Warning: Undefined array key "lang" in /home/kal/public_html/setlang.php on line 46
Introduction to chapter II-3 X-tras « Greenlandic for Foreigners 2 « Learn Greenlandic

Introduction to chapter II-3 X-tras

Today's targets

The exercises hereunder ought not to be too demanding. Most of them are nothing but variations over structures you already know from lesson II-3. Here you just get more examples and a few extra contexts.

Especially consolidation exercise II-3.0X contains absolutely nothing new but later on you will find bits of news. We will namely introduce a few new words to make the X-exerceses as natural as possible and we will get a sneak preview into II-4. Again just to open up for a little variation in the exercisese.

You do so!

Make sure that you are thoroughly through Lesson II-3.1 and II-3.2 including all the exercises and make sure that you really understood everything. Note that "understand" does not mean "acquire". Acquisition is namely a process generated over time after practical use of the language irrespective of whether this takes place in the street in your town (obviously the preferred solution) or whether you actively practice your perception skills and you productive skills insde the program's artificial world (which is not an optimal solutioon but often the only realistic alternative most of the first year of study!). But acquisition starts for most of us from understanding the rules and processes that guide the structures.

So whenever you find yourself in doubt about whatever in the lessons/ introductions you must return to the problems and work through such items a second or third time. And should this not suffice you must reach out to your study pals and have problems clarified. And if your problems cannot be handled in your study group you might need to find and pay for a tutor or a professional you can consult.

Now walk through the X-exercises II-3.1.1X – II-3.7X and - as always - do not go easy on the routine that all exercises must be spoken out loudly every time!

When this is done with you will together with your study pals return to exercise 2-3.8X hereunder. A translation to English of the translation to Danish provided by the newspaper is included in the footnote. Do not use it until after you have given it a decent try to make it through by your own means. With language acquisition one seldom achieve anything by taking the easy way out!!!

A few new words

  • aatsaat first (about future); recently (about past)
  • angerlar{} to go home
  • angut a man (about gender. Cannot mean 'partner')
  • kisianni (conjunction) but
  • tamanna (pronoun) this one
  • ui a husband
  • (Cont 2Sg) 2. person singular contemporative = {(l)lutit} (you V-ing)
  • (Cont 1Pl) 1. person plural contemporative = {(l)luta} (we V-ing)
  • (Cont 2Pl) 2. person plural contemporative = {(l)lusi} (you V-ing)

With these 3 new inflectional endings in the contemporative mood the paradigm for contemporative of intransitive, positive verbs is complete. It looks like this:

Intransitive contemporative
1Sg ()lunga
2Sg ()lutit
   
4Sg ()luni
1Pl ()luta
2Pl ()lusi
   
4Pl ()lutik

() indicates that there always must be a consonant before - lu -. All vowel stems therefore add an extra - l - to the mood morpheme {lu} cf.

angerlar+{lu}{nga} = angerlarlunga (I going home)

sinip+{lu}{nga} = sinillunga (I sleeping), but

qasu+{llu}{nga} = qasullunga (I being tired)

.. and a sneak preview of a grammatical detail

In lesson II-4 the rules guiding subjects' case are introduced. One of the rules states that the subject for intransitive verbs must be in the absolutive case (Abs) whereas subjects for transitive verbs must take another case called relative case (Rel). In Aviaaja ilinniarpoq Aviaaja is subject for the intransitive verb ilinniarpoq and therefore in the absolutive case. In Aviaajap Malik ilinniartippaa Aviaajap is subject for the transitive verb ilinniartippaa. Therefore Aviaajap is in the relative case. Malik is the object and therefore in the absolutive case.

The same rules hold true also in the plural. Do not get confused because of the fact that plural absolutive and plural relative have identical forms but not identical functions. Accordingly arnat can be a subject in the absolutive case for an intransitive verb as in Arnat ilinniarput ('The women study') and as subject in the relative case for a transitive verb as in Arnat Malik ilinniartippaat ('The women teach Malik') or as genitive (possessor) in the relative case as in Arnat nunaat (The_womens' their_land = The womens' land)

Nominal inflection in the plural

Plural is either {-t} with p-stems as anaana, angut and arnaq (that is anaanat, angutit and arnat) and {-it} with up-stems as pisiniarfik and nukarleq (that is pisiniarfiit and nukarliit) 1

There is also a smaller class of up-stems with plural inflection in {+it}. We shall return to them in the following lessons.

Exercise II-3.8X – Today's puzzle

is a headline from knr.gl October 15th, 2024

Laila Mikaelsen takornarialerisunngorusuppoq, Airbnb-lli iliorneratulli inissaaleqilersitserusunngikkaluarluni

Aappagu Ilulissani mittarfiup nutaap atulerneqarnissaanut illoqarfiit Ilulissat eqqaanniittut takornariaqarnerunissamut piareersarput. Laila Mikaelsen takornarialerineq inuussutissarsiutigerusuppaa, innuttaasulli eqqugaannginnissaat aamma eqqumaffigaa. 2

Laila Mikaelsen dreams about living off tourism but prefers to avoid the Airbnb effect. The new airport in Ilulissat opens in 2026 and in the near-by towns they are getting ready for more tourists. Laila Mikaelsen dreams about living off tourism but it must not come at the expense of the local society.

Lexical help:

  • takornariaq a tourist
  • iliorneq an act. possessor+iliorneratut is a semiclosed idiom meaning 'as possessor normally does'. Here it can be translated to as known from AirBnB
  • ini a dwelling
  • N-SSAQ a future N
  • N-ILIQI to be short of N
  • V-LIR to begin to V
  • V+TIP to make OBJ V
  • V±HTR (half transitive for instance {-tsi}) converts a transitive verb to an intransitive with roughly the same meaning
  • mittarfik an airport
  • nutaaq new
  • V+NIQAR passivation
  • eqqaq (its) vicinity
  • V+NIRU to V more
  • inuussutissarsiut a profession
  • innuttaq a citizen
  • eqqor{} to hit OBJ
  • eqqumaffige{} to pay attention to OBJ