Dialogue: Whose is this?
Vocabulary
|
|
una kiap pingâ?
Who does this belong to?
|
|
|
una
this
|
|
|
ukua kiap pingen?
Who do these things belong to?
|
|
|
ukua
these (3+)
|
|
|
Kiamuna nasangâ?
Who does this hat belong to?
|
|
|
nasak
hat
|
|
|
aggajâk
gloves (two)
|
|
|
pualok
mittens (a pair of)
|
|
|
kamek Kisijâk
boots (skin)
|
|
|
kamek (ukiutsiutek)
boots (winter)
|
|
|
kamek takijok
boots (long)
|
|
|
kamek (rapâk)
boots (rubber)
|
|
|
itigâlok
shoes (a pair)
|
|
parka
|
|
|
|
silapâk
parka outer shell
|
|
|
jaikak
jacket
|
|
|
atigiappak
sweater
|
|
|
uviniguk
shirt
|
|
|
uviniguk
t-shirt
|
|
|
Kallek
pants
|
|
|
tatsiak
belt
|
|
|
annugâk
skirt
|
|
|
annugâk
dress
|
|
|
kiatik
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 | Kulitaujait |
The same endings can be used for possessions or relations:
| atâtaga | my father |
| innet | your son |
| anânavut | our (3+) mother |
Different endings are used depending on whether the relation or the thing that is possessed is singular, dual or plural. In this lesson we will look at the singular endings. For the dual and plural possessive endings, click here.
ONE POSSESSION OR RELATION
| illuk | house |
| 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 |
Note that all of the possessive endings delete the final -k of a noun.
For the Inuktut equivalent of your just add -t (instead of -it) to roots that have a long vowel or a double vowel at the end:
| tuik | shoulder |
| tuit | your shoulder |
| annugâk | clothing |
| annugât | your clothing |
| tatsiak | belt |
| tatsiat | your belt |
TWO POSSESSIONS OR RELATIONS
| nukâk | two younger brothers of a boy or younger sisters of a girl |
| nukâkka | my two younger siblings (of the same sex) |
| nukâkkik | your (1) two younger siblings (of the same sex) |
| nukâgik | his or her two two younger siblings (of the same sex) |
| nukavuk | our two younger siblings (of the same sex) |
| nukatik | your (2+) two younger siblings (of the same sex) |
| nukagik | their two younger siblings (of the same sex) |
- 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
| panik | daughter |
| panikka | my daughters (3+) |
| panitit | your (1) daughters (3+) |
| paningit | his or her daughters (3+) |
| panivut | our daughters (3+) |
| panisi | your (2) daughters (3+) |
| paningit | their daughters (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 hat | Peter's dog |
In Inuktut, these three sentences would be written this way:
| Mialiup nasanga | Petaup Kimminga |
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; -gik if it is dual; and -ngit if it is plural.
| annaup nasanga | the woman's hat |
| angutiup pualogik | the man's mittens (2) |
| Petaup Kimmingit | Peter’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 Nunatsiavummiutut have two forms: one for the singular and one for the dual / plural:
| una | this one |
| ukua | these two |
| tânna | that one |
| tâkkua | those two / these (3+) |
Una and ukua generally refer to something close to the speaker while tânna / tâkkua 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 |
| Tâkkua kiap pualogik? | Whose mitts (2) are those? |
| Tâkkua pualokkik. | Those are your mitts. |
Note that the word kiap (whose) and una can be combined to form a single word:
kiamuna?
Who does this belong to?
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. | This is mine. |
| Una pet. | This is yours. |
| Una pinga. | This is his/hers. |
| Una pingat. | This is theirs. |
Dual forms (These are slightly irregular)
| Tâkkua pekka. | Those two things are mine. |
| Tâkkua pekkik. | Those two things are yours. |
| Tâkkua pingik. | Those two things are his/hers/theirs |
Plural forms:
| Tâkkua pikka. | Those are mine. |
| Tâkkua pitit. | Those are yours. |
| Tâkkua pingit.* | Those are his/hers/theirs. |