Questions/Help

yaktubu
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby yaktubu » 2012-12-17, 17:25

Thanks for your help- I'll try to keep patience, because Inuktitut is certainly a language I want to learn

One very quick grammar question- with the - u- copula, well, when do you use it? I see -inuk- seems to mean both 'Inuk' and 'living', so what exactly does 'inuujunga' mean? I am a person, or I am alive?

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limoneneis
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby limoneneis » 2012-12-17, 21:16

Sorry I don't know how it is in Inuktitut but in Kalaallisut the -u- is used for example for numbers or professions if you want to say "is". It's different from saying "this is ...", but it's used to express a characteristic trait.

illu - house
illuuvoq - it is a house

nakorsaq - doctor
nakorsaavunga - I am a doctor (the u changes to a because of the a in front of it)

inuk - person
inuuvunga - I am a person

But inuuvoq also means "lives, is born", so I guess it can mean both here.
[flag=]kl[/flag][flag=]ja[/flag]

yaktubu
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby yaktubu » 2012-12-19, 14:09

limoneneis wrote:Sorry I don't know how it is in Inuktitut but in Kalaallisut the -u- is used for example for numbers or professions if you want to say "is". It's different from saying "this is ...", but it's used to express a characteristic trait.

illu - house
illuuvoq - it is a house

nakorsaq - doctor
nakorsaavunga - I am a doctor (the u changes to a because of the a in front of it)

inuk - person
inuuvunga - I am a person

But inuuvoq also means "lives, is born", so I guess it can mean both here.


But in this particular example, 'inuujunga'- so it's ' I am a person', that's fine, but take ' inuktunga'- is that OK for ' I am alive?'

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limoneneis
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby limoneneis » 2012-12-19, 17:44

I think 'inuujunga' can be translated both ways, 'I am a person' or 'I live/I am alive', whatever fits the context best.

'inuktunga' looks like a different form. I am not sure how it is in Inuktitut but in Kalaallisut -toq/-soq is used to say 'someone who [verb]' or in sentences that would use 'that' in English: He knows that I live.

What resources are you using? Do they give a translation for 'inuktunga'? I am not sure what you are asking. Are you looking for a translation for 'I am alive'?
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yaktubu
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby yaktubu » 2012-12-21, 2:31

limoneneis wrote:What resources are you using? Do they give a translation for 'inuktunga'? I am not sure what you are asking. Are you looking for a translation for 'I am alive'?


In this particular context, yes. I'm just wondering if 'inuk' can be treated as a verb as well- thus 'inuktunga', which should mean 'I am alive', assuming 'inuk' can stand on its own as a verb.

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limoneneis
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby limoneneis » 2012-12-21, 10:28

Ok. No, 'inuk' cannot be a verb. If you want to connect it to a verb, you have to use suffixes that can be used with nouns like -uvoq and change it into a verb.
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limoneneis
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby limoneneis » 2012-12-21, 10:35

The -toq suffix can only be used with verbs.

For example (in Kalaallisut):

atuarpoq = he reads
atuartoq = someone who reads, student
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby belenneda » 2013-01-08, 23:11

I was wondering how to say "I'm looking for friends" in Greenlandic.

According to my textbook, "_ ujarpara" means "I'm looking for _ ".

My first guess is ikinngutit ujarpara. I was googling "ujarpara" to find examples, but I haven't found any good ones...

Thanks in advance :)

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby Allekanger » 2013-01-09, 11:01

I'm not sure, but I think I would've said ikinngutissarsiorpunga or kammalaatissarsiorpunga. But I could be completely off.

Are you studying Greenlandic? :)

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby belenneda » 2013-01-09, 18:12

HI! Thanks for your suggestions, I think they are both correct (googling them, I can see they have been used by native speakers in social networking sites).
I've been learning Greenlandic for just a little over 2 weeks.

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby deardron » 2013-01-09, 19:00

limoneneis wrote:'inuktunga' looks like a different form. I am not sure how it is in Inuktitut but in Kalaallisut -toq/-soq is used to say 'someone who [verb]' or in sentences that would use 'that' in English: He knows that I live.

