Nouns with Diminutive Inflection

Observation

ᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ		muuhkumaan	a knife
ᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᔥ		muuhkumaanish	a little knife

To say that something is small, the suffix –ish can be added to a noun. For animate nouns the suffix is –ishish. 

ᑖᐦᑎᐳᐧᐃᓐ		taahtipuwin	a chair
ᑖᐦᑎᐳᐧᐃᓂᔥ		taahtipuwinish	a little chair
ᒥᑎᐦᒌ		mitihchii	a hand
ᒥᑎᐦᒌᔥ		mitihchiish	a little hand

For words that contain a -t-, the -t- sometimes becomes -ch-:

ᐊᑎᒻ		atim	a dog
ᐊᒋᒧᔑᔥ		achimushish	a little dog
ᐊᔥᑐᑎᓐ		ashtutin	a hat
ᐊᔥᒍᒋᓂᔥ		ashchuchinish	a little hat

The diminutive suffix -ish can also be added to verbs:

ᒦᒋᓲ		miichisuu	she is eating
ᒦᒋᓱᔔ		miichisushuu	she is eating a little

For More Information, see Stem Shapes