The Inuktut language spoken in the communities on the coast of Labrador is generally divided into two sub-dialects. One is spoken in the northern communities : Nunainguk (Nain), Apvitok (Hopedale), KipukKak (Postville) and Maggovik (Makkovik). This sub-dialect has some similarities with Inuttitut that is spoken in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec. In the community of kikiak (Rigolet) there are Inuit whose speech has its own characteristics and is considered a separate dialect.
PRONUNCIATION
Like other languages, the different sounds one makes when speaking Inuktut can help identify where someone is from. By comparing Nunatsiavummiutitut with other dialects spoken in Canada, some important differences in pronunciation can be heard.
Double Consonants
Inuktut learners will notice that some dialects use double consonants much more than others. There is, in fact, a gradual pattern that emerges as you move from west to east across the Canadian Arctic.
The dialects of the western Arctic feature a wide range of consonant combinations. To demonstrate just a few:
| inuktut | Inuktut | |
| ublumi | today | |
| taliqpik | right side | |
| ilatka | my family |
In the eastern Arctic, many of these consonant combinations are pronounced and written as double consonants. The above words in Nunatsiavummiutitut are:
| inuttut | Inuktut | |
| ullumi | today | |
| talippik | right side | |
| ilakka | my family |
The Law of Double Consonants
Another characteristic that distinguishes Nunatsiavummiutitut from Inuktut dialects farther west, is what is sometimes called the law of double consonants. Combinations of consonants are shortened to a singular consonant sound when they come immediately after another consonant combination. This change happens in Nunatsiavut but not in the dialects spoken in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
Each of the words below has a consonant combination that is underlined. Note how the consonant combinations that come after them in Nunavut are shortened to a singular sound in the words from Nunatsiavut.
| dialect | at the landing strip | yesterday | shallow | |
| Nunavut (Qikiqtaaluk) | mivvimmi | ippatsaq | ikkattuq | |
| Nunatsiavut | mipvimi | ippasak | ikkatuq |
Keep in mind that words in Nunatsiavummiutitut can have multiple combinations of consonants, but a double consonant will always be followed by a single consonant sound:
| kenaujakkuvimmi | at the bank | |
| ânniasiupvimi | at the hospital |
Remember that the character combination ng is considered a single consonant sound even though it is written with two letters. It can, therefore, be followed by a consonant cluster:
| Kangattak | to rise into the air | |
| KagitaujaKangittuk | he/she doesn’t have a computer |
FINAL k
In the dialects spoken in the Nunavut, Nunavik and the Northwest Territories many words end with a -q sound (written K in Nunatsiavut) . Nunatsiavummiutitut speakers, however, do not use this sound at the end of words and make a -k sound instead.
| dialect | boat | she is sleeping | it is good | |
| Nunavut (Qikiqtaaluk) | umiaq | sinittuq | piujuq | |
| Nunatsiavut | umiak | sinittuk | piujuk |
GERMAN LOAN WORDS
While many Inuktut dialects have adopted words from English, Nunatsiavummiutitut is the only dialect in Canada that has loan words from German. This is due to the influence of Moravian missionaries who lived and worked in Labrador over several centuries. Words for telling time and the days of the week, in particular, show the influence of German:
| ainsi | one (o’clock) | |
| suvai | two (o’clock) | |
| tarai | three (o’clock) | |
| fiara | four (o’clock) | |
| fimfi | five (o’clock) | |
| Montâg | Monday | |
| Tenistâg | Tuesday | |
| Metivog | Wednesday | |
| Tonistâg | Thursday | |
| Fraitâg | Friday | |
| jâri | year |
Inuttitut in kikiak (Rigolet)
Rigolet is the southernmost Inuit community in the world. Unlike the other Nunatsiavut communities, its early history was not shaped by Moravian missionaries who spoke German. For this reason, the language spoken in the community does not have the German loan words that are heard elsewhere in Nunatsiavut. Another important difference is that mixed double consonants are a strong feature of the language in Rigolet, similar to what is found in dialects west of Hudson Bay. This contrasts with the language spoken in northern Nunatsiavut communities where double consonants are less mixed. Here are some examples for comparison:
| Rigolet | northern Nunatsiavut | ||
| tuktu | tuttuk | caribou | |
| angnak | annak | woman | |
| ingnik | innik | son | |
| tâpkua | tâkkua | those ones | |
| ukpik | uppik | snowy owl |