In Greenlandic the -toq/-soq forms can be regarded as participial mode. AFAIK Inuktitut doesn't have -poq/-voq forms, it uses -toq both for the -poq/voq and -toq/soq context of West Greenlandic, where inuktunga would give *inuppunga/*inuttunga.

The -poq/voq forms are also extinct in Polar Eskimo of North-West Greenland (although they still were to be found there 100 years ago), which is somewhere in the middle between Greenlandic and the Canadian Inuktitut dialects (as the Polar Eskimos came to that area from Canada much later than the rest of today's Greenlandic Inuit population).

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby yaktubu » 2013-02-03, 20:16

How does -nngit- negative interact with -[ng]u- copula? Which comes first and how does deletion apply?

So if pinnguaq -> pinnguangujuq, what is 'it's not a game'?

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby deardron » 2013-02-03, 21:08

yaktubu wrote:How does -nngit- negative interact with -[ng]u- copula? Which comes first and how does deletion apply?

So if pinnguaq -> pinnguangujuq, what is 'it's not a game'?

The first comes the copula verb (in Greenlandic it never has the -ng- element) and then the negation suffix.
The stem -nngit- is never used in its 'deep' form, in indicative mood it comes as 'nngila-'.
So altogether it gives pinnguaanngilaq = pinngua-a-nngila-q ('it's not a toy').
(-a- is the phonetic modification of the copula stem -u- which is used after 'a')

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby yaktubu » 2013-02-03, 21:44

deardron wrote:
yaktubu wrote:How does -nngit- negative interact with -[ng]u- copula? Which comes first and how does deletion apply?

So if pinnguaq -> pinnguangujuq, what is 'it's not a game'?

The first comes the copula verb (in Greenlandic it never has the -ng- element) and then the negation suffix.
The stem -nngit- is never used in its 'deep' form, in indicative mood it comes as 'nngila-'.
So altogether it gives pinnguaanngilaq = pinngua-a-nngila-q ('it's not a toy').
(-a- is the phonetic modification of the copula stem -u- which is used after 'a')


Do you know if this 'deep' form business occurs in Inuktitut, or is it only in Kalaallisut? I've only ever heard 3p-s as -nngittuq, so 'pinnguangunngittuq'?

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby deardron » 2013-02-03, 23:32

yaktubu wrote:Do you know if this 'deep' form business occurs in Inuktitut, or is it only in Kalaallisut? I've only ever heard 3p-s as -nngittuq, so 'pinnguangunngittuq'?

I'm not very up to date with what's going on in Inuktitut, but as far as I know, it doesn't have the same indicative form as Kalaallisut (-poq/-voq), instead its indicative corresponds to Greenlandic participial mood (see above my post from Jan 9, 2013). The participial form of -nngit- in Greenlandic is -nngitsoq, dialectally also -nngittoq (well, that's probably the closest one can have to the original form of the suffix): 'pinnguaanngitsoq'.

yaktubu
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby yaktubu » 2013-02-04, 20:08

Okay, I officially have absolutely no idea what's going on. Can any Inuktitut/Kalaallisut bilinguals or Inuktitut speakers who know anything about the latter help me out?

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby deardron » 2013-02-05, 12:52

I suggest that you contact Tukkumminnguaq, he might be able to help: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=14759

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby Lur » 2014-01-03, 2:13

I have a short Cree (I think) question if someone happens to know.

What does this mean? "was micisk. Kagito."
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Re: Questions/Help

Postby vijayjohn » 2014-01-06, 5:38

Apparently, in the Atikanekw variety of Cree, kagito-wask is an alternative name of "a supernatural monster." Apart from that, so far, all I've been able to figure out is that micisk means 'anus' in Cree. :P I'll let you know if I happen to find out anything else, though.

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Re: Questions/Help

Postby Lur » 2014-03-28, 19:52

Thanks. Maybe it was an insult.
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