Inuktitut Linguistics for Technocrats

Français www.inuktitutcomputing.ca       contact

by

Mick Mallon

Ittukuluuk Language Programs

Iqaluit 2000

Contents
A: History of Syllabics

B: Linguistic Definitions

C: Static Phonology

D: Syllabic Structure

E: Morphology

F: Morphophonology

G: Systematic Dialectal Differences

H: My Blunder

A: HISTORY OF SYLLABICS
I can give you all the dates and personalities by cribbing from Kenn Harper's work, but the
most important detail to remember is that the syllabic system was originally devised by English
clergymen in the last century. They were Godly men, but they weren't trained linguists. The
system they developed filtered Inuit sounds through English ears, and we are still struggling
with the infelicities that flowed from that.

• They could not hear the vital difference between the sound k and the sound q (they are
two different phonemes ... see below), and when they did try to remedy that omission
they produced the digraph ᕿ ᖁ ᖃ ᖅ, whose clumsiness still creates confusion.
• They also were misled by the English use of the digraph ng to represent the single
phoneme ŋ, thus giving us the awkward series ᖏ ᖑ ᖓ ᖕ.
 • They also were misled by the English use of the digraph ng to represent the single
phoneme ŋ, thus giving us the awkward series ᖏ ᖑ ᖓ ᖕ.
• Finally, they were misled by the geometrical quadruplicity of the syllabic system to
think that there were four vowels in Inuktitut. There are only three: logically we need
only three columns plus the finals.
So much for the last century. Then in 1976 came the meeting at the ICI (Inuit Cultural Institute)
in Arviat (then called Eskimo Point). That's when we produced the new, modern, low-fat salt-
free dual orthography. We missed a few opportunities, mostly through ignorance.

• We didn't know that the Natsilingmiut dialect had an extra phoneme ɟ. (That's a j with a
strikethrough: it's a kind of a curled tongue y)
• We thought that nobody had the sequence nŋ. We were wrong, and later you'll see the
problem that created.
• We knew that several Keewatin and Western dialects use the sound h instead of the
sound s. We thought this didn't matter. They think it does.
• And then there is the use of q in the middle of words. That's my fault. I'll explain it
later, right at the very end.
B: LINGUISTIC DEFINITIONS
Phonetics is simply the study of the sounds themselves. The phonetician wants to know
precisely how the sounds are produced, or what their precise audio qualities are.

Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language. The phonologist takes the results of
the phonetician's work and uses it to see how these sounds interact. To the phonetician all
sounds are equal. The phonologist considers phonemes (the basic sounds of the particular
language: see below) to be of greater import than allophones (variants of phonemes).

Morphology is the study of the word-building processes of the language. English has a
complicated, rather illogical morphology, but the bulk of meaning in English communication is
transferred by the way we arrange words in sentences. Inuktitut has a logically simple
morphology, which carries a far greater load in communication in Inuktitut than morphology
does in English. An Inuktitut word can replace a whole English sentence.
Parimunngauniralauqsimanngittunga I never said I wanted to go to Paris.

A morpheme is "a minimal unit of meaning". There are three morphemes in the English word
unwarlike. There are eight (or so) morphemes in the Inuktitut word above: Paris + mut +
nngau + niraq + lauq + sima + nngit + junga (Inuit morphemes often change shape slightly
as they get tacked on).

Morphophonology is the study of how the rules of the sound system (the phonology) affect
the word-building process (the morphology). In many languages you don't just jam the bits
together: you have to modify them to fit the sound pattern of that particular language. Even in
English we say a situation that is not "tolerable" is "intolerable", but one that is not "possible"
is "impossible", (m and p are both formed in the same part of the mouth: English likes
geographical propinquity in its sounds.) The morphophonology of Inuktitut is much more
developed than that of English. The fontographer has to be aware of this. It's not enough for
him to know the sounds of the language: he should be aware of their possible combinations.

C: STATIC PHONOLOGY
We'll start with static phonology, a simple listing of the phonemes of something I'll call
Standard Inuktitut, in other words, Inuktitut without the dialectal variations.

The layout is pretty standard.

Across the top is the Place of Articulation, i.e., the place in the mouth where the sound is
produced. The Inuktitut table differs from the English table in one particularly important point:
Inuktitut has uvular sounds; English doesn't. That difference is why, as explained in the history
section above, we have that awkward syllabic digraph for qi qu qa q: ᕿ ᖁ ᖃ ᖅ.

Along the side is the Manner of Articulation, i.e., the manner in which we modify the air as it
emerges. (This is all explained much more clearly in the PowerPoint presentation you have, the
one on Phonology.) The three manners are voiceless, voiced, and nasal. This is of much more
than academic interest, because in Inuktitut in any cluster of two consonants ... and you can't
have more than two (see next section) ... both consonants must have the same manner. Both
must be voiceless, or voiced, or nasal. A sequence like the mp of the English word impossible
is impossible in Inuktitut, because m is nasal, and p is voiced. This has an enormous effect on
how the finals behave when writing in syllabics, with additional dialectal subtleties, such as
gemination (see ... below).

So far we have followed the standard linguistic approach to any language. However, I will
eventually be adding another dimension: Flow of Articulation: i.e., is the sound a continuous
one, like f s v or l, or is it a stop, like p t k q. We'll get into that later.

Now for the table, on the next page. If my colour printer is still working, you will see the
voiceless sounds in green, the voiced sounds in red, and the nasal in blue. That way you can
think of the consonant clusters as having to be in matching colours ... rather twee, but it works.

CONSONANT PHONEMES OF INUKTITUT

Place of Articulation

labi alveola palat vela uvula

al r al r r

Voicele
stops p t   k q
ss

fricativ
Manner of     sɬ      
es
Articulation
Voiced   v l j g r

Nasal   m n   ŋ [ɴ]
 labi alveola palat vela uvula
al r al r r

Voicele
stops p t   k q
ss

fricativ
Manner of     sɬ      
es
Articulation
Voiced   v l j g r

Nasal   m n   ŋ [ɴ]

Rules of syllable finals in their basic form

My belief is that in its basic form, every syllable in Inuktitut ends either in:

• one of the three vowels:   i u a

• one of the four voiceless stops:   p t k q
Rules of Combination: Colour with colour

Voiceless with Voiceless: ps kp qq tq

  but not mp qv
Voiced with Voiced: vv rl gj gg
 
  but not vp mj
Nasal with Nasal: mŋ nm ŋŋ nm
  but not vn ml
This simple feature affects many of the combinations of morphemes.

inuk + lu inuglu
  →     and a person
ᐃᓄᒃ + ᓗ ᐃᓄᒡᓗ

inuk + mut inuŋmut

  →     to a person
ᐃᓄᒃ + ᒧᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᒧᑦ
D: SYLLABIC STRUCTURE
An open syllable is one that ends in a vowel.

