Grammar » 2 » I am..

To introduce yourself, you can add the postbase -u- to the end of your name followed by the verb ending +ruŋa:

Qunmiġu Qunmiġu
Qunmiġu :u +ruŋa =  
Qunmiġuuruŋa I am Qunmiġu.

The postbase :u means to be.  When it is added to a stem that ends in a consonant, it deletes the final consonant:

inuk  
inuk :u +ruŋa =  
inuuruŋa I am a person.

You can change the verb ending to +ruq to talk about she or he:

inuk  
inuk + :u +ruq =     
inuuruq S/he is a person.

               
If the last consonant is preceded by two vowels, you need to insert a g before adding :u.

Iñupiaq Iñupiaq
Iñupiaq :u +ruŋa =  
Iñupiaguruŋa I am Iñupiaq.

To ask someone their name, you start with the root kiña, meaning who?  You then add the affix :u to the end of ki​​​​ñ​​​a, followed by the question ending -viñ?:

kiña :u + viñ?  
Kiñauviñ? Who are you?
   
Uyaġak :u +ruŋa =  
Uyaġauruŋa.  I am Uyaġak. 

Another way to introduce yourself is just to use the word uvaŋa:

Uvaŋa...(name) I am...
Uvaŋa Qunmiġu.    I am Qunmiġu.
Uvaŋa Uyaġak.  I am Uyaġak.