Grammar
VII (Verb Inanimate Intransitive) stems
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 ᐤ -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.
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