Inuit grammar
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The Inuit languages, like other Eskimo–Aleut languages, exhibit a regular agglutinative and heavily suffixing morphology. The languages are rich in suffixes, making words very long and potentially unique. For example, in Nunavut Inuktitut:
ᑐᓵᑦᓯᐊᕈᓐᓇᖖᒋᑦᑐᐊᓘᔪᖓ
tusaatsiarunnanngittualuujunga
I can't hear very well.
This long word is composed of a root word tusaa- – to hear – followed by seven suffixes (a vowel-beginning suffix always erases the final consonant of the preceding consonant-ending suffix):
- -tsiaq-: "well"
- -junnaq- (or -gunnaq-): "be able to"
- -nngit-: negation
- -tu(q): indicative third-person singular (in fact a nominal form)
- -alu(k)-: augmentative ("very")
- -u-: "be"
- -junga: indicative first-person singular (itself composed of the indicative morpheme -ju- and the first person marker -nga)
Note the consonant sandhi (see Inuit phonology): The /q/ from -tsiaq- followed by the /j/ from -junnaq- becomes ‹r› [ʁ], a single consonant taking its point of articulation from /q/ and its manner of articulation from /j/. The /q/ from -junnaq- is assimilated into the /ŋŋ/ of -nngit-, because Inuktitut forbids triple length consonants, and because the morphophonological rules attached to -nngit- require it to delete any consonant that comes before it.
This sort of word construction is pervasive in Inuit languages and makes it very unlike English. In one large Inuktitut corpus – the Nunavut Hansard – 92% of all words appear only once, in contrast to a small percentage in most English corpora of similar size. This makes the application of Zipf's law quite difficult.
Furthermore, the notion of a part of speech can be somewhat complicated in Inuit languages. Fully inflected verbs can be interpreted as nouns. The word ilisaijuq can be interpreted as a fully inflected verb – "he studies" – but can also be interpreted as a noun: "student".
Because of the languages’ rich and complicated morphology, this article can present only a limited and unsystematic sample of its features. It is based largely on the Inuktitut dialects of north Baffin Island and central Nunavut. The morphology and syntax of Inuit language varies to some degree between dialects, but the basic principles will generally apply to all of them and to some degree to Yupik as well.
Nouns
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Verbs in main clauses
[edit]Inuktitut verbs fall into two major categories with different morphological properties: non-specific verbs and specific verbs. Many verbs belong in both categories, and can take either set of endings depending on the type of information about the verb's arguments that speakers intend to communicate. Others are restricted to one category or require a morphological change in order to move between categories.
Every fully inflected Inuktitut verb can act alone as a proposition. No other words are required to form a syntactically correct sentence.
This section will only cover two of the most common sets of endings for these two verb classes and a small selection of verbal modifiers. Inuktitut has a large and diverse set of verbal inflections, of which this article can only cover a small portion designed to give some sense of how the Inuktitut language works.
Non-specific verbs
[edit]Non-specific verbs are verbs that either are intransitive (they have no direct object), or have an indefinite noun as their object. In English, an indefinite noun is marked by the lack of the article the or, if the noun is singular (and countable) the article a(n). In Inuktitut, when it is the object of a verb, it is distinguished by the use of a non-specific verb and particular suffix described below. A definite noun, in contrast, requires the use of a specific verb when it is the object of a verb.
Non-specific indicative conjugation
[edit]As a general rule, a correctly formed Inuktitut verb must start with a root and end with a suffix that indicates the grammatical person of its subject:
Quviasuktunga
ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃ
quviasuk-
to be happy
ᑐᖓ
-tunga
1SG
I am happy
Anijuq
ᐊᓂ
ani-
to go out
ᔪᖅ
-juq
3SG
he/she/it has just now gone out.
The indicative is the simplest form of the verb in Inuktitut, and for state verbs – verbs indicating a condition or a situation – this form indicates the present tense: The condition or situation is presently the case. For action verbs, it indicates that the action has recently been completed, mixing tense and aspect. Inuktitut verbs are divided into state verbs and action verbs. However, the distinction may not match how non-Inuktitut speakers would categorise verbs. For example, the verb root pisuk-, meaning "to be walking" – is a state verb in Inuktitut.
