Participles (nominalizations)

Observation

ᒋᔅᑯᑕᒫᒉᐤ		chiskutamaacheu	he teaches
ᑳᒋᔅᑯᑕᒫᒉᑦ		kaachiskutamaachet	the one who teaches, a teacher

Words like ᑳᒋᔅᑯᑕᒫᒉᑦ kaachiskutamaachet 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
	ᓰᓂᐹᑕᐦᐄᒉᐸᔫ			ᑳᓰᓂᐹᑕᐦᐄᒉᐸᔨᒡ
	siinipaatahiichepayuu			kaasiinipaatahiichepayich
	it wrings			wringer on washing machine
	ᐃᔅᐧᑳᐦᑐᐧᐄᐸᔫ			ᑳᐃᔅᐧᑳᐦᑐᐧᐄᐸᔨᒡ
	iswkaahtawiipayuu			kaaiskwaahtuwiipayich
	it goes up			elevator

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.

ᑳᐧᐁᐸᐦᐋᑯᓀᑦ		kaawepahaakunet	(nap)	snow plow
ᑳᓂᔥᑐᑳᑌᑦ		kaanishtukaatet	(nap)	three-wheeler
ᑳᑲᔅᒋᐦᑖᑦ		kaakaschihtaat	(nap)	hero, winner
ᑳᑲᓇᐧᐁᔨᐦᑕᐦᒃ		kaakanaweyihtahk	(nap)	caretaker
ᑳᒥᐦᑯᐸᔨᓈᓅᒡ		kaamihkupayinaanuuch	(nip)	measles
ᑳᐅᐦᑌᐸᔨᐦᒡ		kaauhtepayihch	(nip)	fruit salts, fizzing medicine (lit. it fizzes)
ᑳᒋᐦᑳᔥᑌᐦᑎᐦᒡ		kaachihkaashtehtihch	(nip)	movie
ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐸᔨᒡ		kaatihtipayich	(nip)	a tire

Participle Inflection

Their inflection pattern is partly like verbs, partly like nouns. In the Southern dialect, the verbal marker is used to form the plural and the obviative, while in the Northern dialect, the noun marker is used (see Northern participle inflection). In the possessive, the kaa- is usually dropped except for a few (Inland) speakers who can say the possessive with and without the kaa-. This might be an influence from neighbouring languages, like Innu or Naskapi, which use a kaa- in the possessive.

Noun Animate Participle
singular	ᑳᐧᐁᐸᐦᐊᑯᓀᑦ		kaawepahaakunet	a snow plow
plural	ᑳᐧᐁᐸᐦᐊᑯᓀᐧᑖᐤ		kaawepahaakunetwaau	snow plows
obviative (singular and plural)	ᑳᐧᐁᐸᐦᐊᑯᓀᔨᒡᐦ		kaawepahaakuneyacht	(she sees a/many…) snow plow(s)

Noun Inanimate Participle
singular	ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐸᔨᒡ		kaatihtipayich	a tire
plural	ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐸᔨᐧᑳᐤ		kaatihtipayikwaau	many tires
obviative singular	ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐸᔨᔨᒡ		kaatihtipayirich	(she sees a…) tire
obviative plural	ᑳᑎᐦᑎᐸᔨᔨᒡ		kaatihtipayiyacht	(she sees many…) tires

Possessive

ᑳᐱᒥᐦᔮᒪᑲᐦᒡ		kaapimihyaamakahch*	(nip)	airplane
ᓂᐱᒥᐦᐃᔮᒪᑲᓂᒻ		nipimihiyaamakanim (C)	(nap)	my airplane
ᓂᑳᐱᒥᐦᐃᔮᒪᑲᓂᒻ		(?) nikaapimihiyaamakanim (I)	(nap)	my airplane

* the final h of the stem becomes n