5 Tiiturumavit?

Dialogue: Coffee time

Saali:
Kaapiturumavit?ᑳᐱᑐᕈᒪᕕᑦ? Would you like coffee?
Laina:
ii, kaapiturumajunga.ᐄ, ᑳᐱᑐᕈᒪᔪᖓ. Yes I'd like coffee.
Saali:
Sukalisuunguvit?ᓱᑲᓕᓲᖑᕕᑦ? Do you take sugar?
Laina:
Aagga, sukalisuungunngittunga.ᐋᒡᒐ, ᓱᑲᓕᓲᖑᙱᑦᑐᖓ. No, I don't take sugar.
Saali:
Immulisuunguvit?ᐃᒻᒧᓕᓲᖑᕕᑦ? Do you take milk?
Laina:
ii, immulisuungujunga.ᐄ, ᐃᒻᒧᓕᓲᖑᔪᖓ. Yes, I take milk.
Saali:
Asu. Uvva.ᐊᓱ. ᐅᕝᕙ. O.K. Here you are.
Laina:
Nakurmiik.ᓇᑯᕐᒦᒃ. Thank you.
Saali:
ilaali. ᐃᓛᓕ.You're welcome.

Vocabulary
ilaujuq
accompanies someone (she...)
palaugaaq
bannock
kaapi
coffee
kaapiturumanngittunga
coffee (I don't want...)
kaapiturumajunga
coffee (I would like...)
kaapiturumaviit?
coffee (Would you like...?)
irngusiq
coffee cup
sivaujaq
cookie
Tiimut immulisunguviit?
Do you take milk with your tea?
immulisuunguviit?
Do you take milk?
palaugaaqturumajunga
Give me some bannock.
immulisuungunngittunga
I do not take milk.
palaugaaqturumanngittunga
I don't want bannock.
immulisuungujunga
I take milk.
immuk
milk
aagga
no
ingittiarit
Please sit down.
miqsuqtuq
sews (he/she...)
sukaq
sugar
sukalisuunguviit?
sugar (Do you take...?)
sukalisuungunngittunga
sugar (I do not take ...)
sukalisuungujunga
sugar (I take ... with my coffee/tea)
tii
tea
tiiturumajunga
tea (I would like...)
tiiturumanngittunga
tea (I would not like...)
tiiliurut
tea pot
qujannamiik
thank you
imiq
water (for drinking)
imirumanngittunga
water (I don't want ...)
imirumajunga
water (I would like ...)
imirumaviit?
water (would you like...?)
ilaali
welcome (You're...)
tiiturumaviit?
Would you like tea?
ii
yes

Grammar

-suuq (affix)

 

-suuq is added to roots to express the idea of

  • someone who is able to do something
  • someone who does something frequently, or as a matter of habit.

Examples:

uivititut French
Uivititusuunguviit? Do you speak French?
   
immuk milk
immulisuunguviit? Do you take milk?
   
qangata to rise or jump into the air
qangatasuuq airplane (lit. something that frequently goes up into the air)
A couple of points to note:

 

1. –suuq is often followed by the verb -ngu- (a variation of -u-) which means “to be”.

sukaq + li + suuq + ngu + viit = sukalisuunguviit?
  Do you take sugar?
2. When using -suuq- in the third person (it, he, she, they), the verb –ngu is dropped as a short cut:
inuktitusuuq an Inuktitut speaker
inuktitusuut people who speak Inuktitut
3. When -suuq- is added to a stem that ends in a consonant, it deletes the final consonant:
miqsuq + suuq = miqsusuuq
  someone who sews

 

 

 

 

 

 

-tuq- (affix) attached to nouns

 

-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)?
imirumajungaI want to drink some water.
imiqtuq  He is drinking water.



4 » Asking Questions

Inuktitut 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?
tukisvisi?   Do you (3+) understand?
tukisivaak?   Do they (2) understand?
tukisivat?    Do they (3+) understand?

 

If you want to ask a question with a verb ending in a consonant (k, q, t), you use the same endings as above, replacing the v with a p:

sinik- to sleep
sinikpunga? Am I sleeping?
sinikpit? Are you sleeping?
sinikpa? Is he/she sleeping?
sinikpinuk? Are the two of us sleeping?
sinikpita? Are we (three or more) sleeping?
sinikpisik? Are you two sleeping?
sinikpisi? Are you (three or more) sleeping?
sinikpaak? Are the two of them sleeping?
sinikpat? Are they (three or more) sleeping?
YES / NO QUESTIONS

In spoken Inuktitut, when you are asking a question to which you expect either a yes or no answer, you sometimes draw out the last syllable of the question. Some Inuktitut speakers reflect this in writing by doubling the vowel in the question ending:

Kinauvit? What's your name? yes or no answer not possible.
Kaapiturumaviit? Do you want coffee? answered with yes or no
Sinikpaat? Are the 3 of them sleeping? answered with yes or no

 

9 » To Want

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? Does he / she want to come along?
ii, ilaujumajuq. Yes, he / she 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- to have coffee
kaapiturumavit? Do you want some coffee?
ii, kaapiturumajunga. Yes, I want to have some coffee.

 

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

sinik- to sleep
sinigumavisi? Do you (3+) want to sleep?
ii, sinigumajugut. Yes, we want to sleep.