- pisuktunga – I am walking. (right now)
When the verb root ends in a consonant, the suffixes that indicate the grammatical person all begin with t. For example, pisuk- – to be walking – is conjugated as follows:
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | ᐱᓱᒃᑐᖓ pisuktunga I am walking |
ᐱᓱᒃᑐᒍᒃ pisuktuguk we [two] are walking |
ᐱᓱᒃᑐᒍᑦ pisuktugut we [more than two] are walking |
| 2nd person | ᐱᓱᒃᑐᑎᑦ pisuktutit you [sing] are walking |
ᐱᓱᒃᑐᓯᒃ pisuktusik you [two] are walking |
ᐱᓱᒃᑐᓯ pisuktusi you [more than two] are walking |
| 3rd person | ᐱᓱᒃᑐᖅ pisuktuq he/she/it is walking |
ᐱᓱᒃᑑᒃ pisuktuuk they [two] are walking |
ᐱᓱᒃᑐᑦ pisuktut they [more than two] are walking |
Verb roots that end in a vowel have suffixes that start with a j. For example, ani- – to go out:
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | ᐊᓂᔪᖓ anijunga I have just gone out |
ᐊᓂᔪᒍᒃ anijuguk we [two] have just gone out |
ᐊᓂᔪᒍᑦ anijugut we [more than two] have just gone out |
| 2nd person | ᐊᓂᔪᑎᑦ anijutit you [sing] have just gone out |
ᐊᓂᔪᓯᒃ anijusik you [two] have just gone out |
ᐊᓂᔪᓯ anijusi you [more than two] have just gone out |
| 3rd person | ᐊᓂᔪᖅ anijuq he/she/it has just gone out |
ᐊᓂᔫᒃ anijuuk they [two] have just gone out |
ᐊᓂᔪᑦ anijut they [more than two] have just gone out |
Note that Inuktitut has a fully productive dual number, present in all three persons.
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Alternative form
[edit]There is an alternative form of the above conjugation which is used in different ways and to different degrees depending on dialect. Instead of starting with t after a consonant and j after a vowel, this form starts with p after a consonant and v after a vowel. The exact difference varies from dialect to dialect. In western dialects, including Inuinnaqtun and Inupiatun, only the t/j forms are ever used for statements and the p/v form is rarely if ever heard. In Greenland, only the p/v form is used. In the central and eastern Canadian dialects, both forms are used.
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Interrogatives
[edit]There are additional p/v forms used in Nunavut to indicate interrogative statements – asking questions – although they may indicate other subtle distinctions of aspect. When they are used to ask questions, the last vowel may be doubled to indirectly indicate rising pitch. So, the question "Are we there yet?" can be written as Tikippita? (tikip- – to arrive, and for -pita see the table below) but may also be written as Tikippitaa?
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This way, one can very compactly pose and answer simple yes/no questions:
ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃᐱᑦ?
Quviasukpit?
ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃᐲᑦ?
Quviasukpiit?
Are you happy?
ᐄ,
Ii,
ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃᑐᖓ.
quviasuktunga.
Yes, I'm happy.
Subjects
[edit]The subject of a non-specific verb has no special morphological mark:
ᐲᑕ
Piita
ᐊᓂᔪᖅ.
anijuq.
Peter just went out.
ᓗᐃ
Lui
ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃᑐᖅ.
quviasuktuq.
Louis is happy.
Objects
[edit]The object of a non-specific verb must end in a suffix that indicates its syntactic role:
ᐲᑕᒥᒃ
Piitamik
ᑕᑯᕕᑦ?
takuvit?
Do you see Peter?
The object of a non-specific verb takes one of the suffixes below, depending on its number:
Indefinite suffixes Singular ᒥᒃ
-mik
/m/ nasalises a preceding consonant Dual ᕐᓂᒃ
-rnik
deletes any preceding consonant and doubles the length of the preceding vowel Plural ᓂᒃ
-nik
/n/ nasalises a preceding consonant
An example using the verb taku- – to see – and inuviniq – dead person:
Singular: ᐃᓄᕕᓂᕐᒥᒃ
Inuvinirmik
ᑕᑯᔪᖓ.
takujunga.
I see a dead person.
