Grammar
Cree verb stems
The stem of a verb is the main part of the verb, the one that has the basic meaning, even if you change the inflection in the prefixes and the suffixes. If you take a verb like ᑖᐦᑎᐱᐤ taahtipiu ‘s/he sits on something’ , ᑖᐦᑎᐱ taahtipi- is the stem, and ᐤ -u is the inflection. You can change the person, as in ᓂᑖᐦᑎᐱᓐ nitaahtipin ‘I sit’ , but the stem is still ᑖᐦᑎᐱ taahtipi with the prefix ᓂ ni- and the suffix ᓐ -n.
| ᓂ | ᑖᐦᑎᐱ | ᓐ |
| ni- | taahtipi | -n |
| Person Prefix | STEM | Person suffix |
The Cree definition we suggest for ‘stem’ is ᐙᒋᐦᒡ ᐊᔨᒧᐎᓐ waachihch ayimuwin .
Cree verbs can be grouped by stem types, according to the verb class they belong to.