3 Suvit?

Dialogue: What are you doing?

Inuapik:
Suvit?ᓱᕕᑦ? What are you doing?
Jaaki:
Maanna?ᒫᓐᓇ? Right now?
Inuapik:
ii, maanna.ᐄ, ᒫᓐᓇ.Yes, now.
Jaaki:
Uqalimaaqtunga. Ivvilli?ᐅᖃᓕᒫᖅᑐᖓ. ᐃᕝᕕᓪᓕ? I am reading. What about you?
Inuapik:
Miqsuqtunga. Unnusa suniaqqilli?ᒥᖅᓱᖅᑐᖓ. ᐅᓐᓄᓴ ᓱᓂᐊᖅᑭᓪᓕ? I am sewing. And, what will you be doing this afternoon?
Jaaki:
Iqalliarniaqtunga.ᐃᖃᓪᓕᐊᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᖓ. I will be going fishing.
Inuapik:
Asu. Qauppalli, sulaaqqit?ᐊᓱ. ᖃᐅᑉᐸᓪᓕ, ᓱᓛᖅᑭᑦ?I see. What will you be doing tomorrow?
Jaaki:
Umiaqtulaaqtunga.ᐅᒥᐊᖅᑐᓛᖅᑐᖓ. I will be going boating.
Inuapik:
Aahali.ᐋᕼᐊᓕ. Okay, then.

Vocabulary
unnusa
afternoon
niqtiuqtuq
cooks (he/she...)
unnuk
evening
iqalliaqtuq
fishing (she goes...)
ilinniaqtuq
learns (he/she...)
katimajut
meeting (they are...)
ullaaq
morning
unnuaq
night
maanna
now
uqalimaaqtuq
reads (he/she...)
miqsuqtuq
sews (he/she...)
niuviriaqtuq
shopping (she goes...)
ullumi
today
qauppat
tomorrow
suvit?
What are you doing?
sulauqqit?
What did you do?
Qauppat sulaaqqa?
What is she doing tomorrow?
suniaqqit?
What will you be doing (later today)?
iqqanaijaqtuq
works (he/she...)
ippatsaq
yesterday
umiaqtuqtuq
boating (he/she goes...)

Grammar

7 » Future Tense

To talk about actions or events that will be happening in the future, affixes are inserted between the verb root that describes the action and the verb ending.  The affix that is used depends on how far into the future the verb will take place:
 

THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE

To talk about event that will happen later the same day, insert the affix -niaq- between the verb root and the ending:

suvit? What are you doing?
suniaqqit? What will you be doing?
   
nirijunga I am eating.
niriniaqtunga. I will be eating.

When -niaq- is added to a root that ends in q-, the q changes to r.

kaapituq + niaq + tunga =  
kaapiturniaqtunga. I will be drinking coffee.
When -niaq- is added to a root ending in t- , it changes the t to n :
pisut + niaq + tuq =  
pisunniaqtuq He / she is going to walk.

 

In Iqaluit, -langa- is the affix that is most commonly used for an event in the immediate future.  -langa- can be attached directly to a root that ends in a vowel.  When attached to a root ending in a consonant, it deletes the final consonant:
ullumi aullalangajut They are going to depart today.

 

EVENTS FARTHER IN THE FUTURE

-laaq- is an affix used for events that will be happening the next day or further into the future. Let’s compare the following pairs of words:

iqqanaijarniaqtunga I am going to work (later that day).
iqqanaijalaaqtunga I will be working (sometime in the future).
   
katimaniaqtugut We are going to have a meeting (later the same day).
katimalaaqtugut We will be having a meeting (tomorrow or farther in the future)
If -laaq- is added to a stem that ends in a consonant, it deletes the last consonant.
aullaq + laaq + tuq =  
aullalaaqtuq He / she will leave town.

 

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS IN THE FUTURE

 

In some dialects, there is a special way of using the negative in the future tense to describe events that will not be happening. This involves adding the affix -jjaa- just before the negative affix -nngit-.

 qainiaqtuq He is going to come.
jjaanngittuq He is not going to come.

 

When -jjaa- is added to a root ending in a consonant, it deletes the final consonant. It can be used to describe events in the near future (today) and the more distant future (tomorrow or later).

aullaq- to leave town; depart
Unnusa aullarniaqtunga. I’ll be leaving town this afternoon.
Unnusa aullajjaanngittunga. I’ll not be leaving town this afternoon.
Qauppat aullajjaanngittunga I’ll not be leaving town tomorrow.

 

 

8 » Past Tense

-rataaq- is an affix that is used to describe actions that have happened in the immediate past (within the hour).

isirataaqtuq He / she just came in.
tikirataaqtugut We just arrived.

-qqau- is an affix that is used to describe actions that have happened earlier in the day.

uqaalaqqaujuq He / she called earlier.
angirraqqaujunga I went home (earlier that day).

 

-lauq- is used to describe actions that have happened yesterday or in the not too distant past.

ippatsaq tuttulialauqtuq Yesterday, he went caribou hunting.
taqqiulauqtumi qikalauqtuq Last month she went on holidays.

Note that when any of the above affixes are added to a root ending in a consonant, they delete the final consonant.

aullaq + rataaq + tuq =  
aullarataaqtuq She just left (departed) a few minutes ago.
   
tikit + qqau + juq =  
tikiqqaujuq He arrived earlier.
   
malik + lauq + tut =  
malilauqtut They followed (yesterday or earlier).
 
Important: Inuktut speakers don't always use these affixes to talk about events in the past. At times you have to rely on context of the conversation to know whether a verb like "nirijuq" refers to an event right now or in the past.

Verbs involving motion often refer to an event in the past when they are combined with basic subject endings (-junga/-tunga, -jutit/-tutit, -juq/-tuq, etc.) :

tikippit? Did you arrive/make it here OK?
tikippunga I arrived/made it here OK.