| Single | Combinations |
|---|---|
| p | pp |
| t | tt |
| k | kk |
| g | gg |
| m | mm |
| n | nn |
| s | ts |
| l | ll |
| j | tj |
| v | gv, pv |
| K | kK |
| ng | nng |
| tl | tl |
| dl |
| Short | Long |
|---|---|
| a | â |
| i | e |
| u | o |
We will not give English approximations because there are no equivalents. Double consonants must be pronounced longer that single ones. In English if you pronounce the consonant long or short there is no effect, e.g. a-pple or ap-pple (apple). In Inuttut, whether you pronounce it short or long is very important.
Note that these combinations are the regular combinations that are found. An older speaker may have more combinations.
| Double Consonant | Inuttitut Example |
|---|---|
| pp | appik ‘bakeapple’ |
| tt | ittuk ‘old man’ |
| kk | ikke ‘brrr...it’s cold’ |
| gv, pv, ff | Kapvik ‘wolverine’ [use the one you want – we will understand it] tagvainak ‘right away’ |
| gg | maggok ‘two’ [this usually sounds like two KK but also gg] |
| kK | sinikKauven? ‘Did you sleep?’ |
| mm | amma ‘also’ |
| nn | inna ‘that one’ |
| nng | pinnguak ‘toy, game’ [important to pronounce it ng+ng; also written p] |
| ll | Kallek ‘pants’ |
| tj | utjuk ‘bearded seal’ [sounds j in English judge] |
| ts | sitsik ‘squirrel’ |
| tl | atlak ‘black bear’ |
| dl | adluituk ‘a rich person’ [sounds dl as in English sad loon] |
There are some expressions and words that start with h.
| huit | 'Go!!!' [to husky dog pulling sled] |
Words borrowed from other languages sometimes have other letters. This means there are only a few words with this sound in Inuttitut. Single f is an example of this.
| fonniniakKunga | 'I will phone' |
| fimfi | 'five' borrowed from German |
Single vs. double tl sounds need to be examined. Currently they are both written the same. One is a single tl sound. The other is a t+tl sound. But they are both written tl. We can hear the difference in: sinitlunga 'while I was sleeping...' vs. aullatlunga 'while I was departing...'
The Labrador and Quebec dialects have a sound rule that all speakers do automatically. If a double or combination consonant set is preceded by another double or combination cluster set, the second set (not the first set) simplifies to a single consonant.
| illu | + | nnguak | > | illunguak |
| 'house' | 'toy' | 'toy house' | ||
| compare: ulunnguak 'toy ulu' | ||||
| aulla | + | kKauvunga | > | aullaKauvunga |
| 'leave' | 'recent.past.I' | 'I left' (here the kK had to become K after ll) | ||
| compare: nigikKauvunga 'I ate' (here the kK stays because there is nothing to affect it) | ||||
| Kimmi | + | tsiak | > | Kimmisiak |
| 'dog' | 'good' | 'good dog' (here tsiak became siak after mm) | ||
| compare: angutitsiak 'good looking man' (here tsiak is not affected – ng is a single sound) | ||||
There is a word shortening process that exists within some Labrador dialects. This takes a word like angiggajuk ‘He is on his way home’ > angKajuk.
Remember gg is usually pronounced KK. So this process deletes the vowel i and the first g, leaving only a K sound. This results in ngK combination which is not found normally in Inuttut. This shortening process seems to occur only in words that are very common, i.e. are lexicalized.
Another example: ingiggâlavuk ‘It started’ > ingKâlavuk
Some — but not all — of the words written with g sound exactly like Inuktitut r (as in other Inuit dialects). Inuktitut r is not English r but is pronounced more like a France French r in the middle of words. This issue could be discussed in an Inuttitut workshop.
Two different single vowels can be beside each other. But two sets of double vowels, or a single vowel and double vowel cannot be beside each other. There is a general sound rule in Inuttitut that no more than two vowels at a time can be beside each other. A double counts as two. If 3 vowels come along, a ng is inserted to break them up into 2 + 1.