Some notes on birthdays.
| nalliutijuq | nalliutisuuq maimi. |
| She has a birthday (that very day). | She has his/her birthday in May. |
You will remember the affix -suuq (meaning “someone who does something regularly”) from such expressions as:
| immulisuunguvit? | immuliusuuq |
| Do you take milk (with your coffee)? | He/she takes milk. |
| Inuktitusuunguva? | ii, inuktituusuuq. |
| Does he/she speak Inuktitut? | Yes, he/she speaks Inuktitut. |
Remember that when making a simple statement in the third person (he / she / it), –suuq can appear, on its own, at the end of the word.
| Sitipirimi nalliutisuuq. |
| His/her birthday is in September. |
In any other situation, you normally add the verb –u–/–ngu– (meaning ‘to be’) after –suuq– followed by the appropriate ending:
| Tisipirimi nalliutisuunguvit? | Aagga, nalliutisuungujunga iipurimi. |
| Is your birthday in December? | No, my birthday is in April. |
| Maatsimi nalliutisuunguva? | ii, maatsimi nalliutisuuq. |
| Is his/her birthday in March? | Yes, his/her birthday is in March. |
Let’s say we want to ask someone how old they are:
| qatsit? | qatsit + u + vit = qatsiuvit? |
| how many? | How old are you (literally, how many are you?) |
In answering, we do like in French and talk about how many years we “have”:
| 30-nik + arraagu + qaq + tunga | 30-nik arraaguqaqtunga. |
| I am 30 (literally, I have 30 years.) |
Remember that when –qaq– comes together with –tuq–, we get the affix –lik:
| Qatsiuva? | 24-nik arraagulik. |
| How old is he/she? | He/she is 24. |
If, on the day of someone’s birthday, we want to ask them how old they are turning, we use the affix -liq-to express something that is about to happen:
| Qatsinik arraguqaliqqit? | 8-nik arraaguqaliqtunga. |
| How old are you turning (today)? | I am turning 8 (today). |
Finally, if you are wondering what to write on those birthday cards that circulate through the office:
ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᓇᓕᐅᑎᑦᓯᐊᕆᑦ !
Happy Birthday!