personal pronouns (I, you, we, etc.)
PERSONAL PRONOUNS (I, you, we, etc.)
In English, a verb must always be accompanied by a word to indicate who is doing the action :
| I eat. | She sleeps. | They depart. |
The highlighted words above are called personal pronouns. Inuktitut has personal pronouns, although they aren’t used as much as in English, for reasons that will be explained below. Some examples are :
| uvanga | I |
| uvaguk | we; us (2) |
| uvagut | we; us (3+) |
| ivvit | you (1) |
| ilitsik | you (2) |
| ilitsi | you (3+) |
| una* | he/she/it |
| ukua* | the two of them |
| ukua* | them (3+) |
*Watch out for the last three pronouns. The ones we’ve indicated here are just some of the many pronouns that Inuktitut uses to talk about a third person. The pronouns here can only be used when a person or object is very close by.
| nirijunga | aullaqtusik | siniktut |
For this reason, the personal pronouns are redundant and are normally not used before a verb.
Where are personal pronouns used?
• when you are talking about a person or an object without a verb
• when you are adding emphasis
| Qanuippit? | How are you? |
| Qanuinngittunga. ivvilli? | I am fine, what about you? |
| Uvangalu, qanuinngimmijunga. | I (too) am fine. |
-li is used in conversation when you want to change the person or object you are talking about :
| ilitsilli? | What about you two? |
| unali? | What about this? |
-lu is an affix meaning « and ». It is added to a personal pronoun when you want to re-state something that has already been said.
| Piita : | uirngaqtunga | I am sleepy. |
| Ani : | uvangalu, uirngarmijunga. | I, too, am sleepy. |
When –li and –lu are added to personal pronouns ending in K or T, they change these final consonants to L :
| ivvit +lu = | ivvillu | you, too. |
| ilitsik+li = | ilitsilli | What about you two? |
| uvaguk+li = | uvagulli | What about the two of us/or the three of us? |
| uvagut + lu = | uvagullu | we, too. |