Nouns with Person Inflection

Possessed Nouns

Observation
ᒥᔅᒋᓯᓐ Click here to hear this word mischisin a shoe
ᓂᒥᔅᒋᓯᓐ Click here to hear this word nimischisin my shoe
ᒥᔅᒋᓯᓐᐦ Click here to hear this word mischisinh shoes
ᓂᒥᔅᒋᓯᓐᐦ Click here to hear this word nimischisinh my shoes

To express possession, noun stems can take a personal prefix. For example, ni- above. Nouns like ᒥᔅᒋᓯᓐ mischisin, which can appear either with or without personal prefixes, are called INDEPENDENT.

ᓂᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ Click here to hear this word nimuuhkumaan my knife
ᐅᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ Click here to hear this word umuuhkumaan his/her knife

However, there are nouns which always need personal prefixes, like:

ᓂᒧᔓᒻ Click here to hear this word nimushum my grandfather
ᓂᔥᑎᐧᑳᓐ Click here to hear this word nishtikwaan my head

Such nouns are called DEPENDENT. They express kinship, body parts, and personal belongings like certain pieces of clothing. They can be animate, like ᓂᒧᔓᒻ nimushum or inanimate, like ᓂᔥᑎᐧᑳᓐ nishtikwaan.

The personal prefixes used on nouns for possession are almost the same as the ones used on verbs for inflection (to indicate the participants in the action).

ᓂᒧᐦᑯᒫᓐ Click here to hear this word nimuuhkumaan my knife
ᓂᓂᐹᓐ Click here to hear this word ninipaan I sleep
TABLE OF PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES FOR POSSESSION

Example: DEPENDENT NOUN Animate

POSSESSOR NOUN English TRANSLATION
2 ᒋᒥᔅ Click here to hear this word chimis your older sister
1 ᓂᒥᔅ Click here to hear this word nimis my older sister
2p ᒋᒥᓯᐧᐋᐤ Click here to hear this word chimisiwaau your (plural) older sister
21p ᒋᒥᓯᓂᐤ Click here to hear this word chimisiniu our (including you) older sister
1p ᓂᒥᓯᓈᓐ Click here to hear this word nimisinaan our (excluding you) older sister
3 ᐅᒥᔅ Click here to hear this word umis-h his/her older sister(s)
3p ᐅᒥᓯᐧᐋᐤᐦ Click here to hear this word umisiwaauh their older sister(s)
3′(p) ᐅᒥᓯᔨᐤᐦ Click here to hear this word umisiyiuh his/her/their older sister(s)

Some dependent nouns take a prefix mi- when there is no specific possessor.

ᓂᑖᔅ Click here to hear this word nitaas my sock
ᐅᑖᔅᐦ Click here to hear this word utaas-h his/her socks
ᒥᑖᔅ Click here to hear this word mitaas a sock
Click here to hear this word ᒌᐦ ᐧᐋᐱᑎᒻ ᐊᓐ ᐃᔅᐧᑳᐤ ᐋᐦ ᒥᐦᐧᑳᔨᒡᐦ ᒥᑖᔅᐦ᙮
chiih waapihtim an iskwaau aah mihkwaayich-h mitaas-h.
That woman saw red socks.

The mi- prefix is also used with inanimate dependent nouns:

ᓂᐦᑎᐧᐃᑮ Click here to hear this word nihtiwikii my ear
ᓂᔥᑎᐧᑳᓐ Click here to hear this word nishtikwaan my head
ᒥᐦᑎᐧᐃᑮ Click here to hear this word mihtiwikii an ear
ᒥᔥᑎᐧᑳᓐ Click here to hear this word mishtikwaan a head