6 Nami iqqanaijaqqit?

Dialogue: Where do you work?

Maika:
Nami iqqanaijaqqit Jaani?ᓇᒥ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑭᑦ, ᔮᓃ? Where do you work Jaani?
Jaani:
Nunavut Tunngavikkunni iqqanaijaqtunga. Ivvilli, nami iqqanaijaqqit Maika? ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᑐᙵᕕᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑐᖓ. ᐃᕝᕕᓪᓕ, ᓇᒥ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑭᑦ, ᒪᐃᑳ? I work at Nunavut Tunngavik. And you, where do you work Maika?
Maika:
Haamalakkunni iqqanaijaqtunga.ᕼᐋᒪᓚᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑐᖓ. I work at the Hamlet.
Jaani:
Kisulirijiuvilli taikani? ᑭᓱᓕᕆᔨᐅᕕᓪᓕ ᑕᐃᑲᓂ?What do you do there?
Maika:
Kiinnaujalirijiujunga. ᑮᓐᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᖓ. I am a Finance Officer.
Jaani:
Asukuluk.ᐊᓱᑯᓗᒃ. oh, yeah?
Maika:
Ivvili, kisulirijiuvit Nunavut Tunngavikkunni?ᐃᕝᕕᓪᓕ, ᑭᓱᓕᕆᔨᐅᕕᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᑐᙵᕕᒃᑯᓐᓂ? What do you do at Nunavut Tunngavik?
Jaani:
Atuagalirijiujunga.ᐊᑐᐊᒐᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᖓ. I am a Policy Analyst.
Maika:
Asukuluk.ᐊᓱᑯᓗᒃ. I see.

Vocabulary
Nami iqqanaijaqqit?
Where do you work?
nami?
where?
iqqanaijaqtuq
working (he/she is...)
Haamalakkut
hamlet (municipal government)
niuvirvik
store
Niuvirvimmi iqqanaijaqtunga.
work at the store (I...)
ilinniarvik
school; classroom
Ilinniarvimmi iqqanaijaqtunga.
work at the school (I...)
aanniavik
hospital
qattirijikkut
fire department
Kiinaujalirijikkut
Department of Finance
kisulirijiuvit?
What do you do for a living?
maligaliriji
lawyer
maligalirijiujunga
lawyer (I am a...)
ilinniaqtittsiji
teacher
aanniasiuqti
nurse
aanniasiuqtiujunga
nurse (I am a...)
paliisi
police (officer)
paliisiujunga
police officer (I am a...)

Grammar

13 » Where You Work & What You Do

 

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 -ři / -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:

numiktiri- to translate; to turn things over
numiktiriři  an interpreter/translator
   
ilihai- to teach
ilijaiři  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:

angunahuaq- to hunt
angunahuaqti  a hunter
   
aglaq- to write
aglaqti  a secretary

THE AFFIX -LIRI

This affix -liri-  is often added before -ři to talk about something one deals with or is involved with. The combination -liriři- is added to noun roots:

iři eye
iřiliriři  an eye doctor
   
maligaq law
maligaliriři  a lawyer

 

THE AFFIX -TKUT

Many names of organizations end with the affix -tkut. Among its various meanings, -tkut is used to refer to a group of people (in this case the people who work at the organization):

qaptiriři firefighter
qaptiriřitkut fire department
   
kiinauřaliriři someone who deals with money
kiinauřaliriřitkut an organization of people who deal with money (Dept. of Finance)
   
igluliriři housing officer; maintenance person
Igluliriřitkut 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.

As mentioned above, the affix -tkut 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:

iglu + liriři + tkut + ni =  
Igluliriřitku'ni in/at the Housing Corporation
   
avati + liqi + ji + tkut + ni =  
avatiliriřitku'ni in/at the Department of Environment

Note that when the affix -ni is added to a root ending in -t, the final t changes to a glottal stop.

So, to the question:

Humi hanavit? Where do you work?

 

One could answer:

Kiinauřaliriřitku’ni hanařunga. I work at the Department of Finance.