Inuktitut phrasebook
Inuktitut is the name for the varieties of Inuit spoken in Canada. It is an Eskimo-Aleut language that known for being a language with lots of very long agglutinative words, owing to the fact that there are a very large number of infixes (parts of speech which modify the meaning of a word), but it does not have the same irregularities as Indo-European languages. There is also a rumour that the language has hundreds of different words for snow, in reality there are only four (these four are: spread-out snow - aput, snow like salt - pokaktok, newly-drifted snow - akelrorak and soft snow - mauyaôlertok). There are a few (not hundreds) of words relating to snow eg. snow block (auverk), igloo (iglu), snow knife (panar), snow on clothes, boots etc. (ayak).
Pronunciation Guide
Vowels
- A a
- Like "a" in "cat".
- E e
- Like "e" in "bet".
- I i
- Like "ee" in "feet".
- O o
- Like "o" in "hot".
- U u
- Like "u" in "put".
Consonants
- D d
- Like "d" in "dad".
- G g
- Like "g" in "get".
- J j
- Like "y" in "yet".
- K k
- Like "k" in "oak".
- L l
- Like "l" in "let".
- M m
- Like "m" in "man".
- N n
- Like "n" in "no".
- P p
- Like "p" in "pan".
- Q q
- Like "c" in "car" but deeper in the throat.
- R r
- Like "r" in "road".
- S s
- Like "sh" in "shot".
- T t
- Like "t" in "stop".
- W w
- Like "w" in "wet".
- Y y
- Like "y" in "yet".
Common diphthongs
- kr
- Like "k" in "king" but pronounced deep in the throat. Like "cr" in "cream".
- ng
- Like "ng" in "sing".
- dlerk
- Like "ts lurk" in "cats lurk".
Phrase list
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Common signs
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- Hello.
- Ai. (Ey)
- How are you?
- Qanuipit? (Kan-oo-ee-peet)
- Fine, thank you.
- Qaniungi. (Kan-ee-oo-ngee)
- What is your name?
- Kinauvit? (Keen-a-oo-veet?)
- My name is ______ .
- Uvanga _____ativa (Oov-a-nga _____at-ee-va)
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you. (NIGHSS t' meet YOO)
- Please.
- Please. (pleez)
- Thank you.
- Naqurmiik. (Nak-urm-eek)
- You're welcome.
- Ilaali. (Eel-a-lee)
- Yes.
- Î. (Ee)
- No.
- Nakka. (Nak-a)
- Excuse me. (getting attention)
- Excuse me. (ehkz-KYOOZ mee)
- Excuse me. (begging pardon)
- Excuse me. (ehkz-KYOOZ mee)
- I'm sorry.
- Ogguarpunga. (Og-oo-ar-pu-nga)
- Goodbye (to one person)
- Tavvauvutit. (Tav-a-oov-oo-teet)
- Goodbye (to many people)
- Tavvauvusi. (Tav-a-oov-oo-see)
- I can't speak Inuktitut [well].
- I can't speak Inuktitut [well]. (IGH cant speek IN-ook-tee-toot [wehl])
- Do you speak English?
- Do you speak English? (doo YOO speek ING-lush?)
- Is there someone here who speaks English?
- Is there someone here who speaks English? (IZ thayr SUM-wun heer hoo speekz ING-lush?)
- Help!
- Ikajunga! (Ee-ka-yu-nga!)
- Look out!
- Look out! (look OWT!)
- Good morning.
- Ulaakut. (Ool-ak-oot)
- Good evening.
- Good evening. (guhd EEV-ning)
- Good night.
- Unnukkut. (Oon-oo-koot)
- Good night (to sleep)
- Good night. (good NIGHT)
- I don't understand.
- Tukisinngittung. (Too-kees-ee-ng-toong)
- Where is the toilet?
- Where is the toilet? (WAYR iz thuh TOY-leht?)
Problems
Numbers
Numbers(system in the Greenlandic)
½ - helvä
0 - nul
1 - äts
2 - mare
3 - pen
4 - sisa
5 - tela
6 - arit
7 - arimare
8 - aripen
9 - arisisa
10 - gelu
11 - aqnat
12 - aqnamare
13 - aqnapen
14 - aqnasisa
15 - aqnatel
16 - asut
17 - asumare
18 - asupen
19 - asusisa
20 - marghi
30 - marghâtgelut
40 - penghi
50 - penghâtgelut
60 - sisughi
70 - sisughâtgelut
80 - telaghi
90 - telaghâtgelut
100 - hontrat
200 - mare-hontræt
500 - pen-hontræt
1000 - tuszint
2000 - mare-tuszænt
5000 - pen-tuszænt
10000 - gelu-tuszænt
100000 - huntrat-tuszænt
1000000 - äts-milyin