Dual: ᐃᓄᕕᓃᕐᓂᒃ
Inuviniirnik
ᑕᑯᔪᖓ.
takujunga.
I see two dead people.
Plural: ᐃᓄᕕᓂᕐᓂᒃ
Inuvinirnik
ᑕᑯᔪᖓ.
takujunga.
I see dead people.
To say "I see the dead person" or "I see the dead people" requires a specific verb, which is described in the section below.
Specific verbs
[edit]Specific verbs – verbs whose objects are definite as opposed to indefinite – take suffixes that indicate the grammatical person of both the subject and the object, but not their grammatical number.
Specific indicative conjugation
[edit]| Subject | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
Object
|
1st person | ᔭᕐᒪ -jarma |
ᔮᙵ -jaanga | |
| 2nd person | ᔭᒋᑦ -jagit |
ᔮᑎᑦ -jaatit | ||
| 3rd person | ᔭᕋ -jara |
ᔦᑦ -jait |
ᔭᖓ -janga | |
| Subject | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
Object
|
1st person | ᑕᕐᒪ -tarma |
ᑖᙵ -taanga | |
| 2nd person | ᑕᒋᑦ -tagit |
ᑖᑎᑦ -taatit | ||
| 3rd person | ᑕᕋ -tara |
ᑌᑦ -tait |
ᑕᖓ -tanga | |
Note that the suffixes in this table cannot be used for reflexive verbs. That will be discussed separately.
Alternative form
[edit]As with non-specific verbs, specific verbs have an alternate v/p form used to the exclusion of j/t forms in Greenland, to some extent interchangeably in Nunavut, and not at all in the west:
| Subject | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
Object
|
1st person | ᕙᕐᒪ -varma |
ᕚᙵ -vaanga | |
| 2nd person | ᕙᒋᑦ -vagit |
ᕚᑎᑦ -vaatit | ||
| 3rd person | ᕙᕋ -vara |
ᕓᑦ -vait |
ᕙᖓ -vanga | |
| Subject | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
Object
|
1st person | ᐸᕐᒪ -parma |
ᐹᙵ -paanga | |
| 2nd person | ᐸᒋᑦ -pagit |
ᐹᑎᑦ -paatit | ||
| 3rd person | ᐸᕋ -para |
ᐯᑦ -pait |
ᐸᖓ -panga | |
Interrogatives
[edit]The specific interrogative is also sometimes used to indicate conditional forms or other aspects. It overlaps heavily with the v/p alternative form described above:
| Subject | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
Object
|
1st person | ᕕᖓ -vinga |
ᕚᙵ -vaanga | |
| 2nd person | ᕙᒋᑦ -vagit |
ᕚᑎᑦ -vaatit | ||
| 3rd person | ᕕᒍ -vigu / / ᕙᕋ -vara |
ᕕᐅᒃ -viuk |
ᕙᐅᒃ -vauk | |
| Subject | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
Object
|
1st person | ᐱᖓ -pinga |
ᐹᙵ -paanga | |
| 2nd person | ᐸᒋᑦ -pagit |
ᐹᑎᑦ -paatit | ||
| 3rd person | ᐱᒍ -pigu / / ᐸᕋ -para |
ᐱᐅᒃ -piuk |
ᐸᐅᒃ -pauk | |
Subjects
[edit]The subject of a specific verb requires a specific suffix to indicate its syntactic role:
ᐲᑕᐅᑉ
Piitaup
ᑕᑯᔮᑎᑦ
takujaatit
Peter sees you
The subject of a specific verb takes the following suffixes, depending on its grammatical number:
| Singular | -up | /u/ disappears when it is preceded by a double vowel |
|---|---|---|
| Dual | -k | doubles the preceding vowel, if it is not already double |
| Plural | -it | /i/ disappears when it is preceded by a double vowel |
All of the suffixes above delete any consonant that immediately precedes them. For example, qajaq becomes qajaup in the singular, qajaak in the dual, and qajait in the plural when it is the subject of a specific verb.
ᐸᓖᓯᐅᑉ
Paliisiup
ᑕᑯᔮᑎᑦ
takujaatit
A policeman sees you.
