This grammar note is available in the South Qikiqtaaluk dialect only.
The idea of possession, in any language, involves the relationship between people or things. Consider the relationships in each of the sentences below :
| The boat’s driver |
| The man’s car |
| His aunt’s mother. |
| Linda’s counsin’s hat. |
In the Kiap Ukua lesson, we learned how to deal with the first two sentences above. The last two sentences are a little more complicated, because they involve two sets of relationships :
In sentence 3: the mother belongs to the aunt, and the aunt belongs to him.
In sentence 4: the hat belongs to the cousin and the cousin belongs to Linda.
Inuktitut has special affixes to deal with these multiple possessions within a single sentence:
| anaanna | mother |
| anaanaga | my mother |
| anaanama | my mother’s |
Whereas the affix -ga refers only to something belonging to me « my mother », the affix -ma adds another layer by pointing to something that belongs to my mother.
| illu | house |
| illunga | her house |
| anaanama illunga | my mother's house |
Note that when you use the affix -ma, it indicates that there are two levels of possession in the same sentence. The second level is marked with another possessive affix, in this case -nga. Here's another example:
| ataata | my father |
| ataatama | my father's |
| umiaq | boat |
| umianga | his boat |
| ataatama umianga | my father's boat |
| irniq | son |
| irnirma | my son's |
| nuliaq | wife |
| nulianga | his wife |
| irnirma nulianga | my son's wife |
When –ma is added to a noun ending in K, it changes the final K to M:
| panik | daughter |
| panimma | my daughter's |
| qamutaujaq | snowmobile |
| qamutaujanga | her snowmobile |
| panimma qamutaujanga | my daughter's snowmobile |
| ataata | father |
| ataatait | your father |
| ataatavit | your father's |
| ataatavit illunga | your father's house |
-vit can be added to nouns ending in vowels. For nouns that end in consonants, use -pit instead:
| irniq | son |
| irniqpit | your son's |
| irniqpit illunga | your son's house |
And, finally...
| anik | brother of a female |
| aninga | her brother |
| aningata | her brother's |
| aningata umianga | her brother's boat |
Notice that when -ngata is added to nouns ending in a consonant, it deletes the final consonant.