I've been told that Hawaian is a language where all the syllables are open. No syllable ends in a
consonant. Oahu lei

Japanese is also fond of open syllables: arimasu kimono fujiyama

English is anything but an open-syllabled language. Even when you allow for our awkward
spelling system, we abound in closed syllables, often with a cluster of consonants doing the
closing instead of just one: strength enchantment switch Christlike

Now let's cut to the chase for Inuktitut. Here is the formula. Brackets mark options.

(C)V(V)(C)

· The essential element in a syllable is a single vowel:

    V una ᐅᓇ this one
· That essential vowel may be doubled:
  VV uuma ᐆᒪ this one's
· The syllable may begin with a consonant:
  CV siku ᓯᑯ ice
  CVV taina ᑕᐃᓇ that one
· And the syllable may end with a consonant:
  VC iglu ᐃᒡᓗ house
  VVC uattiaq ᐅᐊᑦᑎᐊᖅ that's it (finished)
  CVC tuktu ᑐᒃᑐ caribou
  CVVC quaq ᖁᐊᖅ frozen food
We've already made the classic schoolmarm's distinction between open and closed syllables.
For the sake of our discussion on syllabics, I'm going to add these terms:

• a headless syllable is one that does not begin with a consonant, i.e., one that begins
with a vowel;
• a headed syllable is one that does begin with a consonant.
The complication with syllabics begins when a closed syllable is followed by a headed one, as
in natsiq seal. That juxtaposition automatically creates a consonant cluster.

Notice, before we go on, that the syllabic structure of Inuktitut does not permit the
conglomeration of consonants that we find in English. If you apply the formula, you will never
have a sequence of more than two consonants, or more than two vowels. In fact, with the
exception of a few exclamations, such as uaik!, expressing moderate admiration of someone's
accomplishment, and of a few uai combinations in the Pond Inlet subdialect, (quaittuq she
slips), Inuktitut does follow this rule rigourously.

Also, Inuktitut automatically considers a single consonant in the middle of a word to be the
initial consonant of a headed syllable. A word like aiviq walrus, is always analysed as ai / viq,
never as *aiv / iq.

So, a closed syllable only occurs at the end of a word, or in front of a consonant in the middle
of a word.
Now, finally, we see where the finals come in.

A syllabic final marks the final consonant of a closed syllable.

Except for the two digraphs discussed below (ᖅ ᖕ), the final is the a-syllable symbol written
small and high.

Before we get into the complications caused by the phonological system, we should clear up
the complications caused by history.

Remember the two digraphs: the first caused by the use of ᕐ as a diacritic to change k to q, in
ᕿ ᖁ ᖃ ᖅ, and the second caused by the use of ᖕ as a diacritic to change g to ŋ, in ᖏ ᖑ
ᖓ ᖕ.

THE DIGRAPHIC qq PROBLEM

The ᖅ symbol is inelegant enough in words like uqaqtuq, ᐅᖃᖅᑐᖅ she speaks. But it
would be unacceptably awkward to apply it automatically in words with a double qq, such as
utaqqijuq she waits, which would come out as *ᐅᑕᖅᕿᔪᖅ. So we have established a
convention that double qqs are written in syllabics (but not in roman), as ᖅᑭ ᖅᑯ ᖅᑲ.
Therefore the roman utaqqijuq appears as ᐅᑕᖅᑭᔪᖅ.

That creates a problem for transliteration programs, which I believe you have solved. Unless
you write a subprogram, correctly written roman utaqqijuq comes out in syllabics as
incorrectly written *ᐅᑕᖅᕿᔪᖅ, while in the other direction, correctly written syllabic
ᐅᑕᖅᑭᔪᖅ, comes out as incorrectly written roman *utaqkijuq. There's some more history to
this. It turned out that the use of q in the middle of words was a mistake, a psychological rather
than a linguistic one, (for which I was largely responsible: see the last page). Anyway, Kativik
decided to use only r medially: a good decision. (They made another decision, not so good ...
more on that later.)

THE DIGRAPHIC ŋŋ PROBLEM

A similar, but not absolutely identical, problem to that caused by ᖅ is the problem caused by
ᖕ. That symbol is inelegant enough in words like umianga, ᐅᒥᐊᖓ his boat. Once again
there is a problem in words with a double ŋŋ, such as umiaŋŋuaq toy boat, which would
come out as *ᐅᒥᐊᖕᖑᐊᖅ in syllables, and even more clumsily, as umiangnguaq in roman.
The convention here is to drop the first g of the sequence in roman. This gives us the roman
umiannguaq, and, to be consistent, the syllabic ᐅᒥᐊᙳᐊᖅ.

Once again, a problem, albeit a minor one. I'll leave the explanation for my discussion of
dialectical variations.
RECAP

Because of the syllabic structure of Inuktitut, finals occur only at the end of closed syllables.

iglu ᐃᒡᓗ house

aullalaaq tut ᐊᐅᓪᓚᓛᖅ ᑐᑦ they will depart
A diacritic can occur anywhere.

However, since the sound ŋ never appears at the beginning of a word, neither does the
diacritic ᖕ.
qajaq ᖃᔭᖅ kayak
That's the template for the use of finals. But in practice the rules of Inuktitut morphophonology,
and the differences between dialects, affect what actually appears. We'll look at morphology
next, and then go on to morphophonology.

E: MORPHOLOGY
English morphology is incredibly complicated. First of all, you can have both prefixes and
suffixes: like, dislike, likeness.

There is the fact that we have four parts of speech to play around with: nouns, grief; verbs,
grieve; adjectives, grievious; adverbs, grieviously; plus all the combinations, like an adjective
formed by combining a noun with a verb form: grief-stricken.

