ᕿᒪᑦᑐᕕᒃ • Qimattuvik
professional LANGUAGE enhancement
for inuktut speakers
Our next Qimattuvik Certificate will take place in person in Iqaluit
from August 2024 to January 2025.
Pirurvik’s Qimattuvik certificate provides professional language enhancement to Inuktut speakers in the areas of advanced and traditional terminology, the Nunavut writing system, Inuktut dialects and writing professionally and creatively.
The Qimattuvik Certificate is open to all Inuit who are functional speakers of Inuktut. If you are not sponsored by your employer, student financial assistance is available. For details contact registrations@pirurvik.ca.
Students who complete all courses will receive the Qimattuvik Certificate and the Indigenous Language Revitalization from the University of Victoria.
Earn credits towards the Aqqusiurvik Inuktut Instructor Diploma, also accredited by the University of Victoria.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᓯᖅ
The Nunavut Writing System
Nunavummi Titirausiq provides an overview of the writing system that is currently the standard in Nunavut for quality written texts in Inuktut. The writing system has two forms - qaliujaaqpait, or standardized roman orthography and qaniujaaqpait, standardized syllabics. Instruction is provided on the rules of the writing system, including the characters that are used and the correct use of finals.
ᐃᓄᒃᑑᖓᑦᑎᐊᑎᑦᓯᓂᖅ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕐᕕᒻᒥ
QUALITY INUKTUT IN THE WORKPLACE
This course is designed to help learners to think critically about how Inuktut is used in the workplace. Learners will become more conscious of the mixing of Inuktut and English and literal translations and apply strategies for avoiding them. Learners will be taught to think from an Inuktut-first perspective to improve their ability to communicate clearly in Inuktut in a work context. This will help learners to improve the overall quality of Inuktut in the workplace. This course will emphasize written Inuktut and will be customized to the learners’ work environments.
ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᓂᒃᑰᐸᓪᓕᐊᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ
The Inuit Timeline: Past to Present
The Inuit Timeline builds a stronger sense of Inuit identity and vitality through the exploration of the drastic changes that have impacted our communities, as well as the resilience and strength of the generations of Inuit who lived through them. The course draws upon rich historical facts as well as personal stories and experiences that relate to the pre-contact era (taitsumani) and contact with outside cultures, as well as Inuit efforts to take back control that led to the present-day Nunavut era.
ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᖃᕋᓴᐅᔭᓕᕆᓂᖅ ᓇᕿᑦᑕᓂᕐᓗ
Inuktut Computing & Keyboarding
Participants in this course learn the background to computing in Inuktut, fonts, keyboards, transliteration tools, locales, localization, and terminology. This course also helps learners to acquire Inuktut keyboarding skills in qaniujaaqpait (syllabics) and/ or qaliujaaqpait (roman orthography). As part of the keyboarding component, participants will also become learn effective Inuktut note-taking skills.
ᐃᓄᓐᓃᙶᖅᑐᑦ
inuit topics
This course is an exploration of the highest level of Inuktut language and knowledge through the recorded voices of Inuit who lived prior to our modern communities and context. Learners will be exposed to thoughts, ideas and knowledge that will help in their personal development, their understanding of Inuktut historical events, their quality of language and terminology, and generally provide a stronger base to deal with today’s challenges.
ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᐅᑉ ᐋᖅᑭᐅᒪᓂᖓ
The Patterns & Structure of Inuktut
This course is designed to give participants an introduction to the grammatical structure of Inuktut, including Inuktut sounds, how words are built and basic structures like singular dual plural, tenses, nouns, verbs, locations and describing words.
ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒍᓯᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᙱᑦᑐᑦ
DIALECTS & Variations of Inuktut
Each community has its own rich base of Inuit knowledge and wisdom that is articulated and embedded through their Inuktut language and terminology. The goal of this course is to develop a greater appreciation of the richness of the range of Inuktut spoken throughout Inuit Nunangat. By understanding differences in pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, spelling and writing systems, learners will be better equipped to learn and work across Inuktut dialects.
ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᓱᒪᑐᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑭᑦᓯᓂᖅ ᐅᖅᑲᕆᑦᓯᓂᕐᓗ
Inuktut Creative Writing and Articulate Speaking
Inuktut isumatunikkut titiraqqitsiniq uqqaritsinirlu will help learner’s practice and develop their Inuktut writing skills. Learners will learn to express their Inuktut thoughts in a natural, non-technical way. This course is intended as a bridge to bring the articulacy of our oral tradition into a written form. Learners will explore modern and traditional forms of creative Inuktut expression and practice writing their own.
ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᐊᑐᓕᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᑕᐃᒎᓯᑦ
Modern & Technical Inuktut Terminology
This course is designed to help learners to avoid language mixing - that is using English words when speaking or writing Inuktut. In the workplace, at home and in the community, it has become a common habit to use English terms even when effective, and sometimes better, Inuktut options exist. Learners will examine and reflect upon their daily use of Inuktut and also learn new terminology relating to topics such as health, finance and computing. The course will also explore the challenges relating to the creation and dissemination of new terminology with the goal to keep Inuktut fluency in the workplace.
ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐃᒎᓯᑐᖃᖏᑦ
inuit traditional terminology
This advanced course is intended for learners who already have a strong grounding in Inuktut and are looking to enhance their understanding and ability to use complex terms. The course draws on rich Inuktut concepts and terminology to enable generations today to express themselves more articulately in Inuktut. The instructor assists learners to apply these terms to the modern context. Learners will acquire a deeper connection with Inuit knowledge keepers and become part of the continuum of the traditional Inuit teaching and learning cycle.
ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᒪᑭᒪᓂᖕᒐ
Inuit Cultural Wellbeing and Vitality
This course is based on Pirurvik’s “Reclaiming the Whole Woman” and “Reclaiming the Whole Man” wellbeing programs designed specifically for Inuit men and women. The course takes place on the land and water in the natural classroom of our Arctic environment. As the first course in the Qimattuvik programs, learners will be grounded in the origins and strength of Inuktut before bridging into its ‘new’, modern home in the workplace. Learners will gain cultural and language confidence through experiencing Inuktut in a fully immersive environment.
The Pirurvik Centre delivers the Qimattuvik Certificate with support from the Makigiaqta Inuit Training Corporation.