Personal Pronouns

• Emphatic
• Prefixes
• Inclusive

Personal Prefixes

Observation

ᒋᐧᐋᐸᐦᑌᓐ ᒋᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ᙮

chiwaapahten chimuuhkumaan.

you see your knife.

This set of personal pronouns is called personal prefixes. This means that they always attach to the beginning of another word, like ᒋ chi– in the example above. They are found on verbs and on nouns. The 3rd person prefix ᐅ u- only appears on nouns, not on verbs.

Personal prefixes
for verbs			for nouns
ᒋ	chi-		ᒋ	chi-
ᓂ	ni-		ᓂ	ni-
—	—		ᐅ	u-

Compare the prefixes on the verbs in the right columns and on the nouns in the left columns. Notice that the suffix, also in bold, works together with the prefix to indicate the person. See also Emphatic Pronouns.

Animate noun ‘scarf ‘				Transitive Animate verb ‘to see him/her’
ᒋᑖᐱᔥᑳᑲᓐ		chitaapishkaakan		ᒋᐧᐋᐸᒫᐤ		chiwaapamaau
ᓂᑖᐱᔥᑳᑲᓐ		nitaapishkaakan		ᓂᐧᐋᐸᒫᐤ		niwaapamaau
ᒋᑖᐱᔥᑳᑲᓂᐧᐋᐤ		chitaapishkaakaniwaau		ᒋᐧᐋᐸᒫᐧᐋᐤ		chiwaapamaawaau
ᒋᑖᐱᔥᑳᑲᓂᓅ		chitaapishkaakaninuu		ᒋᐧᐋᐸᒫᓅ		chiwaapamaanuu
ᓂᑖᐱᔥᑳᑲᓂᓈᓐ		nitaapishkaakaninaan		ᓂᐧᐋᐸᒫᓈᓐ		niwaapamaanaan
ᐅᑖᐱᔥᑳᑲᓐᐦ		utaapishkaakanh		ᐧᐋᐸᒣᐤ		waapameu
ᐅᑖᐱᔥᑳᑲᓂᐧᐋᐤᐦ		utaapishkaakaniwaauh		ᐧᐋᐸᒣᐅᒡ		waapameuch
ᐅᑖᐱᔥᑳᑲᓂᔫᐦ		utaapishkaakaniyuuh		ᐧᐋᐸᒣᔫᐦ		waapameyuuh
Inanimate noun ‘knife’				Transitive Inanimate verb ‘to see it’
ᒋᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ		chimuuhkumaan		ᒋᐧᐋᐸᐦᑌᓐ		chiwaapahten
ᓂᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ		nimuuhkumaan		ᓂᐧᐋᐸᐦᑌᓐ		niwaapahten
ᒋᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᐧᐋᐤ		chimuuhkumaaniwaau		ᒋᐧᐋᐸᐦᑌᓈᐧᐋᐤ		chiwaapahtenaawaau
ᒋᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᓅ		chimuuhkumaaninuu		ᒋᐧᐋᐸᐦᑌᓈᓅ		chiwaapahtenaanuu
ᓂᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᓈᓐ		nimuuhkumaaninaan		ᓂᐧᐋᐸᐦᑌᓈᓐ		niwaapahtenaan
ᐅᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ		umuuhkumaan		ᐧᐋᐸᐦᑕᒻ		waapahtam
ᐅᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᐧᐋᐤ		umuuhkumaaniwaau		ᐧᐋᐸᐦᑕᒧᒡ		waapahtamuch
ᐅᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᔫ		umuuhkumaaniyuu		ᐧᐋᐸᐦᑕᒧᐧᐁᐤ		waapahtamuweu

In the plural, notice the difference between ᓂ–ᐃᓈᓐ ni–inaan, “we, but not you”, ᒋ–ᐃᓅ chi–inuu, “we, including you”, and ᒋ–ᐃᐧᐋᐤᐦ chi–iwaauh, “you, but not me”. This difference is not made in English.

Personal prefixes added to a stem beginning with a vowel

When a word begins with a vowel, a -t- is inserted between the prefix and the word. This is called an epenthetic -t-.

ᐋᒨ aamuu (na) bee

chi + t + aamuu + m	=	ᒋᑖᒨᒻ		chitaamuum	your bee
ni + t + aamuu + m	=	ᓂᑖᒨᒻ		nitaamuum	my bee
u + t + aamuu + m + h	=	ᐅᑖᒨᒻᐦ		utaamuumh	his bee

Other Examples:

ᐁᔅᑲᓐ		eskan	an ice chisel	>	ᒋᑌᔅᑲᓐ		chiteskan	your ice chisel
ᐊᐧᐋᔥ		awaash	a child	>	ᒋᑕᐧᐋᔒᒻ		chitawaashiim	your child
ᐆᑦ		uut	a canoe	>	ᒋᑑᑦ		chituut	your canoe
ᐄᓂᒥᓈᓐᐦ		iiniminaanh	blueberries	>	ᒋᑏᓂᒥᓈᓐᐦ		chitiiniminaanh	your blueberries

When the word begins with ᐅ u- or ᐆ uu-, the -i of the prefix becomes -u. Some people also use k- instead of ch-.

For the third person, people disagree, some think there is no prefix, some add a u- prefix. Some even write those words with two short u.

ᐅᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄ		utaapaanaaskw	a sled	>	ᒎᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄ		chuutaapaanaaskw	your sled
					ᑰᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄ		kuutaapaanaaskw	your sled
					ᐅᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄᐦ		utaapaanaaskwh	his/her sled
					ᐆᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄᐦ		uutaapaanaaskwh	his/her sled
					ᐅ ᐅᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄᐦ		u-utaapaanaaskwh	his/her sled