Then you have all the clutter caused by the inconsistent heritage of Latin and French: deceive,
deceit, deception; receive, receipt, reception.

Inuktitut morphology is much simpler in its approach than English. First, with one exception,
there are no prefixes, only suffixes. Second, there are only two major classes, Nouns and
Verbs. So we'll start:

  Noun Roots Verb Roots  

The Noun Roots can exist on their own, as separate words:

  Noun Roots Verb Roots  
  iglu    
  qajaq    

Verb Roots cannot exist on their own; they always need an ending. So I always write Verb
Roots with a dash after them:
  Noun Roots Verb Roots  
  iglu taku- see
  qajaq sinik- sleep
Verb Roots cannot exist on their own; they always need an ending. So I always write Verb
Roots with a dash after them:
  Noun Roots Verb Roots  
  iglu taku- see
  qajaq sinik- sleep
There are eight noun endings:

The first three are grammatical (like the -m and -se pernickety speakers put on who "Whom do
you wish to see?" "Whose little girl are you?

  noun endings  
  1  ø (i.e., no ending at all) subject of nonspecific verb, object of specific
  2 -up possessor, subject of specific verb
  3 -mik object of nonspecific verb

The next four deal with spatial relationships: some of them have secondary meaning as well.
  4 -mi in, on
  5 -mit from
  6 -mut to
  7 -kkut through

The last one is the "aequalis" case

  8 -tut like
Some examples:

Note: in this section I want to concentrate on the morphology. Therefore most of the examples
will be given morpheme by morpheme, with the morphemes separated by +. In the
morphophonological section I'll show how the morphemes actually combine.

  nuna + up nunaup the land's

  nuna + mi nunami on the land
  siku + mut sikumut to the ice
  inuk + tut inuktut like a person
(The plural of inuktut is inuktitut, like people.
That is where the name of the language comes from. If you speak Inuktitut you speak like
people ... real people.)

Bad News.

There are, by one count, 699 verb endings in the North Baffin dialect, (only 609 in South
Baffin).

Why so many?
First of all, Inuktitut nouns and verbs can be singular, dual and plural.
takujunga takujuguk takujugut
I see we two see we several see

Second, instead of using words like because, if, whether, whenever, Inuktitut uses different
sets of verb endings:
takugama takugunnuk takungmangaatta
because I see if we two see whether we several see

Third, Inuktitut has one set of verb endings for nonspecific situations, and another for specific
situations. Compare:
takujunga takujunga takugama
I see I see because I see
takujagit takujara takugakku
I see you I see him because I see him

Fourth ... no, forget the fourth. It's too complicated. Just trust me. So, anyway. 699 verb
endings.

So far:

  Noun Roots Verb Roots

  noun endings verb endings
Nouns can have noun chunks attached to them.

The resultant word is a noun, and has all the privileges of one.

Some noun chunks act like adjectives:

umiaq boat
umiaq + juaq big boat (ship)
umiaq + juaq + mi in the ship

Some noun chunks expand on the meaning of the noun:

umiaq boat
umiaq + lik boat-owner
umiaq + lik + mut to the boat-owner

You can pile up noun chunks

umiaq + juaq + lik + viniq + mit from the former ship-owner
umiaq + lik boat-owner
umiaq + lik + mut to the boat-owner

You can pile up noun chunks

umiaq + juaq + lik + viniq + mit from the former ship-owner
Verbs can have verb chunks attached to them.

The resultant word is a verb, and has all the privileges of one.

Some verb chunks act like adverbs:

taku- see
taku + ttiaq- see clearly
taku + ttiaq + jara I see it clearly

Some verb chunks indicate the time of the action:

taku- see
taku + lauq- saw
taku + lauq + gakku because I saw it

Other verb chunks act like English auxiliary verbs:

taku- see
taku + juma- want to see
taku + juma + jagit I want to see you

And of course, you can pile verb chunks up too:

taku + ttiaq + juma + lauq + gakkit because I wanted to see you clearly
At this stage:

Noun Roots Verb Roots

noun chunks verb chunks
noun endings verb endings
All we have done so far is create bigger and bigger nouns and verbs. The next two types of
affixes enormously increase the flexibility of Inuktitut.

Verbs can have Noun-Makers attached to them.

A Noun-Maker turns a verb into a noun, with all the privileges of one.

-ji is a Noun-Maker which has roughly the same meaning as the -er of worker, helper,
teacher.
sana- make, work
sana + ji construction worker
sana + ji + tut like a construction worker

-vik is a Noun-Maker which means place where the verb happens.

ani- go out
ani + vik exit (noun)
teacher.
sana- make, work
sana + ji construction worker
sana + ji + tut like a construction worker

-vik is a Noun-Maker which means place where the verb happens.

ani- go out
ani + vik exit (noun)
ani + vik + kkut through the exit

-suuq is a Noun-Maker which means one who carries out the action (habitually)
tingmi- fly
tingmi + suuq airplane
tingmi + suuq + juaq big plane
tingmi + suuq + juaq + mit from the big plane
Nouns can have Verb-Makers attached to them.

A Verb-Maker turns a noun into a verb, with all the privileges of one.

-liuq is a Verb-Maker which means make.

umiaq boat
umiaq + liuq- make a boat
umiaq + liuq + juma + junga I want to make a boat

-siuq is a Verb-Maker which means look for.

tuktu caribou
tuktu + siuq- look for caribou
tuktu + siuq + lauq + junga I looked for a caribou

It's quite all right to switch back and forth, like this:
umiaq + juaq + liuq + vik + mi in the ship yard

... or this:
anaq- defecate
anaq + vik + siuq + junga I'm looking for a defecatorium
Here are the categories so far.

Notice that at this stage they are symmetrical.

Noun Roots Verb Roots

noun chunks verb chunks
noun endings verb endings
Noun-Makers Verb-Makers
Noun Roots Verb Roots
noun chunks verb chunks
noun endings verb endings
Noun-Makers Verb-Makers
However there are three more categories that fit under the Noun heading, and then a final
ubiquitous one.

Nouns can have possessive markers attached to them.

