Nouns with Person Inflection

• Possessive
• Extended Stems
• Dependent Nouns

Extended Stems

Observation

ᔒᔒᑉ		shiishiip	a duck
ᓂᔒᔒᐱᒻ		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		wiyaas	meat
ᓄᔮᓯᒻ		nuyaasim	my meat
ᐅᔥᑎᐧᑳᓐ		ushtikwaan	his/her head
ᐅᔥᑎᐧᑳᓂᒻ		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)	ᐅᔒᔒᐱᒥᔫᐦ		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		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

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))