The languages are rich in suffixes, making words very long and potentially unique.
For example, in Nunavut Inuktitut: ᑐᓵᑦᓯᐊᕈᓐᓇᖖᒋᑦᑐᐊᓘᔪᖓtusaatsiarunnanngittualuujungaᑐᓵᑦᓯᐊᕈᓐᓇᖖᒋᑦᑐᐊᓘᔪᖓtusaatsiarunnanngittualuujungaI 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): 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/.
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.
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.
Nouns (atiqausit) are the parts of speech that describe people, places, and things.
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.
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: ᐱᓱᒃᑐᖓpisuktungaᐱᓱᒃᑐᖓpisuktungaI am walkingᐱᓱᒃᑐᒍᒃpisuktugukᐱᓱᒃᑐᒍᒃpisuktugukwe [two] are walkingᐱᓱᒃᑐᒍᑦpisuktugutᐱᓱᒃᑐᒍᑦpisuktugutwe [more than two] are walkingᐱᓱᒃᑐᑎᑦpisuktutitᐱᓱᒃᑐᑎᑦpisuktutityou [sing] are walkingᐱᓱᒃᑐᓯᒃpisuktusikᐱᓱᒃᑐᓯᒃpisuktusikyou [two] are walkingᐱᓱᒃᑐᓯpisuktusiᐱᓱᒃᑐᓯpisuktusiyou [more than two] are walkingᐱᓱᒃᑐᖅpisuktuqᐱᓱᒃᑐᖅpisuktuqhe/she/it is walkingᐱᓱᒃᑑᒃpisuktuukᐱᓱᒃᑑᒃpisuktuukthey [two] are walkingᐱᓱᒃᑐᑦpisuktutᐱᓱᒃᑐᑦpisuktutthey [more than two] are walkingVerb roots that end in a vowel have suffixes that start with a j.
For example, ani- – to go out: ᐊᓂᔪᖓanijungaᐊᓂᔪᖓanijungaI have just gone outᐊᓂᔪᒍᒃanijugukᐊᓂᔪᒍᒃanijugukwe [two] have just gone outᐊᓂᔪᒍᑦanijugutᐊᓂᔪᒍᑦanijugutwe [more than two] have just gone outᐊᓂᔪᑎᑦanijutitᐊᓂᔪᑎᑦanijutityou [sing] have just gone outᐊᓂᔪᓯᒃanijusikᐊᓂᔪᓯᒃanijusikyou [two] have just gone outᐊᓂᔪᓯanijusiᐊᓂᔪᓯanijusiyou [more than two] have just gone outᐊᓂᔪᖅanijuqᐊᓂᔪᖅanijuqhe/she/it has just gone outᐊᓂᔫᒃanijuukᐊᓂᔫᒃanijuukthey [two] have just gone outᐊᓂᔪᑦanijutᐊᓂᔪᑦanijutthey [more than two] have just gone outNote that Inuktitut has a fully productive dual number, present in all three persons.
It overlaps heavily with the v/p alternative form described above: ᕕᖓ-vingaᕕᖓ-vingaᕚᙵ-vaangaᕚᙵ-vaangaᕙᒋᑦ-vagitᕙᒋᑦ-vagitᕚᑎᑦ-vaatitᕚᑎᑦ-vaatitᕕᒍ-vigu//ᕙᕋ-varaᕕᒍ / ᕙᕋ-vigu / -varaᕕᐅᒃ-viukᕕᐅᒃ-viukᕙᐅᒃ-vaukᕙᐅᒃ-vaukᐱᖓ-pingaᐱᖓ-pingaᐹᙵ-paangaᐹᙵ-paangaᐸᒋᑦ-pagitᐸᒋᑦ-pagitᐹᑎᑦ-paatitᐹᑎᑦ-paatitᐱᒍ-pigu//ᐸᕋ-paraᐱᒍ / ᐸᕋ-pigu / -paraᐱᐅᒃ-piukᐱᐅᒃ-piukᐸᐅᒃ-paukᐸᐅᒃ-paukThe subject of a specific verb requires a specific suffix to indicate its syntactic role: ᐲᑕᐅᑉPiitaupᑕᑯᔮᑎᑦtakujaatitᐲᑕᐅᑉ ᑕᑯᔮᑎᑦPiitaup takujaatitPeter sees youThe subject of a specific verb takes the following suffixes, depending on its grammatical number: 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.
Continuing the example from above: ᐲᑕᐅᑉPiitaupᐸᓖᓯpaliisiᑕᑯᐸᐅᒃ?takuvauk?ᐲᑕᐅᑉ ᐸᓖᓯ ᑕᑯᐸᐅᒃ?Piitaup paliisi takuvauk?Does Peter see the policeman?ᐋᒃᑲ,Aakka,ᐸᓖᓯᓂᒃpaliisinikᐲᑕPiitaᑕᑯᔪᖅ.takujuq.ᐋᒃᑲ, ᐸᓖᓯᓂᒃ ᐲᑕ ᑕᑯᔪᖅ.Aakka, paliisinik Piita takujuq.No, Peter sees some policemen.Some verbs are automatically both specific and non-specific verbs, depending only on which suffixes they receive.