A possessive marker indicates that the noun belongs to someone.

panik daughter
panik + ga my daughter
panik + it your daughter
panik + nga her / his / its daughter
Kubluup paninga Kublu's daughter

Possessive markers can take noun endings.

panik + nga + mut to her daughter
nuliaq + viniq + nga + mit from his ex-wife
The Inuktitut Demonstrative Pronouns form a much more complex and subtle category than
English ones. They distinguish not simply between this and that, but among this, that over
there, that up there, that down there, that inside, that outside, that unseen. They distinguish
between stationary and mobile objects. They indicate (by use of the only prefix in Inuktitut: ta-)
between objects newly introduced to the conversation and objects already in context. And they
have their own set of pronoun endings paralleling the noun endings. Just a couple of examples
(given in their full combined forms):

paksuma that one's up there (mobile: new information)

takatutunaq like that one down there (stationary: in context)
And then we have the category I have named Whereats in honour of Newfoundland ("Say
where you're to and I'll come where you're at.") The Root form is an exclamation:

tavva! Here it is! (stationary and expected)

avva! There it is over there! (mobile and unexpected)

The form of stem plus one of four endings gives you spatial information
tavvani at this (expected) spot
maangat from this (unexpected) area
tappaunga to that (expected) area up there
kanuuna through that (unexpected) spot down there.
The penultimate category consists of tails, little snippets appended to a word already
grammatically complete:
uvanga I, me
uvanga + lu me too
tukisi- understand
tukisi + juq she understands
tukisi + juq + guuq she understands, she says
That's it for morphology.

We'll summarize the morphology on the next page, and then move on.

MORPHOLOGICAL CATEGORIES

Noun Roots Verb Roots

noun chunks verb chunks
noun endings verb endings
Noun-Makers Verb-Makers
Pronouns (+endings)  
Whereats (+ endings)  
          tails  

mit + vik + liaq + juma + lauq + juq + guuq

VR NM VM vc vc ve tail
land place go to want past he he says
he said he wanted to go to the landing strip
However . . .

What happens when we get rid of our + signs and join these morphemes together?

mit + vik + liaq + juma + lauq + juq + guuq

VR NM VM vc vc ve tail
  V D UA D CA UA
mivviliarumalauqturuuq
Morphophonology happens.

F: MORPHOPHONOLOGY
Every affix has its own phonological behaviour. Every time you add an affix you have to be
prepared for it either to affect the preceding consonant (the final consonant of the preceding
syllable) or to adjust itself. In addition, there are other phonological behaviours such as
gemination, or the Nunavik Law of double consonants, that can add a dialectal flavour to the
finished word.

There are seven categories of the preliminary phonological behaviour of affixes, which I shall
now list and then, in a moment, describe.

Deletion

Neutral

Voicing

Nasalization

Consonant Alternating

Uvular Alternating

Vowel Heading

Every affix except the solitary prefix ta- must include its phonological behaviour in its
description. Examples follow.

The template:

affix grammatical category meaning

phonological behaviour
Examples:

-viniq noun chunk former, ex-

Deleter
umiaq Noun Root boat
umiaviniq   former boat, wrecked boat

-niaq- verb chunk general future

Nasalizer
sinik- Verb Root sleep
siniŋniaqtuq   she will sleep

-gama/nama/kama/rama verb ending because I

  becausative, nonspecific  
  1st person singular  
Uvular Alternator
-gama/nama/kama/rama verb ending because I
  becausative, nonspecific  
  1st person singular  
Uvular Alternator
tukisi- Verb Root understand
tukisigama   because I understand

tikit- Verb Root arrive

tikinnama   because I arrive

naalak- Verb Root listen

naalakkama   because I listen

utiq- Verb Root return

utirama   because I return
PHONOLOGICAL BEHAVIOURS

Preliminary note:

With the exception of Vowel Heads, affixes do not usually affect preceding vowels, only
preceding consonants. The exceptions to this general rule are noted.

1: Deletion

The simplest of all, and the most numerous category. Deleters delete preceding consonants.
Generally, they are unpredictable from their appearance. However, because the syllabic
structure of Inuktitut blocks the occurrence of three consonant clusters, any affix beginning
with two consonants is automatically a deleter.

Examples:

umiaq NR boat -ksaq nc potential, material for

umiaksaq boat under construction

umiaq NR boat -liuq VM make, build

umialiuqtut they're building a boat

  -lauq- vc past
umialiulauqtut they built a boat
Neutral, Voicing, Nasalization
These are best understood as three examples of regressive assimilation of Manner. To
understand that, we should go back to our table of consonants, repeated next.

In what follows, focus on the Manner, but note how the Place stays the same.

Place of Articulation

labi alveola palat vela uvula

al r al r r

Voicele
stops p t   k q
ss

fricativ
Manner of     sɬ      
es
Articulation
Voiced   v l j g r

Nasal   m n   ŋ [ɴ]
In Assimilation, a consonant becomes similar to its neighbour in one or more of its features.
(Remember that there can be only two consonants in an Inuit cluster.)

In Regressive Assimilation, the assimilation operates backwards, from the second consonant
to the first.

In Regressive Assimilation of Manner, the first consonant assumes the manner of the second
consonant. In conservative dialects, the first consonant changes its manner, but retains its place
(Remember that final consonants are always voiceless in their basic form.)

kj → gj kn → ŋn
The k becomes voiced, but remains velar. The k becomes nasal, but remains velar.

2: Neutral

In a regressively assimilating affix, if the second consonant is itself voiceless, then of course
the first consonant does not undergo a change of manner. Affixes with this behaviour, or lack
of behaviour, we label Neutral.

-siuq- Verb-Maker look for, hunt

Neutral
aiviq Noun Root walrus
aiviqsiuqtuq   he's looking for walrus
So ... no change in the syllabic final:

ᐊᐃᕕᖅ

ᐊᐃᕕᖅᓯᐅᖅᑐᖅ

3: Voicing

In a regressively assimilating affix, if the second consonant is voiced, then the first consonant
becomes voiced also. Affixes with this behaviour we label Voicers.

-vik Noun-Maker place for

Voicer
niuviq- Verb Root trade
niuvirvik   store
So ... change in the syllabic final:

ᓂᐅᕕᖅ-

ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᒃ

4: Nasalizing

In a regressively assimilating affix, if the second consonant is nasal, then the first consonant
becomes nasal also. Affixes with this behaviour we label Nasalizers.

