Nouns with Person Inflection

Extended Stems

Observation
ᔒᔒᑉ Click here to hear this word shiishiip a duck
ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒻ Click here to hear this word nishiishiipim my duck

Some nouns, when used with personal prefixes, have their stem extended with a suffix -im. Such stems are called EXTENDED STEMS.

ᐧᐃᔮᔅ Click here to hear this word wiyaas meat
ᓄᔮᓯᒻ Click here to hear this word nuyaasim my meat
ᐅᔥᑎᐧᑳᓐ Click here to hear this word ushtikwaan his/her head
ᐅᔥᑎᐧᑳᓂᒻ Click here to hear this word ushtikwaanim his/her (animal) head

Paradigm of a possessed noun with extended stem

Nouns possessed by a 1st or 2nd person (can be proximate or obviative, depending on the context):

ᔒᔒᑉ shiishiip (na) duck
POSSESSOR NOUN English TRANSLATION
2 ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒻ   chishiishiipim your duck
2 ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᒡ   chishiishiipimich your ducks
2 ᒋᔒᔒᐱᐦ   chishiishiipimh your duck(s) [obviative]
1 ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒻ   nishiishiipim my duck
1 ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒥᒡ   nishiishiipimich my ducks
1 ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒥᐦ   nishiishiipimh my duck(s) [obviative]
2p ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᐙᐤ   chishiishiipimiwaau your (plural) duck
2p ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᐙᐅᒡ   chishiishiipimiwaauch your (plural) ducks
2p ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᐙᐦ   chishiishiipimiwaauh your (plural) duck(s) [obviative]
21p ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᓂᐤ   chishiishiipiminiu our (including you) duck
21p ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᓂᐅᒡ   chishiishiipiminiuch our (including you) ducks
21p ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᓂᐅᐦ   chishiishiipiminiuh our (including you) duck(s) [obviative]
1p ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒥᓈᓐ   nishiishiipiminaan our (excluding you) duck
1p ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒥᓈᓂᒡ   nishiishiipiminaanich our (excluding you) ducks
1p ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒥᓈᓂᐦ   nishiishiipiminaanh our (excluding you) duck(s) [obviative]

Nouns possessed by a 3rd person possessor (always obviative):

ᔒᔒᑉ shiishiip (na) duck
POSSESSOR NOUN English TRANSLATION
3 ᐅᔒᔒᐱᒻᐦ   ushiishiipimh his/her duck / ducks
3p ᐅᔒᔒᐱᒥᐙᐤᐦ   ushiishiipimiwaauh their duck / ducks
3′(p) ᐅᔒᔒᐱᔫᐦ   ushiishiipimiyiuh his/her/their duck / ducks

When the -im suffix is used with dependent nouns. it has a special meaning. It means someone else’s.

ᐅᔥᑎᐧᑳᓐ Click here to hear this word ushtikwaan his/her head
ᐅᔥᑎᐧᑳᓂᒻ Click here to hear this word ushtikwaanim his/her (animal) head

Depending on the noun stem, the possessive -im suffix can show up as just -m, -um, -em, or -am, for example: ᓂᐙᐳᔓᒻ niwaapushum my hare/rabbit.

Order of suffixes for possessed nouns

personal + NOUN + possessive + personal + basic
prefix STEM suffix suffix suffix

Note: basic suffixes indicate gender, number, obviation, location and diminutive. For example, the possessed form of a diminutive noun that takes an extended stem will look like this:

ᔒᔒᐱᔥ ᓂᔒᔒᑉ
shiishiipish nishiishiipimish
a little duck my little duck

Word order

If you want to indicate the name of the possessor in a Cree sentence, it will appear to the left of the possessed noun. For example:

ᐋᓃ ᐅᒥᓯᓂᐦᐄᑭᓐ ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔑᒡ ᐅᒥᓯᓂᐦᐄᑭᓂᐙᐤᐦ
aanii umisinihiikin awaashishich umisinihiikiniwaauh
Annie’s book The kids’ books
(literally: Annie, her book) (literally: kids, their books)
ᐋᓃ ᐅᔒᔒᐱᒻᐦ ᐊᐙᔑᔑᒡ ᐅᔒᔒᐱᒥᐙᐤᐦ
aanii ushiishiipimh awaashishich ushiishiipimiwaauh
Annie’s duck(s) The kids’ duck(s)
(literally: Annie, her duck(s)) (literally: kids, their duck(s))