Personal Pronouns

• Emphatic
• Prefixes
• Inclusive

Personal Prefixes

Observation

ᒋᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓐ ᐋ ᒋᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ᙮

chiwaapihtaan aa chimuuhkumaan.

Do you see your knife?

This is another set of personal pronouns, but they are called “prefixes”. This means that they always attach to the beginning of another word, like ᒋ chi– in the examples 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.

ᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓐ waapihtaan (VTI) to see it				ᐋᐱᒫᐤ waapimaau (VTA) to see him/her
ᒋᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓐ		chiwaapihtaan		ᒋᐧᐋᐱᒫᐤ		chiwaapimaau
ᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓐ		niwaapihtaan		ᓂᐧᐋᐱᒫᐤ		niwaapimaau
ᒋᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓈᐧᐋᐤ		chiwaapihtaanaawaau		ᒋᐧᐋᐱᒫᐧᐋᐤ		chiwaapimaawaau
ᒋᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓈᓂᐤ		chiwaapihtaanaaniu		ᒋᐧᐋᐱᒫᓂᐤ		chiwaapimaaniu
ᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓈᓐ		niwaapihtaanaan		ᓂᐧᐋᐱᒫᓈᓐ		niwaapimaanaan
ᐧᐋᐱᐦᑎᒻ		waapihtim		ᐧᐋᐱᒫᐤ		waapimaau
ᐧᐋᐱᐦᑎᒧᒡ		waapihtimuch		ᐧᐋᐱᒫᐧᐃᒡ		waapimaawich
ᐧᐋᐱᐦᑎᐧᒫᐤ		waapihtimwaau		ᐧᐋᐱᒫᔨᐤᐦ		waapimaayiuh

ᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ muuhkumaan (nI) knife				ᑖᐱᔥᑳᑭᓐ taapishkaakin (nA) scarf
ᒋᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ		chimuuhkumaan		ᒋᑖᐱᔥᑳᑭᓐ		chitaapishkaakin
ᓂᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ		nimuuhkumaan		ᓂᑖᐱᔥᑳᑭᓐ		nitaapishkaakin
ᒋᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᐧᐋᐤ		chimuuhkumaaniwaau		ᒋᑖᐱᔥᑳᑭᓂᐧᐋᐤ		chitaapishkaakiniwaau
ᒋᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᓂᐤ		chimuuhkumaaniniu		ᒋᑖᐱᔥᑳᑭᓂᓂᐤ		chitaapishkaakininiu
ᓂᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᓈᓐ		nimuuhkumaaninaan		ᓂᑖᐱᔥᑳᑭᓂᓈᓐ		nitaapishkaakininaan
ᐅᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ		umuuhkumaan		ᐅᑖᐱᔥᑳᑭᓐᐦ		utaapishkaakinh
ᐅᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᐧᐋᐤ		umuuhkumaaniwaau		ᐅᑖᐱᔥᑳᑭᓂᐧᐋᐤᐦ		utaapishkaakiniwaauh
ᐅᒨᐦᑯᒫᓂᔨᐤ		umuuhkumaaniyiu		ᐅᑖᐱᔥᑳᑭᓂᔨᐤᐦ		utaapishkaakiniyiuh

In the plural, notice the difference between ᓂ–ᐃᓈᓐ ni–inaan, “we, but not you”, ᒋ–ᐃᓂᐤ chi–iniu , “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 (except u), 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:

ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔥ		awaashish	a child	>	ᒋᑎᐧᐋᔑᔒᒻ		chitiwaashishiim.	your child
ᐆᑦ		uut	a canoe	>	ᒋᑑᑦ		chituut	your canoe
ᐄᔨᔨᐤ		iiyiyiu	person	>	ᓂᑎᔨᔨᒻ		nitiyiyim	one of my people

When the word begins with ᐅ -u, the -i of the prefix becomes -u. (When it is ᐆ uu- the i of the prefix is dropped).  For ᒋ+ᐅ chi+u, the older form ᑰ kuu- is preferred on nouns.

ᐅᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄ		utaapaanaaskw	a sled	>	ᒎᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄ		chuutaapaanaaskw	your sled
					ᑰᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄ		kuutaapaanaaskw	your sled
					ᐆᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄᐦ		uutaapaanaaskwh	his/her sled

ᐅᔥᑳᒑᐅᐎᑦ		ushkaachaauwit	bag made from the legs of the caribou	>	ᓅᔥᑳᒑᐅᐧᐃᑦ		nuushkaachaauwit
ᐅᐦᐱᓯᑭᓐ		uhpisikin	baking powder, yeast	>	ᓅᐦᐱᓯᑭᓂᒻ		nuuhpisikinim
ᐅᐱᔅᑯᑏ		upiskutii	stomach of a bear, beaver, caribou, moose	>	ᓅᐱᔅᑯᑖᒻ		nuupiskutaam

Some words (for personal belongings) used to make their possessive with the prefix attached to a shorter stem, these words might have been dependent nouns in the past. Today there are two ways of doing their possessive. 

ᐊᐳᐃ		apui	paddle	>	ᓂᐳᐃ		nipui
					ᓂᑕᐳᐃ		nitapui
ᐊᐱᔓᐃ		apishui	tipi pole	>	ᓂᐱᔓᐃ		nipishui
					ᓂᑕᐱᔓᐃ		nitapishui
ᐊᑭᔅᒄ		akiskw	arrow	>	ᓂᑭᔅᒄ		nikiskw
					ᓂᑕᑭᔅᒄ		nitakiskw
ᐊᑭᔅᒀᐦᑎᒄ		akiskwaahtikw	arrow shaft	>	ᓂᑭᔅᒀᐦᑎᒄ		nikiskwaahtikw
					ᓂᑕᑭᔅᒀᐦᑎᒄ		nitakiskwaahtikw
ᐊᔑᐧᐃᔥᑖᑭᓐ		ashiwishtaakin	old axe for breaking up beaver lodge	>	ᓂᔑᐧᐃᔥᑖᑭᓐ		nishiwishtaakin
					ᓂᑕᔑᐎᔥᑖᑭᓐ		nitashiwishtaakin

 

Words beginning with w do not have a special behavior, they just take the regular prefixes: ni-, chi- and u-. 

ᐧᐋᑎᓂᑯᐦᑉ		waatinikuhp	a wedding dress	>	ᓂᐧᐋᑎᓂᑯᐦᑉ		niwaatinikuhp	my wedding dress
				>	ᒋᐧᐋᑎᓂᑯᐦᑉ		chiwaatinikuhp	your wedding dress
				>	ᐅᐧᐋᑎᓂᑯᐦᑉ		uwaatinikuhp	her wedding dress