-mut noun ending to

Nasalizer
umiaq- Noun Root boat
umiarmut   to a / the boat
So ... change in the syllabic final:

ᐅᒥᐊᖅ-

ᐅᒥᐊᕐᒧᑦ

Technical Note (but it's important):

You have probably noticed that in roman and syllabics we have use the same symbol for both
voiced and nasal uvulars. The phonetic symbol we have used in the table for the nasal uvular is
[ɴ] in square brackets. [ɴ] is the nasal allophone of q. Unlike /r/, it is not a phoneme: it is not a
basic sound in the language. There is therefore no need to give it a separate symbol. No Inuk
would ever pronounce the r in umiarjuaq (big boat, ship) as if it were nasal, or the r in
umiarmut (to a boat) as if it were simply voiced.

There is, however, another source of confusion here. We'll leave that till later ... the last page.

One last complication with some voicers and nasalizers coming up.

Some odd complications after some Voicers

The affix which we have so far written as -juaq for some reason inserts r after vowels. So ...

-(r)juaq noun chunk big

Voicer: insert r after vowels
iglu + (r)juaq iglurjuaq big house ᐃᒡᓗᕐᔪᐊᖅ
But:
kuuk + (r)juaq kuugjuaq big river ᑯᒡᔪᐊᖅ
tasiq + (r)juaq tasirjuaq big lake ᑕᓯᕐᔪᐊᖅ
In North Baffin and west of there the affix which we have so far written as -vik inserts v after
vowels. So, for North Baffin, the Keewatin and west...

-(v)vik Noun-Maker place for

Voicer: insert v after vowels
kati + (v)vik kativvik meeting-place ᑲᑎᕝᕕᒃ
But:
pisuk + (v)vik pisugvik walkway ᐱᓱᒡᕕᒃ
niuviq + (v)vik niuvirvik store ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᒃ

In South & East Baffin, and in Nunavik, the affix is simply -vik.

kati + vik kativik meeting-place ᑲᑎᕕᒃ

Similar complications after some Nasalizers

Compare these two affixes, both of which are Nasalizers beginning with m.

-mut noun ending to

Nasalizer
nuna Noun Root land ᓄᓇ
nunamut   to the land ᓄᓇᒧᑦ
But:
-mat verb ending because she / he / it
Nasalizer: insert ŋ after vowels
sana- Verb Root make  
sanaŋmat   because he makes ᓴᓇᖕᒪᑦ
Compare these two affixes, both of which are Nasalizers beginning with m.

-mi noun ending in, on

Nasalizer
nunami   on the land ᓄᓇᒥ
But...

-mi- verb chunk also, too

Nasalizer: insert ŋ after vowels
sanaŋmijunga   I work too ᓴᓇᖕᒥᔪᖓ
5: Consonant Alternating

So far the affixes we have looked at affect their neighbours, actively. Now we have an affix
which reacts to its neighbour. These affixes take one form after vowels, and another after
consonants. Disregarding some dialectal flavours, we can state this.

There are two sets of Consonant Alternators.

• One begins with j after vowels, and with t after consonants.

• The other begins with v after vowels, and with p after consonants.
Note that we give both forms in the dictionary listing.

-ji/ti- Noun-Maker -er

Consonant Alternator
ilisai- Verb Root teach
ilisaiji   teacher

niuviq- Verb Root trade

niuviqti   trader
Syllabics: the vowel form has, of course, no final:

ᐃᓕᓴᐃ- ᓂᐅᕕᖅ-
ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨ ᓂᐅᕕᖅᑎ
Consonant Alternators abound in Statement and Interrogative verb endings:

tukisijunga I understand naalaktunga I listen

tukisivit? do you understand? naalakpit? are you listening?
tukisijunga I understand naalaktunga I listen
tukisivit? do you understand? naalakpit? are you listening?
ᑐᑭᓯᔪᖓ ᓈᓚᒃᑐᖓ
ᑐᑭᓯᕕᑦ? ᓈᓚᒃᐱᑦ?
6: Uvular Alternating

Now it starts to get complicated. Not to begin with. Some Uvular Alternators are
(comparatively) simple:

-ga/ra- possessive marker my

    1st person
    singular possessor
    singular possession
Uvular Alternator
after vowels: add -ga  
after k: fuse k + ga to ga  
after q: fuse q + ga to ra  
ataata Noun Root father
ataataga   my father

panik Noun Root daughter

paniga   my daughter

irniq Noun Root son

irnira   my son
Syllabics: note the final fusing into the possessive:

ᐊᑖᑕ ᐸᓂᒃ ᐃᕐᓂᖅ

ᐊᑖᑕᒐ ᐸᓂᒐ ᐃᕐᓂᕋ
However ...

In conservative dialects some Uvular Alternators have a different form for every possible stem.
(Note that Noun Roots end only in vowels, k or q, but Verb Roots end in vowels, t k or q.)
Here is one common form from North Baffin west to Siglitun (in the extreme west of Canada.)

-juma/tuma/guma/ruma- verb chunk want to

Uvular Alternator
after vowels: add -juma
after t: add -tuma to the stem, retaining the original t
after k: fuse k + juma- to guma-
after q: fuse q + juma- to ruma-
-juma/tuma/guma/ruma- verb chunk want to
Uvular Alternator
after vowels: add -juma
after t: add -tuma to the stem, retaining the original t
after k: fuse k + juma- to guma-
after q: fuse q + juma- to ruma-
ani- Verb Root go out
anijumajunga   I want to go out

ingit- Verb Root sit down

ingittumajunga   I want to sit down

sinik- Verb Root sleep

sinigumajunga   I want to sleep

utiq- Verb Root return

utirumajunga   I want to return
Syllabics:

ᐊᓂ- ᐃᖏᑦ- ᓯᓂᒃ- ᐅᑎᖅ-

ᐊᓂᔪᒪᔪᖓ ᐃᖏᑦᑐᒪᔪᖓ ᓯᓂᒍᒪᔪᖓ ᐅᑎᕈᒪᔪᖓ
You would be forgiven to think that if you memorized that pattern you could apply it to all the
other multiple Uvular Alternators, but unfortunately they are unpredictable. Look at these two
sets of verb endings. Notice that despite the obvious similarities they have different forms for
Verb Stems ending in t.

