Inuit Languages

My past trips were in the Kitikmeot region towards the West. There the dialect was called Inuinnaqtun. In the Baffin region it is Inuktitut. My wonderful clerks, Julia in Clyde, and Ruthie in Pond, haves been trying to teach me the basics. I am pretty bad and get laughed at on occasion. It's a hard language to speak!

I found that very few people chose to speak Inuit languages in the communities I had visited before. Mostly, just elders spoke their native language. I had no problems speaking to people in English as it was preffered. There was even concern that the language and culture were in risk of dying. Here in Baffin, Inuktitut is definitely the language of preference, especially young children who often do not speak English at all. I am so grateful to have my interpreters!

Also, syllabics are used here, where they were not in the Kitkmeot region.

Pond elementary school

Lesson:

ullaku - good morning
atii - please
qruyannami - thank you
qanuippi - how are you
ii - yes
aaka - no
kiigu - bite (important for me!)
taima - all done (VERY important)

I am noticing that there are slight differences in dialect from Clyde River to Pond Inlet, even though they are only a short hour plane ride away from each other, which is making leaning Inuktitut even more difficult.

Inuktitut Syllabics