Grammar
VAI (Verb Animate Intransitive) stems
Stems ending with a vowel
Most VAI verbs have stems ending with a vowel. For example a verb like ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐤ shiihkichiu ‘s/he is cold’ is made of the stem ᔒᐦᑭᒋ shiihkichi- ‘be cold’ and the suffix ᐤ -u. When we conjugate ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐤ shiihkichiu, we recognize the common stem ᔒᐦᑭᒋ shiihkichi- in all the forms.
| 1 | ᓂᔒᐦᑭᒋᓐ | nishiihkichin | I am cold | |
| 2 | ᒋᔒᐦᑭᒋᓐ | chishiihkichin | you are cold | |
| 1p | ᓂᔒᐦᑭᒋᓈᓐ | nishiihkichinaan | we (but not you) are cold | |
| 21p | ᒋᔒᐦᑭᒋᓈᓂᐤ | chishiihkichinaaniu | we (including you) are cold | |
| 2p | ᒋᔒᐦᑭᒋᓈᐧᐋᐤ | chishiihkichinaawaau | you are cold | |
| 3 | ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐤ | shiihkichiu | s/he is cold | |
| 3p | ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐧᐃᒡ | shiihkichiwich | they are cold | |
| 3′ | ᔒᐦᑭᒋᔨᐅᐦ | shiihkichiyiuh | the other(s) is(are) cold |
ᔒᐦᑭᒋ shiihkichi- is a stem ending in a short -i. The different vowel endings are:
| short i | ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐤ | shiihkichi-u | s/he is cold | |
| short u | ᓂᑭᒨ | nikimu-u | s/he is singing | |
| long aa | ᓂᐹᐤ | nipaa-u | s/he is sleeping | |
| long ii | ᐅᐦᒌᐤ | uhchii-u | s/he comes from… |
Links to Conjugation Tables:
In the verb conjugations, the model verbs are indicated as -i, -ii, -u. -aa.
VAI aa stems use a shorter passive suffix (unspecified actor form): they shorten the -naaniu suffix. Compare:
| Stem | Person | |||||
| aa | X | ᓂᐹᓅᓂᐆ | nipaa+naaniu=nipaaniuu | people sleep, there is a sleepover | (short suffix: -niu) | |
| Other stems | ||||||
| u | X | ᓂᒧᓈᓅ | nikimu+naaniu=nikimunaaniu | people sing, there is a singing event | (regular suffix: -naaniu) |
The same happens for the X’ forms (unspecified actor Obviative): the long suffix -naaniuyuu becomes -niwiyuu after an aa stem, or -aaniwiyuu with an e or n stem.
Stems ending with -wi
Other VAI verbs have stems ending in vowels that contain wi for some forms. For example, when we conjugate a verb like ᓃᐴ niipuu ‘s/he is standing’, we see the stem is ᓃᐴ niipu– in niipu-u, but niipuwi– in ᓃᐳᐧᐃᐧᐃᒡ niipuwi-wich.
Here are some examples:
| uwi | ᓃᐴ | niipu-u | s/he is standing | |
| ᑳ ᓃᐳᐧᐃᑦ | kaa niipuwi-t | the one who is standing | ||
| iwi | ᒥᓂᑑᔑᐆ | minituushiu-u | it (anim) has worms | |
| ᑳ ᒥᓂᑑᔑᐧᐃᑦ | kaa minituushiwi-t | the one who has worms | ||
| iiwi | ᓯᔅᒌᐆ | sischiiu-u | it is muddy | |
| ᑳ ᓯᔅᒌᐧᐃᑦ | kaa sischiiwi-t | the one who is muddy | ||
| aawi | ᓈᐹᐆ | naapaau-u | he is a man | |
| ᑳ ᓈᐹᐧᐃᑦ | naapaawi-t | the one who is a man |
These verbs are indicated as -uwi, -iwi, -iiwi and -aawi in the dictionary. In the verb conjugations, the model verb is indicated as -wi.
Stems ending with -n
Other VAI verbs have stems ending in -n. For example, when we conjugate a verb like ᑎᑯᔑᓐ tikushin ‘s/he arrives’, we recognize the common stem ᑎᑯᔑᓐ tikushin in all the forms:
| 1 | ᓂᑎᑯᔑᓂᓐ | nitikushinin | I arrive | |
| 2 | ᒋᑎᑯᔑᓂᓐ | chitikushinin | You arrive | |
| 1p | ᓂᑎᑯᔑᓂᓈᓐ | nitikushininaan | We (but not you) arrive | |
| 21p | ᒋᑎᑯᔑᓂᓈᓂᐤ | chitikushininaaniu | We (including you) arrive | |
| 2p | ᒋᑎᑯᔑᓂᓈᐧᐋᐤ | chitikushininaawaau | You arrive | |
| 3 | ᑎᑯᔑᓐ | tikushin | S/he arrives | |
| 3p | ᑎᑯᔑᓂᒡ | tikushinich | They arrive | |
| 4 | ᑎᑯᔑᓂᔨᐤᐦ | tikushiniyiuh | The other arrives |
VAI verbs with stems ending in -n, have a special behaviour. The nasal vowel n becomes h in the 3rd person proximate inflection in the conjunct indicative conjugations (#11 and #12).
| ᑎᑯᔑᓐ | tikushin | #01 | ᐋᐦ ᑎᑯᔑᐦᒃ | aah tikushih-k | #11 | ||||
| ᑎᑯᔑᐦᑳ | tikushih-kaa | or | ᑎᑯᔑᐦᒑ | tikushih-chaa | #12a | ||||
| ᑎᑯᔑᐦᒃᐦ | tikushih-kh | or | ᑎᑯᔑᐦᒡᐦ | tikushih-chh | #12b |
Note also that we find here a -k rather than a -t, for the third person proximate conjunct suffix.
Link to Conjugation Tables