I'll spare you the examples. The pattern is all we are after.

-gama/nama/kama/rama verb ending because I

    Becausative, nonspecific
    1st person singular
Uvular Alternator
after vowels: add -gama
after t: nasalize the t to n: add -nama
after k: add kama to the stem, retaining the original k
after q: fuse q + gama to rama
 

-guma/kuma/kuma/ruma verb ending if I

    Conditional, nonspecific
    1st person singular
Uvular Alternator
after vowels: add -guma
after t: change the t to k: add -kuma
after k: add kuma to the stem, retaining the original k
after q: fuse q + guma to ruma
 -guma/kuma/kuma/ruma verb ending if I
    Conditional, nonspecific
    1st person singular
Uvular Alternator
after vowels: add -guma
after t: change the t to k: add -kuma
after k: add kuma to the stem, retaining the original k
after q: fuse q + guma to ruma
7: Vowel Heads

At first sight any affix that begins with a vowel seems to be simply a deleter. Take the affix
which would seem to be -innaq(-). I call it a double chunk, since it acts as both noun chunk
and verb chunk (hence the bracketed dash).

Don't get tangled up in its meaning: it's very subtle.

siku sikuinnaq (it's) all ice

qungattuq qungainnaqtuq she hasn't stopped smiling
inuk inuinnaq a total person
imiqtuq imiinnaqtuq he hasn't stopped drinking
However, there is a potential problem lying in ambush. Remember: the syllabic structure of
Inuktitut (C)V(V)(C) prohibits a succession of three vowels. So if you want to say a total
qallunaaq or you want to use the verb tuksiaq- to say he hasn't stopped praying you will face
a problem:

qallunaaq *qallunaainnaq a total qallunaaq

tuksiaqtuq *tuksiainnaqtuq she hasn't stopped smiling

The answer, in this case, is insertion. We insert the sound ŋ to break up the sequence.

qallunaaq qallunaaŋinnaq ᖃᓪᓗᓈᖏᓐᓇᖅ

tuksiaqtuq tuksiaŋinnaqtuq ᑐᒃᓯᐊᖏᓐᓇᖅᑐᖅ
-(ŋ)innaq(-) double chunk nc: total
    vc: still engaged in
Vowel Head
delete final consonant, then insert ŋ after two vowels
ŋ is not the only sound used to break up the three-vowel sequence:

-(ra)aluk noun chunk large, big

    (often used pejoratively)
Vowel Head
delete final consonant, then insert ra after two vowels
qimmiq qimmialuk a (nasty) big dog
ᕿᒻᒥᖅ ᕿᒻᒥᐊᓗᒃ  
qallunaaq qallunaaraaluk a (nasty) big qallunaaq
ᖃᓪᓗᓈᖅ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᕌᓗᒃ  
umiaq   boat
qimmiq qimmialuk a (nasty) big dog
ᕿᒻᒥᖅ ᕿᒻᒥᐊᓗᒃ  
qallunaaq qallunaaraaluk a (nasty) big qallunaaq
ᖃᓪᓗᓈᖅ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᕌᓗᒃ  
umiaq   boat
ᐅᒥᐊᖅ    
umiarjuaq   big boat, ship
ᐅᒥᐊᕐᔪᐊᖅ    
umiarjuaraaluk   big ship
ᐅᒥᐊᕐᔪᐊᕌᓗᒃ    
Insertion is not the only solution used by Vowel Heads to avoid three-vowel sequences. In
some cases Vowel Heads go to the extreme of Self-Decapitation. Here is the affix for the
plural ending:

-it plural marker plural

Vowel Head
delete final consonant, then delete the i of -it after two vowels
tuktu tuktuit caribou (pl)
ᑐᒃᑐ ᑐᒃᑐᐃᑦ  
inuk inuit people
ᐃᓄᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ  
qimmiq qimmiit dogs
ᕿᒻᒥᖅ ᕿᒻᒦᑦ  
umiaq umiat boats
ᐅᒥᐊᖅ ᐅᒥᐊᑦ  
A final affix to slip in here would be the dual marker for nouns, which has its own
morphological charm.

-*k dual marker dual

Vowel Head
delete final consonant, then ...
*Indicates "double the vowel, unless there already are two."
inuk inuuk two people
ᐃᓄᒃ ᐃᓅᒃ  
tupiq tupiik two tents
ᑐᐱᖅ ᑐᐲᒃ  
umiaq umiak two boats
ᐅᒥᐊᖅ ᐅᒥᐊᒃ  
ᐃᓄᒃ ᐃᓅᒃ  
tupiq tupiik two tents
ᑐᐱᖅ ᑐᐲᒃ  
umiaq umiak two boats
ᐅᒥᐊᖅ ᐅᒥᐊᒃ  
That finishes the section on Morphophonology in general. Now we should take a look at some
of the systematic differences among dialects.

G: SYSTEMATIC DIALECTAL DIFFERENCES

This sketch map gives a general idea of the position and relationship of the dialects. Note that
Aivilik is very close to North Baffin, and South Baffin to both East Baffin and Nunavik.

Now we'll look at some of the differences.

Vocabulary: Obviously we're not going to take the time to list the different vocabulary items.
Such differences are almost all arbitrary.

Grammar: The differences in grammar, i.e., in morphology and syntax, are minor, and mostly
arbitrary.

Phonology: Oh yes, indeed.

Static Differences in Phonology

Nasalizing word final consonants

Many speakers, mostly older, more in the west than in the east, tend to nasalize final
consonants, especially t.

basic form: inuit ᐃᓄᐃᑦ people

nasalized: inuin ᐃᓄᐃᓐ  
the phoneme /s/ and its western equivalent /h/

Kivalliq, Natsilingmiutut and Inuinnaqtun dialects substitute /h/ for /s/. Because we have the
letter h available in a roman alphabet, it is used in the roman orthography. Since the substitution
is automatic, it should not be necessary to create a different syllabic symbol, so to my mind,
these are perfectly acceptable transcriptions, with the readers pronouncing the syllabics as their
dialect prompts them to. (Some of my Western students disagree, they want a phonetic
representation in syllabics as well as roman.)