ᐸᓖᓰᒃ
Paliisiik
ᑕᑯᔮᑎᑦ
takujaatit
Two policemen see you.
ᐸᓖᓰᑦ
Paliisiit
ᑕᑯᔮᑎᑦ
takujaatit
Some policemen (more than two) see you.
Objects
[edit]The object of a specific verb needs no particular suffix at all. Thus, we can contrast inuviniq takujara – I see the dead person – with inuvinirmik takujunga – I see a dead person (see also the table for non-specific verbs above). Continuing the example from above:
ᐲᑕᐅᑉ
Piitaup
ᐸᓖᓯ
paliisi
ᑕᑯᐸᐅᒃ?
takuvauk?
Does Peter see the policeman?
ᐋᒃᑲ,
Aakka,
ᐸᓖᓯᓂᒃ
paliisinik
ᐲᑕ
Piita
ᑕᑯᔪᖅ.
takujuq.
No, Peter sees some policemen.
Changing verb classes
[edit]Some verbs are automatically both specific and non-specific verbs, depending only on which suffixes they receive. The verb taku- – to see – is one example. However, other verbs require an additional suffix to shift classes.
Many action verbs that specifically involve an actor performing an action on another are specific verbs that take the suffix -si- in order to become non-specific verbs:
- Specific
ᖁᑭᖅᑕᕋ
Qukiqtara
ᕿᒻᒥᖅ
qimmiq
I just shot the dog.
- Non-specific
ᖁᑭᖅᓯᔪᖓ
Qukiqsijunga
ᕿᒻᒥᕐᒥᒃ
qimmirmik
I just shot a dog.
Many verbs of emotion alternate between the suffixes -suk- and -gi- to change whether or not they are specific:
- Specific
ᐃᓕᕋᒋᔭᕋ
Iliragijara
ᐃᓕᓭᔨ
ilisaiji
I'm intimidated by the teacher
- Non-specific
ᐃᓕᕋᓱᒃᑐᖓ
Ilirasuktunga
ᐃᓕᓭᔨᒥᒃ
ilisaijimik
I'm intimidated by a teacher
This is important when attributing an emotion to a person without designating the cause. To do so, Inuktitut always uses the non-specific form:
ᑯᑉᐱᐊᓱᒃᑐᖓ
Kuppiasuktunga
I'm afraid
Reflexive verbs
[edit]A reflexive verb is a verb which must have both an object and a subject, but where, in some context, both the object and the subject are identical. In Inuktitut, this situation is expressed by using a specific verb but by affixing a non-specific ending to it.
- Specific
ᓇᓄᖅ
Nanuq
ᖁᑭᖅᑕᕋ
qukiqtara
I just shot the polar bear
- Non-specific
ᓇᓄᕐᒥᒃ
Nanurmik
ᖁᑭᖅᓯᔪᖓ
qukiqsijunga
I just shot a polar bear
- Reflexive
ᖁᑭᖅᑐᖓ
Qukiqtunga
I just shot myself
Verbs in secondary clauses
[edit]A verb that has been fully inflected as described above is a complete proposition able to stand on its own. However, when clauses are linked in Inuktitut, a number of other morphosyntactic phenomena come into play.
First, many secondary structures use other classes of verb suffixes than those used in main clauses. This article cannot cover the whole of Inuktitut morphology, especially since each class of inflexion has its own set of non-specific and specific endings and they vary significantly from dialect to dialect. The examples below are based on the North Baffin dialect.
Fourth person inflection
[edit]In secondary clauses, third person inflexions must make a distinction between instances where the two clauses have the same subject and those where the subject is different. In English, the sentence "He is leaving because he is tired" is ambiguous unless you know whether or not the two "he"s refer to different people. In Inuktitut, in contrast, this situation is clearly marked:
Aullaqtuq taqagama.
ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅ
aullaq-
to leave
ᑐᖅ
-tuq
3SG NSP
ᑕᖃ
taqa-
to be tired
ᒐᒪ
-gama
3SG NSP CAUS
He1 is leaving because he1 is tired
Aullaqtuq taqangmat.
ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅ
aullaq-
to leave
ᑐᖅ
-tuq
3SG NSP
ᑕᖃ
taqa-
to be tired
ᖕᒪᑦ
-ngmat
3SG.OBV NSP CAUS
He1 is leaving because he2 is tired
The set of suffixes used to indicate the other third person is sometimes called the third person obviative, but is also often called the fourth person. This additional grammatical person is a pervasive feature of Inuktitut.
Causative
[edit]The causative is used to link propositions that follow logically. It is much more broadly used in Inuktitut than similar structures are in English. The causative is one of the most important ways of connecting two clauses in Inuktitut:
Qannirmat qainngittunga
ᖃᓐᓂᖅ
qanniq-
to snow
ᒪᑦ
-mat
4 NSP CAUS
ᙯ
qai-
to come
ᙱᑦ
-nngit-
not
ᑐᖓ
-tunga
1SG NSP
Because it is snowing, I am not coming.
Conditional & subjunctive
[edit]This structure has a meaning closer to an "if... then..."' sentence in English than the kind of structure usually referred to as "conditional". It generally involves using an additional marker of the future tense or the conditional mood in the main clause:
Qaiguvit niriniaqpit?
ᙯ
qai-
to come
ᒍᕕᑦ
-guvit
2SG NSP COND
ᓂᕆ
niri-
to eat
ᓂᐊᖅ
-niaq-
FUT
ᐱᑦ
-pit
2SG NSP INTERR
If you come, will you eat?
Qanniqpat aninajanngittunga
ᖃᓐᓂᖅ
qanniq-
to snow
ᐸᑦ
-pat
4SG NSP COND
ᐊᓂ
ani-
to go out
ᓇᔭᖅ
-najaq-
COND
ᙱᑦ
-nngit-
not
ᑐᖓ
-tunga
1SG NSP
If it were snowing, I wouldn't go out.
Frequentative
[edit]The frequentative endings indicate that two propositions routinely occur together. In English, this is expressed with words like usually, often, generally and whenever. It generally involves using an additional marker in the main clause to indicate frequency:
Kaakkaangami niriqattaqtuq
ᑳᒃ
kaak-
to be hungry
ᑳᖓᒥ
-kaangami
3SG NSP FREQ
ᓂᕆ
niri-
to eat
ᖃᑦᑕᖅ
-qattaq-
usually
ᑐᖅ
-tuq
3SG NSP
When he's hungry, he eats.
Dubitative
[edit]The dubitative suffixes express uncertainty or disbelief about a proposition:[citation needed]
Naalangmangaarmitit nalujunga
ᓈᓚᒃ
naalak-
to listen
ᒪᙶᕐᒥᑎᑦ
-mangaarmitit
3.SBJ 2.OBJ SP DUB
ᓇᓗ
nalu-
to not know
ᔪᖓ
-junga
1 NSP
'I don't know whether or not she listens to you.'
Verb modifiers
[edit]In addition to root verb morphemes and inflexions to indicate the number and person of the arguments, Inuktitut has a large inventory of morphemes that modify the verb and may be placed between the root morpheme and inflexions, or at the end of the inflected verb. In pedagogic and linguistic literature on Inuktitut, these infix morphemes are often called verb chunks. These modifiers indicate tense, aspect, manner and a variety of functions that in English require auxiliary verbs, adverbs, or other structures.
