Dialogue: Are you working today?
Vocabulary
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ulluq
ᐅᓪᓗᖅ
day
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ullumi
ᐅᓪᓗᒥ
today
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ullaaq
ᐅᓪᓛᖅ
morning
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unnusa
ᐅᓐᓄᓴ
afternoon
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unnuk
ᐅᓐᓄᒃ
evening
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unnuaq
ᐅᓐᓄᐊᖅ
night
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maanna
ᒫᓐᓇ
now
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ippatsaq
ᐃᑉᐸᑦᓴᖅ
yesterday
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qauppat
ᖃᐅᑉᐸᑦ
tomorrow
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pinasuarusiq
ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᖅ
week
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pinasuarusiulaaqtumi
ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᐅᓛᖅᑐᒥ
next week
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pinasuarusiulauqtumi
ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᒥ
last week
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pinasuarusiup nunngua
ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᐅᑉ ᓄᙳᐊ
weekend
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taqqiq
ᑕᖅᑭᖅ
month
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taqqiulaaqtumi
ᑕᖅᑭᐅᓛᖅᑐᒥ
next month
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naggajjau
ᓇᒡᒐᔾᔭᐅ
Monday
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aippiq
ᐊᐃᑉᐱᖅ
Tuesday
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pingatsiq
ᐱᖓᑦᓯᖅ
Wednesday
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sitammiq
ᓯᑕᒻᒥᖅ
Thursday
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tallirmiq
ᑕᓪᓕᕐᒥᖅ
Friday
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sivataarvik
ᓯᕙᑖᕐᕕᒃ
Saturday
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naattiinguja
ᓈᑦᑏᖑᔭ
Sunday
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suvit?
ᓱᕕᑦ?
What are you doing?
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suniaqqit?
ᓱᓂᐊᖅᑭᑦ?
What will you be doing?
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sulaaqqit?
ᓱᓪᓛᖅᑭᑦ
What will you be doing (later today)?
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suqqauvit?
ᓱᖅᑲᐅᕕᑦ?
What did you do earlier today?
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sulauqqit?
ᓱᓚᐅᖅᑭᑦ?
What did you do?
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Grammar
6 » Future Tense
The Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin) dialects of Inuktut are fairly precise in how they deal with tenses. Affixes are added to verbs that indicate that an event will happen in the immediate future, later the same day or farther in the future.
The Immediate Future
To talk about event that will happen later the same day, isert 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. |
pisut + niaq + tuq = | |
pisunniaqtuq | He / she is going to walk. |
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) |
aullaq + laaq + tuq = | |
aullalaaqtuq | He / she will leave town. |
7 » 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). |
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. |