Many verbs of emotion alternate between the suffixes -suk- and -gi- to change whether or not they are specific: ᐃᓕᕋᒋᔭᕋIliragijaraᐃᓕᓭᔨilisaijiᐃᓕᕋᒋᔭᕋ ᐃᓕᓭᔨIliragijara ilisaijiI'm intimidated by the teacherᐃᓕᕋᓱᒃᑐᖓIlirasuktungaᐃᓕᓭᔨᒥᒃilisaijimikᐃᓕᕋᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᐃᓕᓭᔨᒥᒃIlirasuktunga ilisaijimikI'm intimidated by a teacher This is important when attributing an emotion to a person without designating the cause.
In Inuktitut, this situation is expressed by using a specific verb but by affixing a non-specific ending to it.
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.
It generally involves using an additional marker in the main clause to indicate frequency: ᑳᒃkaak-to be hungryᑳᖓᒥ-kaangami3SG NSP FREQᓂᕆniri-to eatᖃᑦᑕᖅ-qattaq-usuallyᑐᖅ-tuq3SG NSPᑳᒃ ᑳᖓᒥ ᓂᕆ ᖃᑦᑕᖅ ᑐᖅkaak- -kaangami niri- -qattaq- -tuq{to be hungry} {3SG NSP FREQ} {to eat} {usually} {3SG NSP}When he's hungry, he eats.The dubitative suffixes express uncertainty or disbelief about a proposition:[citation needed] ᓈᓚᒃnaalak-to listenᒪᙶᕐᒥᑎᑦ-mangaarmitit3.SBJ 2.OBJ SP DUBᓇᓗnalu-to not knowᔪᖓ-junga1 NSPᓈᓚᒃ ᒪᙶᕐᒥᑎᑦ ᓇᓗ ᔪᖓnaalak- -mangaarmitit nalu- -junga{to listen} {3.SBJ 2.OBJ SP DUB} {to not know} {1 NSP}'I don't know whether or not she listens to you.
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.
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-ᓛᖅ-laaq-ᐅᖃᖅuqaq-to talkᓛᖅ-laaq-later, after todayᑕᕋ-tara1.SBJ 3.OBJ SPᐅᖃᖅ ᓛᖅ ᑕᕋuqaq- -laaq- -tara{to talk} {later, after today} {1.SBJ 3.OBJ SP}I'll talk to him some other time.ᓂᐊᖅ-niaq-ᓂᐊᖅ-niaq-ᑎᑭᑉtikip-to arriveᓂᐊᖅ-niaq-later todayᑐᖅ-tuq3SG NSPᑎᑭᑉ ᓂᐊᖅ ᑐᖅtikip- -niaq- -tuq{to arrive} {later today} {3SG NSP}He is arriving later.ᓕᖅ-liq-ᓕᖅ-liq-ᖃᖓᑕᓲqangatasuuairplaneᒥᓪmil-to land, to touch downᓕᖅ-liq-right nowᑐᖅ-tuq3SG NSPᖃᖓᑕᓲ ᒥᓪ ᓕᖅ ᑐᖅqangatasuu mil- -liq- -tuqairplane {to land, to touch down} {right now} {3SG NSP}The airplane is landing.ᕋᑖᖅ-rataaq-ᕋᑖᖅ-rataaq-ᐃᓱᒪisuma-to thinkᕋᑖᖅ-rataaq-just a moment agoᑐᖓ-tunga1SG NSPᐃᓱᒪ ᕋᑖᖅ ᑐᖓisuma- -rataaq- -tunga{to think} {just a moment ago} {1SG NSP}I was just thinkingᖅᑲᐅ-qqau-ᖅᑲᐅ-qqau-ᑐᓵtusaa-to hearᖅᑲᐅ-qqau-just nowᙱᑦ-nngit-notᑕᒋᑦ-tagit1.SBJ 2.OBJ SPᑐᓵ ᖅᑲᐅ ᙱᑦ ᑕᒋᑦtusaa- -qqau- -nngit- -tagit{to hear} {just now} not {1.SBJ 2.OBJ SP}'I didn't hear you just now'ᓚᐅᖅ-lauq-ᓚᐅᖅ-lauq-ᐃᒡᓗigluhouseᒥᒃ-mikACC.SGᓂᐅᕕᐊᖅniuviaq-to purchaseᓚᐅᖅ-lauq-recently, in the last yearᑐᖓ-tunga1SG NSPᐃᒡᓗ ᒥᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᖅ ᓚᐅᖅ ᑐᖓiglu -mik niuviaq- -lauq- -tungahouse ACC.SG {to purchase} {recently, in the last year} {1SG NSP}'I bought a house recently'ᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪ-lauqsima-ᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪ-lauqsima-ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦinuktitutinuktitutᒥᒃ-mikACC.SGᐃᓕᓭilisai-to studyᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪ-lauqsima-some years agoᔪᖓ-junga1SG NSPᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᓭ ᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪ ᔪᖓinuktitut -mik ilisai- -lauqsima- -jungainuktitut ACC.SG {to study} {some years ago} {1SG NSP}I studied Inuktitut some time ago.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.