Eastern: siniktuq ᓯᓂᒃᑐᖅ people

Western: hiniktuq ᓯᓂᒃᑐᖅ  
the allophone [b]

Aivilik, Kivalliq, Natsilingmiutut and Inuinnaqtun dialects have the allophone [b] before /l/.
Once again, since we have the letter b available in a roman alphabet, it is used in roman. In
syllabics we are a little more subtle. We use the p final ᑉ, and assume automatic voicing. Thus:

Western: kublu ᑯᑉᓗ thumb

Eastern: kullu ᑯᓪᓗ  
the glottal stop [ʼ]

Several dialects have a glottal stop. However the original phoneme it replaces varies from
dialect to dialect. Many writers simply use the original phoneme: others use the apostrophe in
both roman and syllabics.

Nunavik (Hudson Bay):

original q tupirmi tupiʼmi in a tent
  ᑐᐱᕐᒥ ᑐᐱˈᒥ  

Baker Lake (Kivalliq):

original q Qamanittuaq Qamaniʼtuaq Baker Lake
Nunavik (Hudson Bay):
original q tupirmi tupiʼmi in a tent
  ᑐᐱᕐᒥ ᑐᐱˈᒥ  

Baker Lake (Kivalliq):

original q Qamanittuaq Qamaniʼtuaq Baker Lake
  ᖃᒪᓂᑦᑐᐊᖅ ᖃᒪᓂˈᑐᐊᖅ  

Natsilingmiutut seems to glottalize ŋ in verb endings. (I haven't finished studying this):

  naalangmat naalaʼmat because he listens
  ᓈᓚᖕᒪᑦ ᓈᓚˈᒪᑦ  
But ...
  niuvirvingmi niuvirvingmi in the store
  ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᖕᒥ  
Now we should start to look at the processes that have the greatest effects on dialectal
differences, and on the pattern of usage of finals.

Assimilation of Place and Flow

We have concentrated on Regressive Assimilation of Manner, as it is the key process in

Inuktitut Morphophonology. However, there is also Assimilation of Place.

labial alveolar palatal velar uvular

p t   k q
  sɬ      
v l j g r
m n   ŋ  
Assimilation of Place

Consider the English expression in + tolerant, which comes out as intolerant,. Note that the n
and the t are both in the alveolar column. Now consider the same structure, but with a different
base in + possible. The n is still the same alveolar, but the p is labial. If we apply regressive
assimilation of place, we get a labial nasal, m, to give us impossible.

In South Baffin and in Nunavik, the sequence ts exists as in natsiq seal. But the sequences ps
and ks are subject to regressive assimilation of place, as in:

original SB / Nunavik  
natsiq natsiq seal
ᓇᑦᓯᖅ ᓇᑦᓯᖅ  
takugapsi takugatsi because you (pl) see
ᑕᑯᒐᑉᓯ ᑕᑯᒐᑦᓯ  
iksivautaq itsivautaq chair
ᐃᒃᓯᕙᐅᑕᖅ ᐃᑦᓯᕙᐅᑕᖅ  
original SB / Nunavik  
natsiq natsiq seal
ᓇᑦᓯᖅ ᓇᑦᓯᖅ  
takugapsi takugatsi because you (pl) see
ᑕᑯᒐᑉᓯ ᑕᑯᒐᑦᓯ  
iksivautaq itsivautaq chair
ᐃᒃᓯᕙᐅᑕᖅ ᐃᑦᓯᕙᐅᑕᖅ  
Assimilation of Flow

By Assimilation of Flow I mean assimilation from stop to fricative, or vice versa. This is not
very common, and in the example I am about to give it has no effect on the writing system, but
we should dispose of it, if only for the sake of symmetry. Here is the table for voiceless
consonants in Inuinnaqtun, including the fricative allophones, in square brackets. Note that in
the Inuinnaqtun dialect the phoneme h replaces the phoneme s, and also the phoneme ɬ.

  Inuinnaqtun Voiceless Consonants

  labial alveolar palatal velar uvular aspirated
Stops p t   k q  
Voiceless
Fricatives [f]     [x] [χ] h
Here is one of the basic participles compared with its Inuinnaqtun equivalent. Note the
Regressive Assimilation of Flow: stop to fricative: the voiceless velar stop /k/ becomes the
voiceless velar fricative [x].

basic form Inuinnaqtun form    

  (as written) (as pronounced)  
pisukɬuni pihukhuni [pihuxhuni] she / walking
North Baffin has a reverse example equivalent: Progressive Assimilation of Flow: fricative
to stop:

basic form North Baffin form  

natsiq nattiq seal
Now we're ready for Gemination

Gemination

Gemination means complete Assimilation. In Gemination one consonant becomes identical to

its neighbour. We're going to give you a table indicating the spread of Gemination across the
Nunavut and Nunavik dialects, increasing from west to east to south. We'll use these symbols
in the table:

labC
a consonant cluster in which the first consonant is labial:
e.g., pk vv mn
alvC
a consonant cluster in which the first consonant is alveolar:
e.g., tp lv nm
velC
a consonant cluster in which the first consonant is velar:
e.g., kt gj ŋn
uvuC
a consonant cluster in which the first consonant is uvular:
e.g., qt rl rm
Note: If the second consonant is a voiceless fricative, then the patterns will be more complex
than shown here.

Here is the table. √ means the cluster exists as shown. gem means the cluster is regressively
geminated.

  West Aivilik North Baffin South Baffin / Nunavik

labC √ √ gem gem
alvC √ gem gem gem
velC √ √ √ gem
uvuC √ √ √ √
And here is a partial table for clusters involving fricatives.

basic form North Baffin South Baffin / Nunavik

ps ss ts
ts tt ts
ks ks ts
As we give examples of these forms you can begin to see the effect on the pattern of finals in
the different dialects. Dialects with a high proportion of geminates have obviously a smaller
proportion of mixed clusters.

  West Aivilik N. Baffin S. Baffin / Nunavik

labC takugapku takugapku takugakku takugakku
  ᑕᑯᒐᑉᑯ ᑕᑯᒐᑉᑯ ᑕᑯᒐᒃᑯ ᑕᑯᒐᒃᑯ
        because I see her

  ublumi ublumi ullumi ullumi

  ᐅᑉᓗᒥ ᐅᑉᓗᒥ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ
        today

  uvamnut uvamnut uvannut uvannut

  ᐅᕙᒻᓄᑦ ᐅᕙᒻᓄᑦ ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ
        to me

alvC tikitpa? tikippa? tikippa? tikippa?

