Dialogue: One chair, two chairs
Vocabulary
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Qatsinik pijumavit?
ᖃᑦᓯᓂᒃ ᐱᔪᒪᕕᑦ?
How many do you want?
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Una sunauva?
ᐅᓇ ᓱᓇᐅᕙ?
What is this?
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aitsirniaqtunga
ᐊᐃᑦᓯᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᖓ
get someone (I will go...)
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allavvik
ᐊᓪᓚᕝᕕᒃ
office
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allavvimmi
ᐊᓪᓚᕝᕕᒻᒥ
at the office
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amisuliurut
ᐊᒥᓱᓕᐅᕈᑦ
photo copier
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atausiq
ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ
one
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ilisaiji
ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨ
teacher
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itsivautaq
ᐃᑦᓯᕙᐅᑕᖅ
chair
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katimavik
ᑲᑎᒪᕕᒃ
boardroom; meeting place
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kikiatsijjut
ᑭᑭᐊᑦᓯᔾᔪᑦ
stapler
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paippaamuurijjut
ᐸᐃᑉᐹᒨᕆᔾᔪᑦ
printer
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paippaaq
ᐸᐃᑉᐹᖅ
paper
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qarasaujaq
ᖃᕋᓴᐅᔭᖅ
computer
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qarasaujaralaaq
ᖃᕋᓴᐅᔭᕋᓛᖅ
laptop
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qatsinik
ᖃᑦᓯᓂᒃ
how many?
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qilliqtuq
ᕿᓪᓕᖅᑐᖅ
CD; compact disk
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saa
ᓵ
table
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sanikkuvik
ᓴᓂᒃᑯᕕᒃ
garbage can
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sukkajukkuurut
ᓱᒃᑲᔪᒃᑰᕈᑦ
fax machine
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taakkua
ᑖᒃᑯᐊ
these
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titiraut
ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑦ
pen; pencil
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tuu
ᑑ
two
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ukua sunauvat?
ᐅᑯᐊ ᓱᓇᐅᕙᑦ?
What are these things?
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ukuak
ᐅᑯᐊᒃ
these two
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ukuak sunauvaak?
ᐅᑯᐊᒃ ᓱᓇᐅᕚᒃ?
What are these two things?
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umik
ᐅᒥᒃ
beard
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una
ᐅᓇ
this / he / she
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uqaalaut
ᐅᑳᓚᐅᑦ
telephone
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uqaalautiralaaq
ᐅᑳᓚᐅᑎᕋᓛᖅ
cell phone; mobile phone
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uqalimaagakkuvik
ᐅᖃᓕᒫᒐᒃᑯᕕᒃ
book shelf
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uqalimaagaq
ᐅᖃᓕᒫᒐᖅ
book
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Grammar
-taqaq- (affix)
-taqaq- is used to express the English there is / there are. This affix is tacked on to the end of nouns and must be followed by a subject ending:
kaapitaqaqqa | Is there coffee? |
When we want to say "there is...", Inuktitut speakers avoid the construction ...taqaqtuq, and use the affix -talik instead:
kaapitaqaqqa? | ii, kaapitalik. |
Is there coffee? | Yes, there is coffee. |
Note that -talik is never used to make a negative sentence:
kaapitaqaqqa? | aagga, kaapitaqanngittuq |
Is there coffee? | No, there is no coffee. |
-taqaq- deletes final consonants of any nouns it is added to:
paippaaq + taqaq + qa = | |
paippaataqaqqa? | Is there any paper? |
ii, paippaatalik | Yes, there is paper. |
aagga, paippaataqanngittuq | No, there is no paper. |
to have
If you want to talk about having something in your possession, you add the affix -qaq- directly to the end of a noun:
ulu + qaq + qit? = | uluqaqqit? |
Do you have an ulu? | |
ulu + qaq + tunga = | uluqaqtunga. |
I have an ulu. |
When -qaq- is added to a noun ending in a consonant, it deletes the final consonant:
umik + qaq + qa = | umiqaqqa? |
Does he have a beard? |
Watch out for singular nouns that end in t. Many of them add an i before being put together with affixes:
titiraut | pen |
titiraut + i + qaq + tunga = titirautiqaqtunga | I have a pen |
Now, watch what happens when we answer in the negative. Remember that both -qaq- and -nngit- delete any consonant that appears immediately before them:
umik + qaq + nngit + tuq = | umiqanngittuq. |
He doesn't have a beard. |
When we want to say "he or she has something", Inuktitut speakers avoid the construction ...qaqtuq, and use the affix -lik instead:
nuliaqaqqa? | ii, nulialik. |
Does he have a wife? | Yes, he has a wife. |
Note that when –lik is added to a root ending in a consonant, it deletes the final consonant:
nuliaq + lik = | nulialik |
Note, too, that -lik is not used to make a negative sentence:
aaggaa, nuliaqanngittuq. | No, he does not have a wife. |
dual
one door | two doors |
three doors |
In Inuktitut, we use different endings to distinguish between two of something and more than two of something:
matu | matuuk | matuit |
one door |
(two) doors | (three) doors |
saak | uqaalautiik | illuuk |
(two) tables |
(two) telephones |
(two) buildings |
Here's some instructions on changing a noun from its singular form to the dual:
- if the object ends in a vowel, double the last vowel and add k:
nuvuja | nuvujaak |
cloud | (two) clouds |
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if the object ends in a t, add the ending iik:
paippaamuurijjut | paippaamuurijjutiik |
printer | (two) printers |
- if it ends in any consonant other than t, delete the last consonant, double the last vowel, and add k:
kamik | kamiik |
skin boot |
(two) skin boots |
qarasaujaq | qarasaujaak |
computer | (two) computers |
remember: that in Inuktitut, you almost never put together more than two vowels in a row. So if you drop the final consonant and find you already have two vowels, just add k:
nunannguaq | nunannguak |
map | (two) maps |
plural
inuk | inuit |
person | people |
The plural form always ends in t. Here are some instructions on changing a noun from its singular form to the plural:
if the noun ends in a vowel, add -it:
ilisaiji | ilisaijiit |
teacher | teachers (3+) |
If the noun ends in t, just add -iit:
uqaalaut | uqaalautiit |
telephone | telephones |
If the object ends in any other consonant, delete the last consonant, and add -it:
iqaluk | iqaluit |
fish | fish (3+) |
If you delete the last consonant, and find that you already have two vowels, just add t:
uqaalautiralaaq |
uqaalautiralaat |
cell phone |
cell phones (3+) |