Nouns with Diminutive Inflection

Observation
ᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ Click here to hear this word muuhkumaan a knife
ᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᔥ Click here to hear this word muuhkumaanish a little knife

To say that something is small, the suffix ish can be added to a noun. For animate nouns the suffix is ishish

ᑖᐦᑎᐳᐧᐃᓐ Click here to hear this word taahtipuwin a chair
ᑖᐦᑎᐳᐧᐃᓂᔥ Click here to hear this word taahtipuwinish a little chair
ᒥᑎᐦᒌ Click here to hear this word mitihchii a hand
ᒥᑎᐦᒌᔥ Click here to hear this word mitihchiish a little hand

For words that contain a -t-, the -t- sometimes becomes -ch-:

ᐊᑎᒻ Click here to hear this word atim a dog
ᐊᒋᒧᔑᔥ Click here to hear this word achimushish a little dog
ᐊᔥᑐᑎᓐ Click here to hear this word ashtutin a hat
ᐊᔥᒍᒋᓂᔥ Click here to hear this word ashchuchinish a little hat

The diminutive suffix -ish can also be added to verbs:

ᒦᒋᓲ Click here to hear this word miichisuu she is eating
ᒦᒋᓱᔔ Click here to hear this word miichisushuu she is eating a little

For More Information, see Stem Shapes