This section can only list a small selection of the many verb chunks, in order to give a sense for how the system works:
Modifiers of manner
[edit]ᙱᑦ -nngit- |
negates the verb | This suffix deletes a preceding consonant. | ᖁᕕᐊᓱᙱᑦᑐᖓ quviasunngittunga ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃ quviasuk- to be happy ᙱᑦ -nngit- not ᑐᖓ -tunga 1SG 'I am not happy.' ᓴᓇᙱᑦᑐᖅ sananngittuq ᓴᓇ sana- to work, to be employed ᙱᑦ -nngit- not ᑐᖅ -tuq 3SG He doesn't work. (= He is unemployed.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ᓗᐊᖅ -luaq- |
excessively | This suffix deletes a preceding consonant. | ᓴᓇᓗᐊᖅᑐᖅ sanaluaqtuq ᓴᓇ sana- to work, to be employed ᓗᐊᖅ -luaq- excessively ᑐᖅ -tuq 3SG He works too much. ᓯᓂᓗᐊᖅᑐᑎᑦ siniluaqtutit ᓯᓂᒃ sinik- to sleep ᓗᐊᖅ -luaq- excessively ᑐᑎᑦ -tutit 2SG You sleep too much. | |
| -galuaq- | although, but | This suffix undergoes consonant sandhi, depending on the preceding letter context | ||
| ...(Any Vowel) | ᒐᓗᐊᖅ -galuaq- |
ᐊᓂᒐᓗᐊᖅᑐᖓ anigaluaqtunga ᐊᓂ ani- to go out ᒐᓗᐊᖅ -galuaq- although ᑐᖓ -tunga 1SG Even though I just went out... | ||
| ...k | ᑲᓗᐊᖅ -kaluaq- g + k = kk |
ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃᑲᓗᐊᖅᑐᖅ quviasukkaluaqtuq ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃ quviasuk- to be happy ᒐᓗᐊᖅ -galuaq- although ᑐᖅ -tuq 3SG Although she is happy... | ||
| ...t | ᑲᓗᐊᖅ -kaluaq- t + k = kk |
ᖃᓐᓂᙱᒃᑲᓗᐊᖅᑐᖅ qanninngikkaluaqtuq ᖃᓐᓂᖅ qanniq- to snow ᙱᑦ -nngit- not ᒐᓗᐊᖅ -galuaq- although ᑐᖅ -tuq 3SG Although it isn't snowing... | ||
| ...q | ᕋᓗᐊᖅ -raluaq- q + g = r |
ᖃᓐᓂᕋᓗᐊᖅᑐᖅ qanniraluaqtuq ᖃᓐᓂᖅ qanniq- to snow ᒐᓗᐊᖅ -galuaq- although ᑐᖅ -tuq 3SG Although it is snowing... | ||
Consequently one can say:
Qanniluanngikkaluaqtuq aninngittunga.
ᖃᓐᓂᖅ
qanniq-
to snow
ᓗᐊᖅ
-luaq-
excessively
ᙱᑦ
-nngit-
not
ᒐᓗᐊᖅ
-galuaq-
although
ᑐᖅ
-tuq
3SG
ᐊᓂ
ani-
to go out
ᙱᑦ
-nngit-
not
ᑐᖓ
-tunga
1SG
Even though it's not snowing a great deal, I'm not going out.
Modifiers of tense
[edit]While Indo-European languages tend to make tense distinctions in terms of before or after some reference event, Inuktitut makes a number of somewhat fuzzy distinctions depending on how far into the past or the future the event took place. In English, this distinction requires additional words to place the event in time, but in Inuktitut the tense marker itself carries much of that information.
ᓛᖅ -laaq- |
future, tomorrow or later | This suffix deletes a preceding consonant. | ᐅᖃᓛᖅᑕᕋ uqalaaqtara ᐅᖃᖅ uqaq- to talk ᓛᖅ -laaq- later, after today ᑕᕋ -tara 1.SBJ 3.OBJ SP I'll talk to him some other time. |
|---|---|---|---|
ᓂᐊᖅ -niaq- |
later today | This suffix nasalises a preceding consonant. | ᑎᑭᒻᓂᐊᖅᑐᖅ tikimniaqtuq ᑎᑭᑉ tikip- to arrive ᓂᐊᖅ -niaq- later today ᑐᖅ -tuq 3SG NSP He is arriving later. |
ᓕᖅ -liq- |
in process, right now | This suffix deletes a preceding consonant. When applied to a state verb, it emphasises that the state holds at the present moment. For action verbs, it means that the action is taking place right now, instead of having just finished. | ᖃᖓᑕᓲ ᒥᓕᖅᑐᖅ qangatasuu miliqtuq ᖃᖓᑕᓲ qangatasuu airplane ᒥᓪ mil- to land, to touch down ᓕᖅ -liq- right now ᑐᖅ -tuq 3SG NSP The airplane is landing. |
ᕋᑖᖅ -rataaq- |
immediate past, a moment ago, no more than a few seconds | This suffix deletes a preceding consonant. | ᐃᓱᒪᕋᑖᖅᑐᖓ isumarataaqtunga ᐃᓱᒪ isuma- to think ᕋᑖᖅ -rataaq- just a moment ago ᑐᖓ -tunga 1SG NSP I was just thinking |
ᖅᑲᐅ -qqau- |
just now, a few minutes ago | This suffix deletes a preceding consonant. | ᑐᓵᖅᑲᐅᙱᑦᑕᒋᑦ tusaaqqaunngittagit ᑐᓵ tusaa- to hear ᖅᑲᐅ -qqau- just now ᙱᑦ -nngit- not ᑕᒋᑦ -tagit 1.SBJ 2.OBJ SP 'I didn't hear you just now' |
ᓚᐅᖅ -lauq- |
