18 Ilakka

In the dialogue for this lesson we see one way of talking about going to someone's house:

anaanakkutinnuulauqtunga	I went to my mother's house.
nukakkutinnuulauqtunga	I went to my younger sibling's house.

Both of these words feature the affix -kkut. Among its various meanings, -kkut can be used to describe households:

Piitakkut	Peter’s house
Qajaakkut	Qajaaq’s house

To this affix we can add other affixes:

Qajaakkunni	at Qajaaq’s house
Qajaakkunniittuq	He/she is at Qajaaq’s house.
Piitakkunnut	to Peter’s house
Qajaakkunnuuqtunga	I am going to Peter’s house.

Now we will add an extra layer of complexity:

anaana	mother
anaanakkutinni	at my mother’s place
anaanakkusinni	at your mother’s place
piqati	friend
piqatikkuttinni	at my friend’s place
anaanakkusinni	at your friend’s place

The ending -tinni comibnex the idea of being somewhere with the possessive ‘my’ or ‘our'

The ending -sinni comibnex the idea of being somewhere with the possessive ‘your’.

Look at these two very common expressions

uvatinni	at my place; at our place
ilitsinni	at your place

But there are many more possibilities here:

uvatinnut	to my place
uvatinnit	from my place
ilitsinnut	to your place
ilitsinnit	from your place

Or, if we want to speak more completely:

anaanakkusinnuuqqit?	Are you going to your mother’s place?
anaanakkuttinnuuqtunga	I am going to my mother’s place?
nukakkusinninngaaqqit?	Are you coming from your younger sibling’s place?
nukakkusinninngaaqtunga	I am coming from my younger sibling’s place.
piqatikkusinniippit?	Are you at your friend’s place?
piqatikkuttinniittunga	I am at my friend’s place.

Some notes on birthdays. 

nalliutijuq	She has a birthday (that very day).
nalliutisuuq maimi.	She has his/her birthday in May.

You will remember the affix -suuq (meaning “someone who does something regularly”) from such expressions as:

immulisuunguvit?	immuliusuungujunga.
Do you take milk (with your coffee)?	I take 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?	Is your birthday in December?
Aagga, nalliutisuungujunga iipurimi.	No, my birthday is in April.
Maatsimi nalliutisuunguva?	Is his/her birthday in March?
ii, maatsimi nalliutisuuq.	Yes, his/her birthday is in March.

 

Let’s say we want to ask someone how old they are: 

qatsit?	how many?
qatsiuvit?	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?	How old is he/she ?
24-nik arraagulik.	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 changing:

Qatsinik arraguqaliqqit?	How old are you turning today?
8-nik arraaguqaliqtunga.	I am turning 8 (today).

Finally, if you are looking for something to write on a birthday card:

ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᓇᓕᐅᑎᑦᓯᐊᕆᑦ !

Happy Birthday!