Grammar » 42 » Double (Transitive) Verb Endings

So far, we have been using simple endings with verbs:

takujunga
I see.
-junga indicates the subject of the sentence, or who does the seeing. It doesn’t indicate the object of the sentence, or what we see.

In English, if we want to talk about what we see, we would add a pronoun to the sentence to indicate an object:

I see her.

In Inuktitut, we use verb endings that indicate both the subject and the object of the sentence. These are known as transitive verb endings.

takujunga (basic verb ending) I see.
takujara (transitive verb ending) I see her.
   
maliktunga I follow.
maliktakka I follow them.
   
tusaajuq She hears.
tusaajaatit She hears you.

Here are the simplest forms of the transitive verb endings:

Where I am doing the action:  
takujagit  I see you.
takugikkit (alternate S.Qikiqtaaluk ending) I see you.
takujara I see him / her / it.
   
Where you are doing the action:  
takujarma You see me.
takuginnga (alternate S.Qikiqtaaluk ending) You see me.
takujait You see him.
   
Where he/she/it is doing the action:  
takujaanga She sees me.
takugaanga (alternate S.Qikiqtaaluk ending) She sees me.
takujaatit She sees you.
takugaatit (alternate S.Qikiqtaaluk ending) She sees you.
takujanga She sees him.

 

The basic form of these affixes begins with a j- when added to a root that ends in a vowel. If these affixes are added to roots that end in a consonant, the -j changes to t-:

maliktara I am following him.
ikajuqtaanga He/she helps me.

ALTERNATES

Be aware that in the South Qikiqtaaluk region, you may hear or see the following alternate endings:

takugikkit I see you.
takuginnga You see me.
takugaanga He/she sees me.
takugaatit He/she sees you.

These endings vary depending on the last consonant of the root they are added to.  After a root ending in q-, the endings start with r-

ikajuq- to help
ikajuraanga He is helping me.
ikajurikkit I am helping you.

After a root ending in k- or t-, the endings start with kk-

tukisinngit- to not understand
tukisinngikkaanga She isn’t understanding me.
tukisinngikkinnga You aren’t understanding me.