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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unnuksaq
ᐅᓐᓄᒃᓴᖅ
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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ippaksaq
ᐃᑉᐸᒃᓴᖅ
yesterday
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qaukpat
ᖃᐅᒃᐸᑦ
tomorrow
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pinasuarusiq
ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᖅ
week
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pinasuarusiulaaqtuq
ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᐅᓛᖅᑐᖅ
next week
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pinasuarusiulauqtuq
ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ
last week
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pinasuarusiup nunngua
ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᐅᑉ ᓄᙳᐊ
weekend
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taqqiq
ᑕᖅᑭᖅ
month
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taqqiulaaqtuq
ᑕᖅᑭᐅᓛᖅᑐᖅ
next month
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naggajja
ᓇᒡᒐᔾᔭ
Monday
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aippaa
ᐊᐃᑉᐹ
Tuesday
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pingajuat
ᐱᖓᔪᐊᑦ
Wednesday
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qitiqquut
ᕿᑎᖅᑰᑦ
Thursday
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ullutuinnaq
ᐅᓪᓗᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ
Friday
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sivataarvik
ᓯᕙᑖᕐᕕᒃ
Saturday
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naattiinguja
ᓈᑦᑏᖑᔭ
Sunday
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qanuiliuqpit?
ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᖅᐱᑦ?
What are you doing?
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qanuiliulaaqpit?
ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᓛᖅᐱᑦ?
What will you be doing?
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qanuiliuniaqpit?
ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᓂᐊᖅᐱᑦ?
What will you be doing (later today)?
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What did you do earlier today?
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qanuiliulauqpit?
ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᓚᐅᖅᐱᑦ?
What did you do?
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Grammar
6 » Future Tense
When talking about events that will happen in the future, we use the affix -niaq- that is inserted between the verb and the subject ending:
| Hulivit? | Huliniaqqit? |
| What are you doing? | What will you be doing? |
| niriyunga | niriniaqtunga |
| I am eating | 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 that ends in k, it changes the final k to ng :
| malik + niaq + tuq = | malingniaqtuq |
| He is going to follow. |
When -niaq- is added to a root that ends in t, it changes the final t to n :
| talvaniit + niaq + tuq = | talvaniinniaqtuq |
| He is going to be here. |
The double n above is not just a quirk of spelling. When you pronounce this word, you have to hold the n sound for twice as long as you would a single n.
Unlike other Inukititut dialects, Inuinnaqtun speakers use -niaq- both for events that will happen later today and those that will happen farther in the future:
| ublumi aullarniaqtugut | aqugu utirniaqtugut |
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We will be leaving town today. |
We will be returning tomorrow. |
| Qakugu tikinniaqpa | When will she arrive? |
| Qanga tikippa? | When did she arrive? |
7 » Past Tense
When talking about events that have happened in the past, it is essential to understand an important difference between English and Inuinnaqtun.
In English if one is talking about an event in the past, one almost always makes a change to the verb to indicate this. Below are just a few of the ways we do this in English:
| present | past |
|---|---|
| He sleeps. | He slept. |
| She eats. | She ate. |
| We are hunting. | We were hunting. |
In most cases in Inuinnaqtun, we don't make changes to the verb to indicate that something has happened in the past:
| he eats | niriyuq |
| he ate | niriyuq |
In conversation, there will always be clues as to whether 'niriyuq' refers to an event that is happening now or one that has already happened. A couple of examples:
| Tatja niriyuq | He is eating right now. |
| Ublaaq niriyuq. | He ate this morning. |
Verbs that refer to some sort of motion almost always refer to an event in the past when they are combined with basic subject endings (-yunga/-tunga, -yutit/-tutit, -yuq/-tuq) :
| itiq- | to enter |
| itiqtunga | I came in. |
| ani | to go out |
| Anivat? | Did they go out? |
| itiliqtunga | I am coming in now. |
| aniliqqat? | Are they going out? |
There are affixes that do emphasize that something has happened in the past. One example is -haaq-, an affix that is used to describe actions that have happened in the immediate past.
| itihaaqtuq | She just came in. |
| tikihaaqtugut | We just arrived. |