To show that a Noun belongs to someone, you take off the Noun Prefix
that usually occurs with the Noun, and replace it with a Possessive
Prefix.
Possessive Prefix + Noun Base + Linker Vowel + Noun Suffix
There are different Possessive Prefixes to indicate different
possessors. Take, for example, the Noun «uyë'kwa'»
(Noun Base -yë'kw-)
"tobacco".
ak- -yë'kw- -a-
-' akyë'kwa' my tobacco
sa- -yë'kw- -a-
-' sayë'kwa' your tobacco
hu- -yë'kw- -a-
-' huyë'kwa' his tobacco
ku- -yë'kw- -a-
-' kuyë'kwa' her tobacco
u- -yë'kw- -a-
-' uyë'kwa' its tobacco
There are in fact many other Possessive Prefixes (to give us words like
"our tobacco" and "their tobacco", etc...), but for now we'll just
focus
on the five Singular Possessive Prefixes.
If you look carefully, you'll see that the word for "its tobacco" is
the
same as the Basic Form for "tobacco", namely «uyë'kwa'».
That's because
the Possessive Prefix meaning its is u-, which is the same as the
Patient Noun Prefix u- that we saw in Chapter 1. Because of this,
we'll
call this group of Possessive Prefixes -- ak-, sa-, hu-, ku- and u-
--
the Patient Possessive Prefixes.
Nearly all Nouns in Mingo take the Patient Possessive Prefixes to make
their Possessed forms. This is true both for Patient Nouns as
well as
for Agent Nouns. There are some Nouns, however, which take a different
set of Possessive Prefixes to make their Possessed Forms. We'll
discuss
those in XXX.
First, though, we need to introduce a new concept, the Stem Class.
7.1. Stem Classes
Every Noun Base (and, as we'll see later, every Verb Base) belongs to
a
Stem Class. There are about a dozen different stem classes for
both
Nouns and Verbs in Mingo. Which Stem Class a Noun Base belongs
to
depends -- for the most part -- on the first sound (or group of sounds)
in the Noun Base. It is important to know which Stem Class a particular
Noun Base belongs to, because it is the Stem Class that determines
the
form of any prefixes which are added onto the front of the Noun Base.
Below, we will look at each of the Stem Classes, and the different
forms
of the Patient Possessive Prefixes they take.
7.1.1. The C-Stem Class
The first Stem Class we will look at is the Consonant, or C-Stem Class.
The Noun Bases that belong to the C-Stem Class all start with a single
consonant, either -h-, -n-, -t-, -w- or -y-. They take the following
forms of the Possessive Prefixes.
my your his
her its
--------------------------------------------
C-stem | ak- sa-
hu- ku- u-
We already saw one example of a C-Stem Noun Base above, -yë'kw-
"tobacco". Another one is -nö'skw- "bed" (this is an Agent
Noun, with the
Simple Form «kanö'skwa'»).
ak- -nö'skw- -a-
-' aknö'skwa' my bed
sa- -nö'skw- -a-
-' sanö'skwa' your bed
hu- -nö'skw- -a-
-' hunö'skwa' his bed
ku- -nö'skw- -a-
-' kunö'skwa' her bed
u- -nö'skw- -a-
-' unö'skwa' its bed
Sasháék!
There are two important things to note at this point. The first
concerns Noun Bases that begin with a single consonant -h-. When
these
bases are preceded by a prefix that ends in a vowel, the -h- at the
beginning of the base drops out. However, if the prefix before
it ends
in a consonant, then the -h- stays.
Take, for example, the Noun Base -hösh- "box". It's an Agent
Noun, with
the Simple Form «kaöshæ'». Where the -h-
drops out, we'll put it in
parentheses.
ak- -hösh-
-æ- -' akhöshæ' my
box
sa- -(h)ösh- -æ-
-' saöshæ' your box
hu- -(h)ösh- -æ-
-' huöshæ' his box
ku- -(h)ösh- -æ-
-' kuöshæ' her box
u- -(h)ösh- -æ-
-' uöshæ' its box
It is important, also, to watch out for Noun Bases that start with a
single consonant -n-, -w- or -y-. Many of them belong to the
C-Stem
Class, but others of them belong to the L-Stem Class (discussed below).
