22 Katimajumavit?

Dialogue: Can you meet with me?

Suvinai:
Katimaqatigijunnaqinnga? ᑲᑎᒪᖃᑎᒋᔪᓐᓇᕿᙵ? Can you meet with me?
Pakak:
Sunaup mitsaanut? ᓱᓇᐅᑉ ᒥᑦᓵᓄᑦ?What about?
Suvinai:
Nutaap milagaup mitsaanut.ᓄᑖᑉ ᒪᓕᒐᐅᑉ ᒥᑦᓵᓄᑦ. The new legislation.
Pakak:
ii, qangakkut? ᐄ, ᖃᖓᒃᑯᑦ?Yes. When?
Suvinai:
Tamaani pinasuarusirmi?ᑕᒫᓂ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᕐᒥ? This week?
Pakak:
ii, atii. ᐄ, ᐊᑏ.Yes, lets do that.
Suvinai:
Immaqa pingatsirmi unnusakkut.ᐃᒻᒪᖃ ᐱᖓᑦᓯᕐᒥ ᐅᓐᓄᓴᒃᑯᑦ. Maybe on Wednesday afternoon.
Pakak:
Qatsimuuqqat?ᖃᑦᓯᒨᖅᑲᑦ? At what time?
Suvinai:
4-muuqqat uvannut akaujuq.4-ᒨᖅᑲᑦ ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᑲᐅᔪᖅ. 4 o'clock is good for me.
Pakak:
Namiigumavit?ᓇᒦᒍᒪᕕᑦ? Where do you want to meet?
Suvinai
Uvanga allavingani qanuitsangikkuvit.ᐅᕙᖓ ᐊᓪᓚᕕᖓᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᑦᓴᖏᒃᑯᕕᑦ. In my office, if that is OK with you.
Pakak:
ii, qanuinngittuq.ᐄ, ᖃᓄᐃᙱᑦᑐᖅ. Yes, that's fine.

Vocabulary
katimajuq
meets; he/she is in a meeting
katimajut
meeting (they are...)
mitsaanut
about
maligaq
law
nutaaq
new
qanga?
when? (past/future)
qatsimuuqqat?
at what time? (in the future)
akaujuq
good; convenient
nami?
where?
allavvik
office
katimavik
boardroom; meeting place
atii
Come on!; Let's go!; Go ahead.

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.
 
We could use a more complex verb ending:
takujara
I see him/her/it.
 

The ending -jara- tells us both who is doing the action of seeing (I) and who or what is seen (him/her/it.).  Inuktut has a whole series of what are called double verb endings.  These endings describe both the person who is doing an action and the person on the receiving end of the action.

For example:

takugikkit takuginnga
I see you. You see me.
   
takugaatit takugaanga
He/she sees you. He/she sees me
   
takujara takujait
I see him/her/it. You see him/her/it.
   
takujanga  
He/she sees him/her/it.  

 

These endings vary depending on the last consonant of the root they are added to.  The endings above that begin with g-  change to r- after a root that ends in q-

ikajuq- to help
ikajuraanga He/she 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 He/she isn’t understanding me.
tukisinngikkinnga You aren’t understanding me.

 

The endings that begin with j-  change to t- after a consonant :

malik- to follow
malittanga She is following him.
ikajuqtara I am helping her/him.

43 » Double Verb Endings for Questions

In this grammar note, we look at double (transitive) verb endings for asking questions.  These involve both a subject (the person performing an action) and an object (the person or thing on the receiving end of the action):

tukisivit? (single verb ending) Do you understand?
tukisivinnga? (double verb ending) Do you understand me?

Here are the simplest forms of these endings:

qaujimavagit? Do I know you?
qaujimavara? Do I know him/her?
   
tukisivinnga? Do you understand me?
tukisiviuk? Do you understand him/her?
   
tusaavaanga? Does he/she hear me?
tusaavaatit? Does he/she hear you?
tusaavauk? Does he/she hear him/her?

If these endings are added to a root ending in a vowel, they begin with the letter v:

takuviuk? Do you see him/her?   

If these endings are added to a root ending in -q, they begin with the letter q:

ikajuqqiuk? Are you helping him/her?

If they are added to a root ending in -k or -t, they switch the final consonant to -p and then begin with p-:

malik- to follow
malippiuk? Are you following him/her?

44 » Doing something together

The affix -qati- is attached to a verb to indicate someone or some people who do something with someone else:

pi + qati = piqati  
piqati friend; companion
   
ilinniaq- to learn
ilinniaqati classmate
   
iqqanaijaq- to work
iqqanaijaqati co-worker
   
mumiq- to dance
mumiqati dancing partner
   
katima- to meet
katimaqati someone with whom one meets

-qati is often followed by the affix -gi- meaning to have, which is in turn followed by a double verb ending:

Susi ilinniaqatigijara Susi is my classmate (literally, I have Susi as a classmate).
uqaqatigijanga He is talking to him/her.
miqsuqatigijanga She is sewing with her.
katimaqatigijunnaqqinnga? Can you meet with me?
Taiviti iqqanaijaqatigiviuk? Do you work with Taiviti? (literally, do you have Taiviti as a co-worker)?

With regard to the last example above, when answering a question like this, the construction is usually simplified when you answer:

ii, iqqanaijaqatiga
Yes, he is my co-worker.

 

45 » Asking for something to be done

There are a few ways to ask someone to do something.
 

1. The Affix -junnaq- / -gunnaq- / -runnaq-

This common affix is used to express the idea of being able to do something. It changes depending on the last letter of the root that it is added to:

uqaala- to call
Piitamut uqaalajunnaqqit? Can you call Piita?
   
tiiliuq- to make tea
Tiiliurunnaqqit? Could you make some tea?

2. The Affix -qu

-qu- is an affix used to express the idea of wanting, asking or telling someone else to do something.  It is folllowed by a transitive verb ending.

aniqujanga He/she asks him/her to leave.
isiquguk Tell him/her to come in.
uqaalaquviuk? Do you want him/her to call you?

...or, a little more complex:

Uvannut uqaalaqujunnaqqiuk?
Can you have him/her call me?

When -qu- is added to a stem that ends in a consonant, it deletes the final consonant:

sinik- to sleep
siniquvagit I want you to sleep