Dialogue: Coffee time
Vocabulary
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palaugaaq
ᐸᓚᐅᒑᖅ
bannock
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kaapi
ᑳᐱ
coffee
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kaapiturumanngittunga
ᑳᐱᑐᕈᒪᙱᑦᑐᖓ
coffee (I don't want...)
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kaapiturumajunga
ᑳᐱᑐᕈᒪᔪᖓ
coffee (I would like...)
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kaapiturumaviit?
ᑳᐱᑐᕈᒪᕖᑦ?
coffee (Would you like...?)
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irngusiq
ᐃᕐᖑᓯᖅ
coffee cup
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sivaujaq
ᓯᕙᐅᔭᖅ
cookie
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tiimut immulisunguvit?
ᑏᒧᑦ ᐃᒻᒧᓕᓱᖑᕕᑦ?
Do you take milk with your tea?
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immulisuunguvit?
ᐃᒻᒧᓕᓲᖑᕕᑦ?
Do you take milk?
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immulisuungunngittunga
ᐃᒻᒧᓕᓲᖑᙱᑦᑐᖓ
I do not take milk.
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palaugaaqturumanngittunga
ᐸᓚᐅᒑᖅᑐᕈᒪᙱᑦᑐᖓ
I don't want bannock.
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immulisuungujunga
ᐃᒻᒧᓕᓲᖑᔪᖓ
I take milk.
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immuk
ᐃᒻᒧᒃ
milk
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aagga
ᐋᒡᒐ
no
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sukaq
ᓱᑲᖅ
sugar
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sukalisuunguvit?
ᓱᑲᓕᓲᖑᕕᑦ?
sugar (Do you take...?)
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sukalisuungunngittunga
ᓱᑲᓕᓲᖑᙱᑦᑐᖓ
sugar (I do not take ...)
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sukalisuungujunga
ᓱᑲᓕᓲᖑᔪᖓ
sugar (I take ... with my coffee/tea)
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tii
ᑏ
tea
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tiiturumajunga
ᑏᑐᕈᒪᔪᖓ
tea (I would like...)
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tiiturumanngittunga
ᑏᑐᕈᒪᙱᑦᑐᖓ
tea (I would not like...)
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tiiliurut
ᑏᓕᐅᕈᑦ
tea pot
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nakurmiik
ᓇᑯᕐᒦᒃ
thank you
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imiq
ᐃᒥᖅ
water (for drinking)
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imirumanngittunga
ᐃᒥᕈᒪᙱᑦᑐᖓ
water (I don't want ...)
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imirumajunga
ᐃᒥᕈᒪᔪᖓ
water (I would like ...)
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imirumaviit?
ᐃᒥᕈᒪᕖᑦ?
water (would you like...?)
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ilaali
ᐃᓛᓕ
welcome (You're...)
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tiiturumaviit?
ᑏᑐᕈᒪᕖᑦ?
Would you like tea?
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ii
ᐄ
yes
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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) |
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? |
inuktitusuuq | an Inuktitut speaker |
inuktitusuut | people who speak Inuktitut |
miqsuq + suuq = | miqsusuuq |
someone who sews |
-tuq- (affix) attached to nouns
-tuq- is attached to a noun to indicate:
i) something that one drinks or eats: |
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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. |
kaapi + tuq + juma + viit? = | kaapiturumaviit? |
Do you want some coffee? |
The root imiq on its own means “water” or it can become a verb root, followed by a verb ending, to mean “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. |
4 » Asking Questions
nirivit? | Are you eating? |
niriva? | Is he / she eating? |
Question endings have different forms depending on the sound that comes before them. After a root or affix that ends in a vowel, the question endings look like this:
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? |
isiq- | to come in |
isiqqunga? | Am I coming in? |
isiqqit? | Are you coming in? |
isiqqa? | Is he / she coming in? |
isiqqinuk? | Are we (2) coming in? |
isiqqita? | Are we (3+) coming in? |
isiqqisik? | Are you two coming in? |
isiqqisi? | Are you (3+) coming in? |
isiqqak? | Are the two of them coming in? |
isiqqat? | Are they (3+) coming in? |
- 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 root sinit-meaning to sleep:
sinippunga? | Am I sleeping? |
sinippit? | Are you sleeping? |
sinippa? | Is he/she sleeping? |
sinippinuk? | Are the two of us sleeping? |
sinippita? | Are we (3+) sleeping? |
sinippisik? | Are you two sleeping? |
sinippisi? | Are you (3+) sleeping? |
sinippak? | Are the two of them sleeping? |
sinippat? | Are they (3+) sleeping? |
9 » To Want
As you put together roots, affixes and grammatical endings 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. |
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. |