15 Kiap ukua?

Dialogue: Whose is this?

iiva:
Kiap una jaikanga?ᑭᐊᑉ ᐅᓇ ᔭᐃᑲᖓ? Whose is this jacket?
Aisaki:
Uvanga, jaikaga.ᐅᕙᖓ, ᔭᐃᑲᒐ. Mine, it's my jacket.
iiva:
Ukuali kiap pualungik?ᐅᑯᐊᓕ ᑭᐊᑉ ᐳᐊᓗᖏᒃ? And whose are these mitts?
Aisaki:
Taakkuak Jiilaup pualungik.ᑖᒃᑯᐊᒃ ᔩᓚᐅᑉ ᐳᐊᓗᖏᒃ. Those are Julia's mitts.
iiva:
Naulikiarngai nasara?ᓇᐅᓕᑭᐊᕐᖓᐃ ᓇᓴᕋ? I wonder where my hat is.
Aisaki:
Jiilaup jaikangata ataaniittuq.ᔩᓚᐅᑉ ᔭᐃᑲᖓᑕ ᐊᑖᓃᑦᑐᖅ. It is under Julia's jacket.

Vocabulary

Kiap una?
Who does this belong to?
una
this; this one
Kiap ukua?
Who do these (3+) belong to?
ukua
these (3+)
Una kiap nasanga?
Who does this hat belong to?
nasaq
hat
aggaak
gloves (two)
pualuuk
mittens (a pair of)
kamiik
boots (skin)
kamaaluuk ukiuqsiutiik
boots (winter)
kamikutaak
boots (long)
kamaaluuk
boots (rubber)
isigaujaak
shoes (a pair)
qulittaujaq
parka
silapaaq
parka outer shell
jaikak
jacket
nuijagaq
sweater
ikiaq
shirt
uviniruq
t-shirt
qarliik
pants
qiluaq
belt
angijuqtaq
skirt
atajuq
dress
kiati
blouse

Grammar

29 » Possessions & Relations

In English we have words that we put before nouns to indicate who they belong to:

my jacket your parka

In Inuktut, we add an affix to the end of the noun. The above would be translated:

jaikaga qulittaujait

The same endings can be used for possessions or relations:

ataataga my father
irniit your son

In English the words that indicate possession: my, your, our, etc. are fairly straightforward. There is only one form that we use before any noun, be it singular or plural:

my car my cars

 

ONE POSSESSION OR RELATION

illuga my house
illuit your (1) house
illunga his / her house
illuvuk our (2) house
illuvut our (3+) house
illusi your (2+) house
illungat their house

 

SOME TRICKIER DETAILS...

(i) For nouns that end in vowels, you just add the ending.

If these endings are added to a noun that ends in a consonant, the last consonant is deleted:

jaikak jacket
jaikaga my jacket
   
qimmiq dog
qimmisi your (2+) dog
   
allavvik office
allavvingat their office

 

(ii) -ga (my) has a second form, -ra, that is used after any noun that ends in -q:

nasaq hat
nasara my hat
   
qulittaujaq parka
qulittaujara my parka

(iii) For the Inuktut version of 'your' just add -t (instead of -it) to roots that end in two vowels:

tui shoulder
tuit your shoulder
   
qiluaq belt
qiluat your belt

 

TWO POSSESSIONS OR RELATIONS

panik daughter
paniikka(k) my two daughters
panivuk our (2+) two daughters
   
paniikkik your two daughters
panisik your (2+) two daughters
   
paningik his/her/their two daughters
  • The last vowel sound of the root is lengthened before the endings -kkak and -kkik.
  • All dual endings delete the last consonant sound of the root to which they are added.
  • The endings for “his / her” and “their” are the same. Context makes it clear who you are speaking of.

 

3+ POSSESSIONS OR RELATIONS

irniq son
irnikka my sons (3+)
irnivut our sons (3+)
   
irnitit your (1) sons (3+)
irnisi your (2+) sons (3+)
   
irningit his/her/their sons (3+)
  • All plural possessive endings delete the last consonant of roots they are added to.
  • The endings for “her/his” and “their” are the same. Context makes it clear who you are speaking of.
 

NAMING THE PERSON WHO POSSESSES SOMETHING

In English, when we want to name a person that something belongs to, we add an apostrophe + s to the person's name, followed by the object:

Mary's car Piita's dog

 

In Inuktut, these three sentences would be written this way:

Mialiup nunasiutinga Piitaup qimminga
  • Note that the affix -up is attached to the possessor's name, much like apostrophe + s is used in English.
  • the affix -nga is added to the person or thing that is possessed if it is singular; -ngik if it is dual; and -ngit if it is plural.
arnaup qullinga the woman's qulliq
angutiup pualungik the man's mittens (2)
Naullaup qimmingit Naullaq’s dogs (3+)

 

30 » This & That

Inuktut has a complex system of words to talk about an object based on where it is located (this one right here, that one over there, this one up here, etc.). At this stage, we will just look at the simplest forms.

Localizers in the South Qikiqtaaluk dialects have two forms: one for the singular and one for the dual / plural:

una this one
ukua these two
   
taanna that one
taakkua those two / these (3+)

Una and ukua generally refer to something close to the speaker while taanna / taakkua refer to something farther away. This very much depends on the context of the conversation, however.

In this lesson we see localizers used to ask who something belongs to:

Una kiap nasanga?  Whose hat is this?
Una nasaga. This is my hat
   
Taakkua kiap pualungik? Whose mitts (2) are those?
Taakkua pualukkik. Those are your mitts.

 

31 » Mine, Yours, Theirs

MINE, YOURS, THEIRS

To express these concepts in Inuktut, we take the possessive endings that we learned in the previous lesson and add the prefix pi-:

Una piga. It's mine.
Una piit. It's yours.
Una pinga. It's his/hers.
Una pingat. It's theirs.

 

Dual forms (These are slightly irregular)

Taakkua piikka. Those two things are mine.
Taakkua piikkik. Those two things are yours.
Taakkua pingik. Those two things are his/hers/theirs

 

Plural forms:

Taakkua pikka. Those are mine.
Taakkua pitit. Those are yours.
Taakkua pingit. Those are his/hers/theirs.