Dialogue: What are you doing?
Vocabulary
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unnusa
ᐅᓐᓄᓴ
afternoon
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niqtiuqtuq
ᓂᖅᑎᐅᖅᑐᖅ
cooks (he/she...)
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unnuk
ᐅᓐᓄᒃ
evening
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iqalliaqtuq
ᐃᖃᓪᓕᐊᖅᑐᖅ
fishing (she goes...)
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ilinniaqtuq
ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᖅ
learns (he/she...)
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katimajut
ᑲᑎᒪᔪᑦ
meeting (they are...)
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ullaaq
ᐅᓪᓛᖅ
morning
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unnuaq
ᐅᓐᓄᐊᖅ
night
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maanna
ᒫᓐᓇ
now
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uqalimaaqtuq
ᐅᖃᓕᒫᖅᑐᖅ
reads (he/she...)
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miqsuqtuq
ᒥᖅᓱᖅᑐᖅ
sews (he/she...)
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niuviriaqtuq
ᓂᐅᕕᕆᐊᖅᑐᖅ
shopping (she goes...)
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ullumi
ᐅᓪᓗᒥ
today
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qauppat
ᖃᐅᑉᐸᑦ
tomorrow
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suvit?
ᓱᕕᑦ?
What are you doing?
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sulauqqit?
ᓱᓚᐅᖅᑭᑦ?
What did you do?
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Qauppat sulaaqqa?
ᖃᐅᑉᐸᑦ ᓱᓛᖅᑲ?
What is she doing tomorrow?
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sulaaqqit?
ᓱᓪᓛᖅᑭᑦ
What will you be doing (later today)?
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iqqanaijaqtuq
ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑐᖅ
works (he/she...)
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ippatsaq
ᐃᑉᐸᑦᓴᖅ
yesterday
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umiaqtuqtuq
ᐅᒥᐊᖅᑐᖅᑐᖅ
boating (he/she goes...)
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Grammar
6 » Future Tense
The Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin) dialects of Inuktut are fairly precise in how they deal with tenses. Affixes are added to verbs that indicate that an event will happen in the immediate future, later the same day or farther in the future.
The Immediate Future
To talk about event that will happen later the same day, isert the affix -niaq- between the verb and the subject ending:
suvit? | What are you doing? |
suniaqqit? | What will you be doing? |
nirijunga | I am eating. |
niriniaqtunga. | I will be eating. |
When -niaq- is added to a root that ends in -q, the q changes to r.
kaapituq + niaq + tunga = | |
kaapiturniaqtunga. | I will be drinking coffee. |
pisuk/pisut + niaq + tuq = | |
pisunniaqtuq | He / she is going to walk. |
ullumi aullalangajuq | He/she is going to depart today. |
Events farther in the Future
-laaq- is an affix used for events that will be happening the next day or further into the future.
iqqanaijarniaqtunga | I am going to work (later that day). |
iqqanaijalaaqtunga | I will be working (sometime in the future). |
takuniaqpugut | See you soon! |
takulaarivugut | See you later/ See you then! |
aullaq + laaq + tuq = | |
aullalaaqtuq | He / she will leave town. |
7 » Past Tense
-rataaq- is an affix that is used to describe actions that have happened in the immediate past (within the hour).
isirataaqtuq | He / she just came in. |
tikirataaqtugut | We just arrived. |
-qqau- is an affix that is used to describe actions that have happened earlier in the day.
uqaalaqqaujuq | He / she called earlier. |
angirraqqaujunga | I went home (earlier that day). |
-lauq- is used to describe actions that have happened yesterday or in the not too distant past.
ippatsaq tuttulialauqtuq | Yesterday, he went caribou hunting. |
taqqiulauqtumi qikalauqtuq | Last month she went on holidays. |
Note that when any of the above affixes are added to a root ending in a consonant, they delete the final consonant.
aullaq + rataaq + tuq = | |
aullarataaqtuq | She just left (departed) a few minutes ago. |
tikit + qqau + juq = | |
tikiqqaujuq | He arrived earlier. |
malik + lauq + tut = | |
malilauqtut | They followed (yesterday or earlier). |
Verbs involving motion often refer to an event in the past when they are combined with basic subject endings (-junga/-tunga, -jutit/-tutit, -juq/-tuq, etc.) :
tikippit? | Did you arrive/make it here OK? |
tikippunga | I arrived/made it here OK. |