If you're just looking at a Noun Base by itself, such as -wist- "money",
there is no way to know if it's a C-Stem Noun Base or an L-Stem Noun
Base. However, if you know the Basic Form of the Noun, then you
can
tell. If the Basic Form of the Noun begins with ka- (if it's an Agent
Noun), or u- (if it's a Patient Noun), then it's a C-Stem Noun Base,
and
will take the forms of the Possessive Prefix shown above. However,
if
the Basic Form of the Noun starts with ká- or ú-, then
you know it's an
L-Stem Noun Base. In this case, the Basic Form of the Noun for
"money"
is «úwista'», which tells us that -wist- must be
an L-Stem Noun Base,
and not a C-Stem Noun Base.
7.1.2. The X-Stem Class
The Noun Bases in the X-Stem Class fall into two groups. The first
group consists of Noun Bases that start with a single consonant, either
-h-, -k-, -s- or -'-. The second group consists of Noun Bases
that
start with two or more consonants. Both groups take the same
forms of
the Possessive Prefixes. As the table shows, all the forms are
the same
as for the C-Stem Class, except the "my" prefix, which is ake- instead
of ak-.
my your his
her its
--------------------------------------------
X-stem | ake- sa-
hu- ku- u-
For example, take the Noun «kakawihsa'» (-kawihs-) "shovel".
ake- -kawihs- -a-
-' akekawihsa' my shovel
sa- -kawihs- -a-
-' sakawihsa' your shovel
hu- -kawihs- -a-
-' hukawihsa' his shovel
ku- -kawihs- -a-
-' kukawihsa' her shovel
u- -kawihs- -a-
-' ukawihsa' its shovel
Compare with the Noun «kastö'shæ'» (-stö'sh-) "fishhook".
ake- -stö'sh- -æ-
-' akestö'shæ' my fishhook
sa- -stö'sh- -æ-
-' sastö'shæ' your fishhook
hu- -stö'sh- -æ-
-' hustö'shæ' his fishhook
ku- -stö'sh- -æ-
-' kustö'shæ' her fishhook
u- -stö'sh-
-æ- -' ustö'shæ'
its fishhook
Note that the Noun Bases in the X-Stem Class that start with a single
-h-
do not lose this -h- when a Possessive Prefix ending in a vowel comes
before it, unlike the Noun Bases in the C-Stem Class that start with
-h-, as described above.
7.1.3. The L-Stem Class
The Noun Bases in the L-Stem Class all begin with a single consonant,
either -n-, -w- or -y-. They take the following forms of the Possessive
Prefixes.
my your his
her its
--------------------------------------------
L-stem | akh- sá-
hú- kú- ú-
| ak-
Note here the automatic spelling rule which changes the sequence -khn-
into -kn-. Because of this rule, the "my" prefix shows up as
ak-
(instead of akh-) with L-Stem Class Noun Bases that start with -n-.
For instance, the Noun «únö'sha'» (-nö'sh-) "buttocks".
ak- -nö'sh- -a-
-' aknö'sha' my buttocks
sá- -nö'sh- -a-
-' sánö'sha' your buttocks
hú- -nö'sh- -a-
-' húnö'sha' his buttocks
kú- -nö'sh- -a-
-' kúnö'sha' her buttocks
ú- -nö'sh-
-a- -' únö'sha' its
buttocks
However, with L-Stem Class Noun Bases that start with either -w- or
-y-,
the "my" prefix always has the form akh-. For instance, the Noun
«úwista'» (-wist-) "money".
akh- -wist- -a-
-' akhwista' my money
sá- -wist- -a-
-' sáwista' my money
hú- -wist- -a-
-' húwista' my money
kú- -wist- -a-
-' kúwista' my money
ú- -wist-
-a- -' úwista' my
money
7.1.4. The LX-Stem Class
This is a very small class of Noun Bases. All the Noun Bases in
this
Stem Class start with the consonant cluster -ny-. Some Noun Bases
that
start with -ny- belong to the X-Stem Class, along with the other Noun
Bases that start with consonant clusters. It's impossible to
tell just
from the Noun Base alone whether it belongs to the X-Stem Class or
the
LX-Stem Class. In order to do that, we have to look at the Basic
Form
of the Noun. If the Basic Form begins with ka- or u-, such as
«unyáá'»
(-nya-) "collar", then we know it's an X-Stem Class Noun Base.
However,
if the Basic Form starts with ká- or ú-, such as «únyu'kwa'»
(-nyu'kw-)
"nut", then we know we have an LX-Stem Class Noun Base.
