Dialogue: Welcome
Vocabulary
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tunngasugit
ᑐᙵᓱᒋᑦ
welcome
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inuktituusuunguviit?
ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᓲᖑᕖᑦ?
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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anijuq
ᐊᓂᔪᖅ
leaves; goes out (he/she...)
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takujuq
ᑕᑯᔪᖅ
sees (he/she...)
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aullaqtuq
ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅᑐᖅ
departs (he/she...)
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titiraqtuq
ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑐᖅ
writes (he...)
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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 and affixes.
niri- | to eat |
aullaq- | to depart; leave town |
tupiq | tent |
Affixes are attached to the end of roots and other affixes. They can never begin a word. Here are three simple affixes:
-tunga | I |
-tutit | you |
-tuq | she / he / it |
Roots and affixes cannot be used on their own. Instead words are built in Inuktut by attaching one or more affixes to a root. Remember that in most cases, the root is the base of the word and appears at the beginning.
If we add different affixes to the same root, we get different meanings:
aullaqtunga | I depart. |
aullaqtutit | You depart. |
aullaqtuq | He / she departs. |
And if we throw in other affixes, we can change the meaning again. -lauq- is an affix that indicates that something happened in the past:
aullalauqtunga | I departed. |
aullalauqtutit | You departed. |
aullalauqtuq | He / she departed. |
qangatasuukkuvimmuuriaqalaaqtunga I’ll have to go to the airport.
2 » Subject of the Verb
In Inuktut, we indicate who is performing an action by using an affix that appears (usually) at the very end of a verb:
takujunga |
I see. |
In the above word, taku- describes the action of seeing and the affix –junga describes who is seeing.
By using different affixes, 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 affixes 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 affixes to t:
uqalimaaqtunga | siniktuq |
I read. | he / she sleeps |