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Greenlandic grammar · A1

A Good One, a Bad One: -gissaar- and -lup-

Alexander StebnerCreator of Lingora · Updated 14 October 20262 min readComments

Two suffixes turn a noun into "have a good …" and "have a bad …": -gissaar- and -lup-. "head" gives "has a headache".

01

A Good One: -gissaar-

On a noun, -gissaar- means "have a good …". With some words it means "make … good", as in kigutigissaar- "brush your teeth".

  • Illugissaaqaatit, qanoq pisoqaatigiva?

    You have a very nice house. How old is it? (illu "house" + -gissaa- + -qaatit)

  • Qujanaq, ullugissaarisi.

    Goodbye. Have (pl.) a nice day. (ulloq "day", which becomes ullu- before a suffix: lit. have a good day, all of you)

  • Innannginninni kigutigissaqqaartarpunga.

    I brush my teeth before going to bed. (kigut "tooth": lit. I first make my teeth good)

02

A Bad One: -lup-

Before -qaa- "very", the p drops and the u becomes o: -lo-.

  • Ulluloqaanga.

    Today is a bad day. (ulloq "day" + -lo- + -qaanga "I": lit. I have a very bad day)

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