VII (Verb Inanimate Intransitive) stems

  • Stems ending with a vowel
  • Stems ending with -wi
  • Stems ending with -n

Stems ending with a vowel

Most VII verbs have stems ending in a vowel. For example a verb like ᐧᐋᐹᐤ waapaau is made of the stem ᐧᐋᐹ waapaa and the suffix -u. When we say ᐧᐋᐹᔨᐤ waapaayiu, we see the stem ᐧᐋᐹ waapaa and the suffix ᔨᐤ -yiu.

When we conjugate the VII ᐧᐋᐹᐤ waapaau, we recognize the common stem ᐧᐋᐹ waapaa in all the forms:

ᐧᐋᐹᐤ waapaa-u it is white
ᐧᐋᐹᐤᐦ waapaa-uh they are white
ᐧᐋᐹᔨᐤ waapaa-yiu it (the other) is white
ᐧᐋᐹᔨᐤᐦ waapaa-yiuh they (the others) are white

The vowels found at the end of VII verbs can be aa, ii, i , or u. Here are some examples:

aa ᒌᔑᑳᐤ chiishikaa-u it is daytime
aa ᐃᔥᐧᑳᑖᐤ ishkwaataa-u it is burning
i ᐊᐱᔖᔑᐤ apishaashi-u it is small
ii ᑎᒦᐤ timii-u it (water) is deep
u ᒋᑭᒨ chikimu-u it is attached, stuck

Link to Conjugation Tables

Stems ending with -wi

Other VII verbs have stems ending in vowels that contain wi for most forms. For example, when we conjugate a verb like ᓂᐲᐆ nipiiuu ‘it is wet’, we see a stem ending in wi: nipiiwi- in some verb forms:

0 ᓂᐲᐆ nipiiu-u it is wet
0′ ᓂᐲᐆᐦ nipiiu-uh things are wet
0p ᓂᐲᐎᔨᐤ nipiiwi-yiu his/her thing is wet
0’p ᓂᐲᐎᔨᐤᐦ nipiiwi-yiuh his/her things are wet

Another example is ᑰᓂᐆ kuuniuu ‘it is covered with snow’.

These verbs are marked as -wi stems in the dictionary. In the verb conjugations, the model verb is also indicated as -wi.

Conjugation Tables

Stems ending with -n

Other VII verbs have stems ending in -n. For example, when we conjugate a verb like ᓅᑯᓐ nuukun ‘it is visible’, we recognize the common stem ᓅᑯᓐ nuukun in all the forms:

0 ᓅᑯᓐ nuukun it is visible
0′ ᓅᑯᓐᐦ nuukun-h things are visible
0p ᓅᑯᓂᔨᐤ nuukun-iyiu his/her thing is visible
0’p ᓅᑯᓂᔨᐤᐦ nuukun-iyiuh his/her things are visible

Verbs whose stem end in -n have a special behaviour. The nasal –n becomes –h in the 3rd person proximate inflection in the conjunct indicative conjugations (#11 and #12).

ᓅᑯᓐ nuukun (#01)   ᐋᐦ ᓅᑯᐦᒡ aah nuukuh-ch (#11)
  ᓅᑯᐦᒑ nuukuh-chaa (#12a)
  ᓍᑯᐦᒡᐦ nwaakuh-chh (#12b)
  ᓅᑯᐦᒡᐦ nuukuh-chh (#12b)

In the verb conjugations, the model verb is indicated as -n.

Link to Conjugation Tables