Noun Stems ending with a vowel + i

  • Nouns ending with -ui
  • Nouns ending with -ii

Nouns stems ending with -ui

Noun stems ending with -ui are irregular. The stem and the suffix undergo contraction.

ᒦᒋᒫᐳᐃ miichimaapui (ni) meat broth
0 ᒦᒋᒫᐳᐃ Click here to hear this word miichimaapui
0p / 0’p ᒦᒋᒫᐳᐃᐦ Click here to hear this word miichimaapuih
0′ ᒦᒋᒫᐳᔨᐤ Click here to hear this word miichimaapuyiu
LOC ᒦᒋᒫᐳᐦᒡ Click here to hear this word miichimaapuhch
DIM ᒦᒋᒫᐳᔥ Click here to hear this word miichimaapush
POSS ᓂᒦᒋᒫᐳᒻ Click here to hear this word nimiichimaapum

Traditionally the plural is not used here.

ᐎᔥᑯᐃ wishkui (na) birch, birchbark
3 ᐎᔥᑯᐃ Click here to hear this word wishkui
3p ᐎᔥᑯᐃᒡ Click here to hear this word wishkuich
3′ / 3’p ᔥᑯᐃᐦ Click here to hear this word wishkuih
LOC ᐎᔥᒀᐦᒡ Click here to hear this word wishkwaahch
DIM ᔥᒀᔑᔥ Click here to hear this word wishkwaashish
POSS ᓂᐎᔥᒀᒻ   niwishkwaam

Nouns stems ending with -ii

Most noun stems ending with -ii keep their -ii in their endings. Others have endings with -aa in them. Some can be said either with -ii or -aa.

ᒥᔥᑯᒥᔒ mishkumishii (ni) mountain ash (rowan) tree
0 ᒥᔥᑯᒥᔒ Click here to hear this word mishkumishii
0p / 0’p ᒥᔥᑯᒥᔒᐦ Click here to hear this word mishkumishiih
0′ ᒥᔥᑯᒥᔒᔨᐤ Click here to hear this word mishkumishiiyiu
LOC ᒥᔥᑯᒥᔒᐦᒡ Click here to hear this word mishkumishiihch
DIM ᒥᔥᑯᒥᔒᔥ Click here to hear this word mishkumishiish
POSS ᓂᒧᔥᑯᒥᔒᒻ Click here to hear this word nimushkumishiim
ᐅᐦᑎᐎᑮ uhtiwikii (nid) his/her ear
0 ᐅᐦᑎᐎᑮ Click here to hear this word uhtiwikii
0p / 0’p ᐅᐦᑎᐎᑮᐦ Click here to hear this word uhtiwikiih
0′ ᐅᐦᑎᐎᑳᔨᐤ Click here to hear this word uhtiwikaayiu
LOC ᐅᐦᑎᐎᑳᐦᒡ Click here to hear this word uhtiwikaahch
DIM ᐅᐦᑎᐎᑳᔥ Click here to hear this word uhtiwikaash
  • Dependent nouns have two obviative forms. The stem uhtiwikii refers to his/her (own) ear whereas uhtiwikaayiu refers to his/her (someone else’s) ear.
  • The word for his/her ear in the Southern Inland dialect is ᐅᐦᑑᑲᐃ uhtuukai : one can still hear the original a of the stem. For other words like ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏ chishaayaakutii , an a only surfaces in the Southern dialect. Click here for more information on this phenomenon.
ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏ chishaayaakutii (ni) bear stomach
      Southern dialect     Northern dialect
0 ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏ   chishaayaakutii ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏ   chishaayaakutii
0p / 0’p ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏᐦ   chishaayaakutiih ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏᐦ   chishaayaakutiih
0′ ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑖᔫ   chishaayaakutaayuu ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏᔫ   chishaayaakutiiyiu
LOC ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑖᐦᒡ   chishaayaakutaahch ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏᐦᒡ   chishaayaakutiihch
DIM ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑖᔥ   chishaayaakutaash ᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏᔥ   chishaayaakutiish
POSS ᓂᒋᔖᔮᑯᑖᒻ   nichishaayaakutaam ᓂᒋᔖᔮᑯᑏᒻ   nichishaayaakutiim