Participles (nominalizations)

Observation

ᑎᐦᑎᐱᐱᔨᐤ		tihtipipiyiu	it (anim) rolls
ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐱᔨᒡ		kaatihtipiyich	that which rolls, a tire

Words like ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐱᔨᒡ kaatihtipiyich are verbs that are used as nouns. They are called participles or nominalizations. Like nouns, participles are used to identify people and things, like professions and machines. Literally they mean ‘the one who…’ or ‘the thing that…’, but they become lexicalized and function as nouns in the sentence.

Verb			Participle
	ᓰᓂᐹᑎᐦᐄᒑᐱᔨᐤ			ᑳᓰᓂᐹᑎᐦᐄᒑᐱᔨᒡ
	siinipaatihiichaapiyiu			kaasiinipaatihiichaapiyich
	it wrings			wringer on washing machine
	ᐃᔅᐧᑳᐦᑎᐧᐄᐱᔨᐤ			ᑳᐃᔅᐧᑳᐦᑎᐧᐄᐱᔨᒡ
	iskwaahtiwiipiyiu			kaaiskwaahtiwiipiyich
	it goes up			elevator
	ᑎᐹᔨᐦᑎᒻ			ᑳᑎᐹᔨᐦᑎᐦᒃ
	tipaayihtim			kaatipaayihtihk
	s/he governs it			director

Participles are made from the conjunct indicative neutral third person singular of a verb. They end with a conjunct verbal suffix -t, -k or –ch, depending on their original verb type (vai, vti, vii). They usually begin with the preverb kaa- which is written together with the verb to make a participle.

Animate noun participles are marked as (nap) and Inanimate noun participles are marked as (nip) in the Cree lexicon.

ᑳᐧᐋᐱᐦᐋᑯᓈᑦ		kaawaapihaakunaat	(nap)	snow plow
ᑳᒌᐧᐋᑎᑯᐱᔨᑦ		kaachiiwaatikupiyit	(nap)	compass
ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐱᔥᑭᐧᐋᑭᓂᐧᐃᑦ		kaatihtipishkiwaakiniwit	(nap)	bicycle
ᑳᐧᐃᔨᐦᐧᑳᑯᐦᑎᐧᑳᔑᔑᒡ		kaawiyihkwaakuhtikwaashishich	(nap)	beaver tail snowshoes
ᑳᐅᐦᑖᐱᔨᒡ		kaauhtaapiyich	(nip)	fruit salts, fizzing medicine (lit. it fizzes
ᑳᒥᐦᒑᐹᑭᐦᒡ		kaamihchaapaakihch	(nip)	porcupine butchered with the thighbone attached to the skin strip
ᑳᒥᒦᐅᐧᑳᑖᔑᒡᐦ		kaamimiiukwaataashichh	(nip)	sealskin boots
ᑳᐃᔅᐧᑳᐦᑎᐧᐋᐱᔨᒡ		kaaiskwaahtiwaapiyich	(nip)	elevator

Participle Inflection

Their inflection pattern is partly like verbs, partly like nouns. In the Northern dialect, the noun marker is used for plural, but the verb marker is used for obviative. In the possessive, there is no kaa-. See Southern participle inflection for dialectal differences.

Noun Animate Participle
singular	ᑳᒋᓯᑳᐦᑭᓱᑦ		kaachisikaahkisut	a cigarette
plural	ᑳᒋᓯᑳᐦᑭᓱᒡ		kaachisikaahkisuch	many cigarettes
obviative (singular and plural)	ᑳᒋᓯᑳᐦᑭᓱᔨᒡᐦ		kaachisikaahkisuyichh	(she sees a/many…) cigarette(s)

Noun Inanimate Participle
singular	ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐱᔨᒡ		kaatihtipiyich	a tire
plural	ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐱᔨᒡᐦ		kaatihtipiyichh	many tires
obviative singular	ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐱᔨᔨᒡ		kaatihtipiyiyich	(she sees a…) tire
obviative plural	ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐱᔨᔨᒡᐦ		kaatihtipiyiyichh	(she sees many…) tires

Possessive

ᑳᐱᐹᒥᐦᔮᒥᑭᐦᒡ		kaapipaamihyaamikihch*	(nip)	a plane
ᓂᐱᐹᒥᐦᔮᒥᑭᓄᒻ		nipipaamihyaamikinum	(nap)	my plane

* the final h of the stem becomes n

For some words, a nominalization in –suu (-si) is used for the possessive forms instead of the participle (see participles paradigms with suppletive forms; nominalizations in –suu paradigms).