2 Qanuippisik?

Dialogue: What is your name?

Maina:
Unnusakkut.ᐅᓐᓄᓴᒃᑯᑦ. Good afternoon.
Taiviti:
Unnusakkut. ᐅᓐᓄᓴᒃᑯᑦ. Good afternoon
Maina:
Kinauvit?ᑭᓇᐅᕕᑦ?What's your name?
Taiviti:
Uvanga?ᐅᕙᖓ?(who) me?
Maina:
ii, ivvit.ᐄ, ᐃᕝᕕᑦ. Yes you.
Taiviti:
Taivitiujunga.ᑕᐃᕕᑎᐅᔪᖓ. My name is Taiviti.
Maina:
Asu. Unali kinauva? ᐊᓱ. ᐅᓇᓕ ᑭᓇᐅᕙ?I see. And who is this?
Taiviti:
Una Jaani.ᐅᓇ ᔮᓂ. This is Jaani.
Maina:
Tunngasugitsik.ᑐᙵᓱᒋᑦᓯᒃ. Welcome (to the two of you).
Taiviti:
Tunngasuppuguk.ᑐᙵᓱᑉᐳᒍᒃ. Response to "tunngasugitsik" (literally, 'We feel welcome.')

Vocabulary
ilitsi
you (3+)
ilitsik
you (2)
ilitsili?
you (3+); what about...?
ilitsilli?
you two (what about...?)
ivvilli?
and you?
ivvit
you (1)
nuvattunga
cold (I have a...)
qanuinngittuguk
We (2) are fine.
qanuinngittugut
We (3+) are fine.
qanuippat?
How are they (3 or more people)?
qanuippisik?
How are the two of you?
qanuippit?
How are you?
qiuviit?
cold (Are you ...?)
quviasuktunga
happy (I am...)
quviasuppiit?
happy (Are you ...?)
tukisijunga
understand (I...)
tukisinngittunga
understand (I don't...)
tunngasugitsi
welcome (addressing more than 2 people).
tunngasugitsik
welcome (addressing 2 people)
uirngaqqiit?
sleepy (Are you...?)
ullaakkut
Good Morning
ullukkut
Good Day (afternoon)
unnukkut
Good Evening
unnusakkut
Good Afternoon.
uqquujunga
hot (I am...)
uqquuviit?
hot (Are you...?)
uvaguk
we; us (2)
uvagut
we; us (3+)
uvanga
I; me
uvangalu
me, too

Grammar

personal pronouns


As we saw in another grammar note, verbs in Inuktut have affixes tacked onto the end that tells us who is doing a particular action :

nirijunga I eat. 
sinktuq She sleeps.
aullaqtut They depart. 

Inuktut does have words that mean I, you, he, we, etc. In English we call these personal pronouns.

uvanga I
uvaguk we; us (2)
uvagut we; us (3+)
ivvit you (1 person) 
ilitsik you (2)
ilitsi you (3+)
una* he/she/it
ukua* they (2); the two of them
ukua* they (3+)

*The last three pronouns we’ve indicated are just some of the many pronouns that Inuktitut uses to talk about a third person. The ones here can only be used when a person or object is very close by

 

Remember that Inuktut verbs always indicate through the verb ending who is doing the action :
 nirijunga  aullaqtusik  siniktut

Because the verb ending already tells us who is doing an action, these words are redundant and aren’t normally used.

Where personal pronouns are used is when :

  • you are talking about a person or an object without a verb
  • you are adding emphasis:
Qanuinngittunga.  ivvilli? I am fine, what about you?
uvanga? (who) me?
uvangalu qanuinngimmijunga. I (too) am fine.

 

Notice above the use of two little affixes : -li and –lu that can be tacked on to the end of the pronouns.

-li is used in conversation when you want to change the person or object you are talking about :

ilitsi + li = ilistili? What about you (3+)?
una + li = unali? What about him?

 

-lu is an affix meaning « and ».  It is added to a personal pronoun when you want to re-state something that has already been said.

Piita : uirngaqtunga I am sleepy.
Ani : uvangalu, uirngarmijunga. I, too, am sleepy.


When –li and –lu  are added to  personal pronouns ending in a consonant, they change the final consonants to l:

ilitsik + li = ilitsilli What about you (2)?
ivvit + lu = ivvillu you, as well.

questions

Inuktut has a series of affixes that are used just for asking questions. To ask a question, we add one of these affixes to the end of a verb. The affix that is used changes depending on who the subject of the verb is. 
nirivit? niriva?
Are you eating? Is he eating?

 

The following affixes are used with roots that end in vowels:

tukisi- to understand
tukisivunga? Do I understand?
tukisivit? Do you understand?
tukisiva? Does he/she understand?
tukisivinuk? Do we (2) understand?
tukisivita? Do we (3+) understand?
tukisivisik? Do you (2) understand?
tukisivisi? Do you (3+) understand?
tukisivak? Do they (2) understand?
tukisivat? Do they (3+) understand?

 

If you want to add these affixes to a root ending in q, you use the same endings as above, replacing the v with a q.
isiq- to come in
isiqqunga? Am I coming in?
isiqqit? Are you coming in?
isiqqa? Is he/she coming in?
isiqqinuk? Are the two of us coming in?
isiqqita? Are we (three or more) coming in?
isiqqisik? Are you two coming in?
isiqqisi? Are you (three or more) coming in?
isiqqak? Are the two of them coming in?
isiqqat? Are they (three or more) coming in?
If the verb ends in any other consonant, you do the following:
  • replace the final consonant of the verb with a p
  • use the same endings above, replacing the v with a p.

As an example, let's use the verb sinik- meaning to sleep. In the South Qikiqtaaluk dialect roots that end in -k change the final -k to -p before these endings:

sinippunga? Am I sleeping?
sinippit? Are you sleeping?
sinippa? Is he/she sleeping?
sinippinuk? Are the two of us sleeping?
sinippita? Are we (three or more) sleeping?
sinippisik? Are you two sleeping?
sinippisi? Are you (three or more) sleeping?
sinippak? Are the two of them sleeping?
sinippat? Are they (three or more) sleeping?