It is not cloudy.
   
qanniq + qqau + nngit + tuq =  
qanniqqaunngittuq It did not snow earlier.

 

When -nngit- is added to a root that ends in a consonant (q-, k-, t-), it deletes the final consonant:

silalu+ nngit + tuq =  
silalunngittuq It is not raining.
   
qanniq + lau+ nngit + tuq =  
Ippatsaq qannilaunngittuq It did not snow yesterday.
 
Here are some more examples of how the negative is used:
iqqanaijaqtut They are working.
iqqanaijanngittut They are not working.
   
naammaktuq It is O.K.
naammanngittuq It’s not O.K.
   
tukisijunga I understand.
tukisinngittunga I don’t understand.
   
qaijugut We 3 are coming
qainngittugut We 3 are not coming.