5 Tiiturumavit?

-suuq is added to roots to express the idea of

-tuq- is an affix that appears in the middle of Inuktitut words following a noun root. It should not be confused with the verb ending –tuq (meaning he/she/it).

-tuq- is attached to a noun to indicate:

i) something that one drinks or eats:
natsiminiqtuqtuq	He/she eats seal meat.
tiituqtugut	We (3+) are drinking tea.
ii) something that one is using:
umiaqtuqtuuk	The two of them are boating.

 

This affix appears in the name of the lesson Kaapiturumaviit?:

kaapi + tuq + juma + viit? =	kaapiturumaviit?
	Do you want some coffee?

Watch out for the root imiq- in Inuktitut which can mean either the noun “water” or the verb “to drink”.  If you want to ask someone if they would like some water, do not use the affix –tuq- with the root imiq-.  The correct way to ask the question is:

imirumaviit?	(literally) Do you want to drink (some water)?
imirumajunga	I want to drink some water.
imiqtuq	He is drinking water.

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?

 

As you put together roots and affixes to build words, the first letter or the last letter of these elements will often change. These spelling changes allow for smoother pronunciation.

Let's look at the verb -juma-. This is a common affix used to express in Inuktitut to want.

Because -juma- is an affix, it must be added to a root. ilau- is a root meaning to come along.

The affix -juma- can be inserted between the root (ilau-) and the subject ending:

ilaujumava?	ii, ilaujumajuq.
Does he want to come along?	Yes, he wants come along.

-juma- works fine when it is added to a root ending in a vowel. If it is added to a root that ends in q, though, a spelling change happens:

kaapituq-	kaapiturumavit?	ii, kaapiturumajunga.
to have coffee.	Do you want some coffee?	Yes, I want to have some coffee.

 

If -juma- is added to a root ending in a k, we get a different change:

sinik-	sinigumavisi?	ii, sinigumajugut.
to sleep	Do the three of you want to sleep?	Yes, we want to sleep.