Nouns with Person inflection

• Possessed Nouns
• Extended Stems
• Dependent Nouns

Extended Stems

Observation

ᔒᔒᑉ		shiishiip	a duck
ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒻ		nishiishiipim	my duck

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

ᐧᐃᔮᔅ		wiyaas	meat
ᓂᐧᐃᔮᓯᒻ		niwiyaasim	my meat

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
1	ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒻ		nishiishiipim	my duck
1	ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒥᒡ		nishiishiipimich	my ducks
2p	ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᐙᐤ		chishiishiipimiwaau	your (plural) duck
2p	ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᐙᐅᒡ		chishiishiipimiwaauch	your (plural) ducks
21p	ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᓅ		chishiishiipiminuu	our (including you) duck
21p	ᒋᔒᔒᐱᒥᓅᒡ		chishiishiipiminuuch	our (including you) ducks
1p	ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒥᓈᓐ		nishiishiipiminaan	our (excluding you) duck
1p	ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒥᓈᓂᒡ		nishiishiipiminaanich	our (excluding you) ducks

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)	ᐅᔒᔒᐱᒥᔫᐦ		ushiishiipimiyuuh	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		ushtikwaan	his/her head
ᐅᔥᑎᐧᑳᓂᒻ		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

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 ᐅᒪᓯᓇᐦᐄᑲᓐ	ᐊᐙᔕᒡ ᐅᒪᓯᓇᐦᐄᑲᓇᐙᐤᐦ
aanii umasinahiikan	awaashach umasinahiikanawaauh
Annie’s book	The kids’ books
(literally: Annie, her book)	(literally: kids, their books)

ᐋᓃ ᐅᔒᔒᐱᒻᐦ	ᐊᐙᔕᒡ ᐅᔒᔒᐱᒥᐙᐤᐦ
aanii ushiishiipimh	awaashach ushiishiipimiwaauh
Annie’s duck(s)	The kids’ duck(s)
(literally: Annie, her duck(s))	(literally: kids, their duck(s))