The LX-Stem Class Noun Bases take the following forms of the Possessive
Prefixes.
my your his
her its
--------------------------------------------
LX-stem | aké- sá-
hú- kú- ú-
Note that these forms are the same as those for X-Stem Noun Bases,
except that the final vowel of the prefixes is long. As an example,
let's look at the forms of the Noun «únyöhsa'»
(-nyöhs-) "squash".
aké- -nyöhs- -a-
-' akényöhsa' my squash
sá- -nyöhs-
-a- -' sányöhsa' your squash
hú- -nyöhs-
-a- -' húnyöhsa' his squash
kú- -nyöhs-
-a- -' kúnyöhsa' her squash
ú- -nyöhs-
-a- -' únyöhsa' its
squash
7.1.5. The A-Stem Class
The Noun Bases in the A-Stem Class all begin with -a-. They take
the
following forms of the Possessive Prefixes.
my your his
her its
--------------------------------------------
A-stem | ak- s-
hu- ku- u-
Sasháék!
The -a- at the beginning of an A-Stem Class Noun Base drops out when
the
prefix before it ends in a vowel. Take, for example, the Noun
«a'skwihsa'» (-a'skwihs-) "axe". Where the -a- drops out,
we'll put it
in parentheses.
ak- -a'skwihs-
-a- -' aka'skwihsa' my axe
s- -a'skwihs-
-a- -' sa'skwihsa' your axe
hu- -(a)'skwihs- -a-
-' hu'skwihsa' his axe
ku- -(a)'skwihs- -a-
-' ku'skwihsa' her axe
u- -(a)'skwihs- -a-
-' u'skwihsa' its axe
7.1.6. Summary of Patient Possessive Prefix Forms
The chart below summarizes the different forms of the Possessive
Prefixes we have seen so far. As we can see, although there are
lots of
different Stemz Classes, there are really only minor changes in the
forms of the Possessive Prefixes.
my your his
her its
-----------------------------------------------
C-stem | ak- sa-
hu- ku- u-
X-stem | ake- sa-
hu- ku- u-
L-stem | ak(h)- sá-
hú- kú- ú-
LX-stem | aké- sá-
hú- kú- ú-
A-stem | ak- s-
hu- ku- u-
7.2. Agent Possessive Prefixes
Although most Nouns in Mingo take the Patient Possessive Prefixes to
make their Possessed Forms, there are some Nouns that use a different
set of prefixes, the Agent Possessive Prefixes. Nearly
all of these Nouns refer to parts of the body (although not all body
part Nouns use the Agent Possessive Prefixes).
For example, the Noun Base -'ny- "finger, hand" has the following
Possessed Forms.
ke- -'ny- -a- -'
ke'nya' my finger
se- -'ny- -a-
-' se'nya' your finger
ha- -'ny- -a-
-' ha'nya' his finger
ye- -'ny- -a-
-' ye'nya' her finger
ka- -'ny- -a-
-' ka'nya' its finger
Just like the Patient Possessive Prefixes, the Agent Possessive Prefixes
change depending on the Stem Class of the Noun Base it is attaching
to.
The forms of the Agent Possessive Prefixes for the Stem Classes we
have
seen so far are summarized in the table below.
my your his
her its
-----------------------------------------------
C-stem | k-
s- ha- ye-
ka-
X-stem | ke- se-
ha- ye- ka-
L-stem | k(h)- s-
há- yé- ká-
LX-stem | ké-
sé- há-
yé- ká-
A-stem | k-
s- ha- yö-
w-
Most of the special changes to Noun Bases that were noted above for
Patient Possessive Prefixes also apply with the Agent Possessive
Prefixes. Specifically,
* C-Stem Noun Bases that start with -h- lose this -h-
when the
Possessive Prefix ends in a vowel.
* X-Stem Noun Bases that start with -h- keep this -h- at all times.
* The "my" prefix for L-Stem Noun Bases that start
with -n- is k-,
due to the automatic spelling rule that
changes the sequence -khn-
to -kn-.
* The -a- at the beginning of A-Stem Noun Bases drops
out when the
Possessive Prefix before it ends in a
vowel.
7.3. Other Possessed Forms
These Possessed Forms that we have seen above can all be combined with
the Plural and Locative Suffixes we saw earlier on. For example:
Possessed Plural Forms
ake'sehta'shö'ö :: my cars
sáyatöshæ'shö'ö ::
your books
huhtahkwa'shö'ö :: his shoes
kukawihsa'shö'ö :: her shovels
Possessed External Locative Forms
ake'sehta'ke :: on my car
sáyatöshæ'ke :: on your
book
huhtahkwa'ke :: on his shoe
kukawihsa'ke :: on her shovel
Possessed Internal Locative Forms
ake'sehtákô :: under my car
sáyatöshâkô :: under
your book
huhtahkwakô :: under his shoe
kukawihsákô :: under her shovel