Dialogue: Can you meet with me?
Vocabulary
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katimajuq
ᑲᑎᒪᔪᖅ
meets; he/she is in a meeting
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katimajut
ᑲᑎᒪᔪᑦ
meeting (they are...)
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mitsaanut
ᒥᑦᓵᓄᑦ
about
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maligaq
ᒪᓕᒐᖅ
law
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nutaaq
ᓄᑖᖅ
new
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qanga?
ᖃᖓ?
when? (past/future)
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qatsimuuqqat?
ᖃᑦᑎᒨᖅᑲᑦ?
at what time? (in the future)
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akaujuq
ᐊᑲᐅᔪᖅ
good; convenient
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nami?
ᓇᒥ?
where?
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allavvik
ᐊᓪᓚᕝᕕᒃ
office
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katimavik
ᑲᑎᒪᕕᒃ
boardroom; meeting place
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atii
ᐊᑏ
Come on!; Let's go!; Go ahead.
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Grammar
42 » Double (Transitive) Verb Endings
So far, we have been using simple endings with verbs:
| takuvunga |
| I see. |
In English, if we want to talk about what we see, we would add a pronoun to the sentence to indicate an object:
| I see her. |
In Inuktitut, we use verb endings that indicate both the subject and the object of the sentence. These are known as transitive verb endings.
| takuvunga (basic verb ending) | I see. |
| takuvaga (transitive verb ending) | I see her. |
| malivuk | She is following. |
| malijânga | She is following me. |
Here are the simplest forms of these transitive verb endings:
| Where I am doing the action: | |
| takujagit | I see you. |
| takujaga | I see him / her / it. |
| Where you are doing the action: | |
| takujamma | You see me. |
| takujait | You see him / her / it. |
| Where he/she/it is doing the action: | |
| takujânga | She sees me. |
| takujâtit | She sees you. |
| takujanga | She sees him. |
The basic form of these affixes begin with j- when added to a root ending in a vowel. With some verbs, you may hear some speakers use verb roots ending in a t: and following them with a verb ending that starts with t-:
| malit + taga = | |
| malittaga | I am following him. |
| ikajut + tânga = | |
| ikajuttânga | She is helping me. |
43 » Double Verb Endings for Questions
In this grammar note, we look at transitive verb endings for asking questions. These involve both a subject (the person performing an action) and an object (the person or thing on the receiving end of the action):
| tukisivit? (simple verb ending) | Do you understand? |
| tukisivamma? (transitive verb ending) | Do you understand me? |
Here are the simplest forms of these endings:
| Kaujimavagen? | Do I know you? |
| Kaujimavaga? | Do I know him/her? |
| tukisivamma? | Do you understand me? |
| tukisijân? | Do you understand him/her? |
| tusaavânga? | Does he/she hear me? |
| tusaavâten? | Does he/she hear you? |
| tusaajangâ? | Does he/she hear him/her? |
Remember that the first letter of these endings can change after certain affixes. The endings above that start with v- may switch to K- and the endings beginning with j- may switch to t- :
| kati + Kati + gi + niak + Kammâ = | |
| katiKatiginiakKammâ? | Are you going to meet with me later? |
| kati + Kati + gi + laut + tânga = | |
| katiKatigilauttânga ippasak | She met with him yesterday. |
| atuk + niat + tân? = | |
| Una atunaittân? | Are you going to use this one? |
44 » Doing something together
The affix -Katik- is attached to a verb to indicate someone or some people who do something with someone else:
| ilinniak- | to learn |
| ilinniaKatik | classmate |
| suliaKak- | to work |
| suliaKaKatik | co-worker |
| tânsik- | to dance |
| tânsiKatik | dancing partner |
| katik- | to meet |
| katiKatik | someone with whom one meets |
-Katik is often followed by the affix -gi- meaning to have, which creates a relationship between two or more people. The affix -gi- is followed by a transitive verb ending:
| Susi ilinniaKatigijaga | Susi is my classmate (literally, I have Susi as a classmate). |
| mitsuKatigijanga | She sews with her. |
| katiKatigigajakKâma? | Can you meet with me? |
| Taiviti suliaKaKatigijân? | Do you work with Taiviti? (literally, do you have Taiviti as a co-worker)? |
With regard to the last example above, when answering a question like this, the construction is usually simplified when you answer:
| ii, suliaKaKatiga |
| Yes, he is my co-worker. |
45 » Asking for something to be done
1. The Affix -gajak-
This common affix is used to express the idea of something being possible. In English this would be the equiavent of saying would or could do something:
| âkKik- | to fix something |
| âkKigajattuk | it could be fixed |
| pijagek- | to finish something |
| pijagegajattuk akuniungituk | It could be finished in no time |
| sana- | to make something |
| sanagajattanga? | Could he make it? |
| katiKatigi- | to meet with someone |
| katiKatigigajakKama? | Could you meet with me? |
2. The Affix -Ku
-Ku- is an affix used to express the idea of wanting, asking or telling someone else to do something. It is folllowed by a transitive verb ending.
| KaikKuvângâ ? | Does he want me to come? |
| fonniKujân? | Do you want him to call? |
| anikKujanga | He asked / told her to go out. |
| itikKugok | Tell him to come it. |