  ᑎᑭᑦᐸ? ᑎᑭᑉᐸ? ᑎᑭᑉᐸ? ᑎᑭᑉᐸ?
        has she arrived?
  uvamnut uvamnut uvannut uvannut
  ᐅᕙᒻᓄᑦ ᐅᕙᒻᓄᑦ ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ
        to me

alvC tikitpa? tikippa? tikippa? tikippa?

  ᑎᑭᑦᐸ? ᑎᑭᑉᐸ? ᑎᑭᑉᐸ? ᑎᑭᑉᐸ?
        has she arrived?

  milvik mivvik mivvik mivvik

  ᒥᓪᕕᒃ ᒥᕝᕕᒃ ᒥᕝᕕᒃ ᒥᕝᕕᒃ
        landing strip

  tikinmat tikimmat tikimmat tikimmat

  ᑎᑭᓐᒪᑦ ᑎᑭᒻᒪᑦ ᑎᑭᒻᒪᑦ ᑎᑭᒻᒪᑦ
        because he's arrived

velC auktuq auktuq auktuq auttuq

  ᐊᐅᒃᑐᖅ ᐊᐅᒃᑐᖅ ᐊᐅᒃᑐᖅ ᐊᐅᑦᑐᖅ
        it has melted

  iglu iglu iglu illu

  ᐃᒡᓗ ᐃᒡᓗ ᐃᒡᓗ ᐃᓪᓗ
        house

  inungnut inungnut inungnut inunnut

  ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᐃᓄᓐᓄᑦ
        to people

uvuC No need to fill this in. Only Labrador ever geminates uvulars.

Now you can see some of the effects on the syllabic system:

North Baffin is the only dialect that needs final s ᔅ, and then only in geminates from original
ps: takugapsi because you (pl) see becomes takugassi: ᑕᑯᒐᑉᓯ → ᑕᑯᒐᔅᓯ.

South Baffin & Nunavik only use all the other final symbols (except q ᖅ and r ᕐ) in doubles
or geminates, or at the end of words. These two dialects also have a high proportion of ts ᑦᓯ ᑦᓱ
ᑦᓴ.

In all dialects the only words ending in p are nouns with the possessive noun ending -up.

The western dialects and Aivilik are the only ones that use a medial p, either to indicate the
The western dialects and Aivilik are the only ones that use a medial p, either to indicate the
voiceless phoneme p as in takugapsi because you (pl) see ᑕᑯᒐᑉᓯ, or, in syllabics, to indicate
the automatically voiced allophone b as in kublu thumb ᑯᑉᓗ.

Two dialectal peculiarities, an admission of failure, and then we're done.

TWO DIALECTAL PECULIARITIES

One of these peculiarities does not affect the syllabic system at all, but would affect any kind of
spelling checker or word generator that might conceivably be developed later (much later?)

Nunavik's Law of Double Consonants (LDC)

Nunavik refuses to permit a sequence of two consonant clusters. Any time this is about to
occur, the first consonant of the second cluster is automatically deleted. This is a completely
phonological process, and pays no heed to the underlying morphology.

The following three words express the same basic idea in the same structure, animal + hunt +
he. Note the difference in the surface forms between South Baffin and Nunavik. We'll use
tuttu caribou, aiviq walrus, and natsiq seal.

South Baffin LDC Nunavik

tuttusiuqtuq does not apply tuttusiuqtuq
tuttusiuqtuq intervening s breaks sequence tuttusiuqtuq
natsiqsiuqtuq natsi*siuqtuq natsisiuqtuq
natsiqsiuqtuq   natsisiuqtuq
aiviqsiuqtuq aiviqsiu*tuq aiviqsiutuq
aiviqsiuqtuq   aiviqsiutuq
Effect of "ghostly consonants"

Even after a consonant has been deleted by the LDC its ghost continues to wheel its
phonological barrow. Compare these forms with the verbs sallu- lie (tell untruth), which ends
in a vowel, and aullaq- depart, which ends in the uvular consonant q.

sallujuq he lies aullatuq she departs

Consonant Alternator:
-juq after vowels -tuq after the ghost of a consonant
 

sallugumajuq he wants to lie aullarumajuq she wants to depart

Uvular Alternator (S.B. / Nunavik forms):
-guma- after vowels -ruma- after the ghost of a uvular consonant
The extra phoneme of Natsilingmiutut

Natsilingmiutut, with other western dialects, substitutes h for s. I have already mentioned that
although some speakers want their own syllabic symbol for that sound, in strict linguistic
theory it is unnecessary. The fortuitous existence of the letter h in roman is irrelevant.

pisuktuq ᐱᓱᒃᑐᖅ pihuktuq ᐱᓱᒃᑐᖅ she walks

Local opinion may overcome linguistic pedantry, but that is a minor matter.

However...

Natsilingmiutut is the only Canadian dialect to retain the difference between the voiced palatal
phoneme j and the retroflex phoneme ɟ. In all other dialects these two have merged to j. I don't
know this dialect well, but I have not found a minimal pair, where the only difference in
meaning comes from a contrast in these two sounds, (like pet and bet in English.) However the
occurrence of j and ɟ is not predictable:

iji ᐃᔨ takuɟuq ᑕᑯᖪᖅ

I don't know how seriously this problem is going to be regarded, but it exists.

H: MY BLUNDER
It's a long story, but I'll shorten it. Back in 1976, at the ICI standardization conference, because
of my belief that it was a good idea to mirror the Assimilation of Manner in the orthography, it
was decided to use q for the first consonant in voiceless clusters, and r for the first consonant
in voiced and nasal clusters.

That was a mistake. That particular distinction does not come natural to Inuit writers, (possibly
because of the non-phonemic status of [ɴ].) Public signs, newspaper articles, government
publications, children's literature produced by the Department of Education, all are littered with
qs where there should be rs, and rs where there should be qs.

Kativik did the right thing in switching to the use of rs medially, with qs left for word initial
and word final. When things settle down, maybe Nunavut will make that change. It won't affect
the keyboard or the fonts, but it will reduce spelling errors among the otherwise literate by
about 30%.