Dialogue: Welcome
Vocabulary
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tunngasugit
ᑐᙵᓱᒋᑦ
welcome
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inuktituusuunguvit ?
ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᓲᖑᕕᑦ ?
Inuktitut (Do you speak... ?)
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ii
ᐄ
yes
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mikijumik
ᒥᑭᔪᒥᒃ
little bit (a...)
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kinauvit?
ᑭᓇᐅᕕᑦ?
What's your name?
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...ujunga.
...ᐅᔪᖓ
My name is...
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kinauva?
ᑭᓇᐅᕙ?
What is his / her name?
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namimiutauvit?
ᓇᒥᒥᐅᑕᐅᕕᑦ?
Where are you from?
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Aatuvaa
ᐋᑐᕚ
Ottawa
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Iqalummiutaujunga
ᐃᖃᓗᒻᒥᐅᑕᐅᔪᖓ
I'm from Iqaluit.
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Aatuvaamiutaujunga
ᐋᑐᕚᒥᐅᑕᐅᔪᖓ
I'm from Ottawa.
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namimiutsajauvit?
ᓇᒥᒥᐅᑦᓴᔭᐅᕕᑦ?
Where are you originally from?
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Iqalummiutsajaujunga
ᐃᖃᓗᒻᒥᐅᑦᓴᔭᐅᔪᖓ
originally from Iqaluit (I am...)
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Pannituurmiussajaujunga
ᐸᓐᓂᑑᕐᒥᐅᔅᓴᔭᐅᔪᖓ
originally from Pangnirtung (I am...)
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nirijunga
ᓂᕆᔪᖓ
eat, I...
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nirijutit
ᓂᕆᔪᑎᑦ
eat, you...
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nirijuq
ᓂᕆᔪᖅ
eats, she/he...
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nirijuguk
ᓂᕆᔪᒍᒃ
eat, we (2)...
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nirijugut
ᓂᕆᔪᒍᑦ
eat, we (3+)...
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nirijusik
ᓂᕆᔪᓯᒃ
eat, you (2)...
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nirijusi
ᓂᕆᔪᓯ
eat, you (3+)...
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nirijuuk
ᓂᕆᔫᒃ
eat, they (2)...
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nirijut
ᓂᕆᔪᑦ
eat, they (3+)...
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Grammar
1 » The Basic Structure of Inuktut
In English, the basic unit of meaning is the word. Each word (generally) expresses a separate idea:
In Inuktut, the basic units of meaning are roots, affixes and grammatical endings.
niri- | to eat |
aullaq- | to depart; leave town |
tupiq | tent |
Roots that describe nouns (people, places, animals or objects) sometimes appear on their own:
nuna | land |
inuk | an Inuk; a person |
natsiq | ringed seal |
Generally, though, words are built in Inuktut by attaching affixes and endings to a root.
Here are three simple noun endings:
-mi | in / at a place |
-mut | to a place |
-mit | from a place |
We can add these endings to a noun root to create a word:
sijjami | at the shoreline |
sijjamut | to the shoreline |
sijjamit | from the shoreline |
Verb endings are attached to verb roots that describe actions. Here are three simple verb endings:
-tunga | I |
-tutit | you |
-tuq | she / he / it |
If we add different endings to the same root, we get different meanings:
aullaqtunga | I depart. |
aullaqtutit | You depart. |
aullaqtuq | He / she departs. |
Affixes are pieces of words that appear between the root and the ending. They can never begin a word. Affixes add more information about the noun or verb that is described by the root.
For example -lauq- is a verb affix that indicates that an action happened in the past:
aullalauqtunga | I departed. |
aullalauqtutit | You departed. |
aullalauqtuq | He / she departed. |
In Inuktut, it is possible to build up very long words by adding a series of affixes between the root and the ending. We can end up with single words that would take an entire sentence to say in English:
qangatasuukkuvimmuuriaqalaaqtunga I’ll have to go to the airport.
2 » Subject of the Verb
Verb roots in Inuktut describe actions or states of being. The verb ending tells us who is performing the action.
takujunga |
I see. |
In the above word, taku- describes the action of seeing and the verb ending –junga describes who is seeing.
By using different verb endings we can talk about different people doing the same action:
nirijunga | I eat |
nirijutit | you eat |
nirijuq | he / she eats |
nirijuguk | the two of us eat |
nirijugut | we (3+) eat |
nirijusik | you two eat |
nirijusi | you (3+) eat |
nirijuuk | the two of them eat |
nirijut | they (3+) eat |
The verb endings highlighted above in blue can be added to any root that ends in a vowel. Remember Inuktut has three vowels i, u and a.
If the root ends in any other letter, we change the j that begins each of these verb endings to t:
uqalimaaqtunga | siniktuq |
I read. | he / she sleeps |