Dialogue: Where do you work?
Vocabulary
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Nami iqqanaijaqqit?
ᓇᒥ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᐱᑦ?
Where do you work?
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nami?
ᓇᒥ?
where?
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iqqanaijaqtuq
ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑐᖅ
working (he/she is...)
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Haamalakkut
Hᐋᒪᓚᒃᑯᑦ
hamlet (municipal government)
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niuvirvik
ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᒃ
store
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Niuvirvimmi iqqanaijaqtunga.
ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᒻᒥ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑐᖓ.
work at the store (I...)
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ilinniarvik
ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᒃ
school; classroom
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Ilinniarvimmi iqqanaijaqtunga.
ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᒻᒥ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑐᖓ.
work at the school (I...)
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aanniavik
ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᒃ
hospital
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qattirijikkut
ᖃᑦᑎᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ
fire department
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Kiinaujalirijikkut
ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ
Department of Finance
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kisulirijiuvit?
ᑭᓱᓕᕆᔨᐅᕕᑦ?
What do you do for a living?
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maligaliriji
ᒪᓕᒐᓕᕆᔨ
lawyer
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maligalirijiujunga
ᒪᓕᒐᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᖓ
lawyer (I am a...)
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ilinniaqtittsiji
ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᓯᔨ
teacher
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aanniasiuqti
ᐋᓐᓂᐊᓯᐅᖅᑎ
nurse
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aanniasiuqtiujunga
ᐋᓐᓂᐊᓯᐅᖅᑎᐅᔪᖓ
nurse (I am a...)
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paliisi
ᐸᓖᓯ
police (officer)
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paliisiujunga
ᐸᓖᓯᐅᔪᖓ
police officer (I am a...)
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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 -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. |