more remote past, yesterday or earlier, up to perhaps a year | This suffix deletes a preceding consonant. | ᐃᒡᓗᒥᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ Iglumik niuvialauqtunga ᐃᒡᓗ iglu house ᒥᒃ -mik ACC.SG ᓂᐅᕕᐊᖅ niuviaq- to purchase ᓚᐅᖅ -lauq- recently, in the last year ᑐᖓ -tunga 1SG NSP 'I bought a house recently' |
ᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪ -lauqsima- |
remote past, several years or more ago | This suffix deletes a preceding consonant. | ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑐᒻᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᓭᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖓ Inuktitummik ilisailauqsimajunga ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ inuktitut inuktitut ᒥᒃ -mik ACC.SG ᐃᓕᓭ ilisai- to study ᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪ -lauqsima- some years ago ᔪᖓ -junga 1SG NSP I studied Inuktitut some time ago. |
Ergativity in Inuktitut
[edit]Inuktitut marks the subject of a non-specific verb and the object of a specific verb in the same way – the absence of a specific morphological marker – and marks the subject of a specific verb and the object of a non-specific verb with particular morphological elements. This kind of morphosyntactic structure is often called an ergative structure. However, ergativity in its most clearly defined instances is primarily about transitive and intransitive verbs. This dichotomy is not identical to the specific/non-specific verb distinction in Inuktitut, since Inuktitut usage is also concerned with the definiteness of the objects of verb,
Consequently, the application of the notion of ergativity to Inuktitut, and to many other languages, is somewhat controversial. Regardless, by analogy with more conventionally ergative languages, the -up, -k, -it endings described above are often called ergative suffixes which are taken to be indicative of the ergative case, while the -mik, -rnik, -nik endings (see Non-specific verbs – Objects) are called accusative. This usage is often seen in linguistics literature describing Inuktitut, and sometimes in pedagogic literature and dictionaries, but remains a quite foreign vocabulary to most Inuit.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Inuktitut Linguistics for Technocrats, Mick Mallon. [covers Inuktitut nominal morphology omitted from this article]
- Introductory Inuktitut and Introductory Inuktitut Reference Grammar, Mick Mallon, 1991. ISBN 0-7717-0230-2 and ISBN 0-7717-0235-3
- Inuktitut: A multi-dialectal outline dictionary (with an Aivilingmiutaq base), Alex Spalding, 1998. ISBN 1-896204-29-5
- Inuktitut: a Grammar of North Baffin Dialects, Alex Spalding, 1992. ISBN 0-920063-43-8
- Arctic Languages: An Awakening, ed: Dirmid R. F. Collis. ISBN 92-3-102661-5 Available in PDF via the UNESCO website.
- Textbook Let's Learn Eskimo (2nd Ed.), Donald H. Webster, 1968. Fairbanks, Alaska.
Although as many of the examples as possible are novel or extracted from Inuktitut texts, some of the examples in this article are drawn from Introductory Inuktitut and Inuktitut Linguistics for Technocrats.
External links
[edit]Dictionaries and lexica
- Inuktut Grammar Dictionary
- Tusaalanga: Learn Inuktut On-line
- Inuktitut – English Dictionary
- Interactive IñupiaQ Dictionary
- Oqaasileriffik Language database
Webpages
- A Brief History of Inuktitut Writing Culture
- Our Language, Our Selves Archived 2005-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
- Alt.folklore.urban on Eskimo words for snow.
- Arctic Languages: An Awakening, ed: Dirmid R. F. Collis. ISBN 92-3-102661-5 Available in PDF via the UNESCO website (chapter with Inuit grammar).