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 affix -juma- that expresses the idea of 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 the affix follows a root ending in -q, -ruma- is used instead:
| kaapituq- | to have coffee |
| kaapiturumavit? | Do you want some coffee? |
| ii, kaapiturumajunga. | Yes, I want to have some coffee. |
After a root ending in -k, the affix -guma- is used:
| sinik- | to sleep |
| sinigumavisi? | Do you (3+) want to sleep? |
| ii, sinigumajugut. | Yes, we want to sleep. |