Dialogue: Whose is this?
Vocabulary
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huup una?
Who does this belong to?
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una
this; this one
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huup ukua?
Who do these (3+) belong to?
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ukuat (3+)
these (3+)
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una huup nahaa?
Who does this hat belong to?
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nahaq
hat
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ařgaak
gloves (two)
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pualluk
mittens (a pair of)
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kamiik
boots (skin)
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kamaaluuk ukiuqhiutik
boots (winter)
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ipirauhiq
boots (long)
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kamaaluuk
boots (rubber)
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kamaaluuk
shoes (a pair)
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atigi
parka
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kaliku
parka outer shell
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atigi \ jaika
jacket
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nuviqšaaq
sweater
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uviniruq \ ilupaaq
shirt
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atigi \ ilupaaq
t-shirt
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qarliik
pants
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taphi
belt
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qitauȓaq
skirt
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qitauȓaq
dress
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atigi
blouse
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Grammar
29 » Possessions & Relations
In English we have words that we put before nouns to indicate who they belong to:
| my mitten | your parka |
In Inuktut, we add an affix to the end of the noun. The above would be translated:
| pualuga | atigiit |
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
| igluga | my house |
| igluvuk | our (2) house |
| igluvut | our (3+) house |
| iglut | your (1) house |
| igluktik | your (2) house (the house of you two) |
| iglukhi | your (3+) house (the house of you 3+) |
| iglua | his/her house |
| igluak | their (2) house |
| igluat | their (3+) 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:
| kamik | boot |
| kamiga | my boot |
| qi'miq | dog |
| qi'miktik | your (2+) dog (the dog of you two) |
| titirarvik | office |
| titirarvingat | their (3+) office |
(ii) -ga (my) has a second form, -ra, that is used after any noun that ends in -q:
| nahaq | hat |
| nahara | my hat |
| nuviqšaaq | parka |
| nuviqšaara | my parka |
TWO POSSESSIONS OR RELATIONS
DUAL FORMS
| panik | daughter |
| paniikkak | my two daughters |
| paniikkik | your two daughters (talking to 1 person) |
| paningik | his or her two daughters |
| panivuk | our two daughters |
| paniktik | your two daughters (talking to more than 2) |
| paningik | their two daughters |
3+ POSSESSIONS OR RELATIONS
| irniq | son |
| irnitka | my sons (3+) |
| irnivut | our sons (3+) |
| irnitit | your (1) sons (3+) |
| irnihi | 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 akhaluutinga | Piitaup qi'minga |
- 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 qi'mingit | 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.
These words have a singular, dual and plural form in Nattilingmitut:
| una | this one here |
| ukuak | these two here |
| ukuat | these ones (3+) here |
| taamna | that one |
| taakkuak | those two |
| taakkua | those (3+) |
Una / ukuak / ukua generally refer to something close to the speaker while taamna / taakkuak / taakkua efer 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 nahanga? | Whose hat is this? |
| Una nahaga. | This is my hat |
| Taakkuak kiap pualungik? | Whose mitts (2) are those? |
| Taakkuak 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
| Taakkuak piikkak. | Those two things are mine. |
| Taakkuak piikkik. | Those two things are yours. |
| Taakkuak pingik. | Those two things are his/hers/theirs |
Plural forms:
| Taakkua pitka. | Those are mine. |
| Taakkua pitit. | Those are yours. |
| Taakkua pingit. | Those are his/hers/theirs. |