Adding grammatical information to an already completed word is called inflection. In Potawatomi, that grammatical information can include number, person, and a few other categories.
Nouns have the following types of endings in Potawatomi:
Since the diminutive and pejorative are somewhat unique, we'll discuss the first four categories here: number, locative, obviative, and possessive markers.
Nouns in Potawatomi do not have singular endings (like Ojibwe, Cree, and Menominee and unlike Myaamia and Meskwaki), and so the plural suffix is the only indication of number attached directly to the noun. There is a mass/count distinction in Potawatomi as it is spoken today, so not every noun can take a plural suffix.
Locative nouns are translated with a variety of different English prepositions (in, at, near, by, on, etc.). As the name implies, locative nouns tend to (but do not always) indicate location.
The obviative in Potawatomi is primarily syntactic. Since all subject and object marking in Potawatomi is done on the verb and word order is free, if two animate third persons appear in a clause, there is no way of telling which one is the subject and which one is the object. In clauses with two animate third person arguments, the obviative marker is suffixed to one of the third person arguments in order to clarify who is doing what to whom; all non-obviative nouns are called proximate.
Possessed nouns are marked with a person prefix and, depending on the noun and person, a suffix -m. Some stems are obligatorily possessed; these are called dependent nouns. Generally, nouns in this class refer to things that are inalienable, and unable to be given away by the possessor (like kinship terms and body parts). The rest of the nouns are not obligatorily possessed, and so are called independent nouns.
According to the elders, the Potawatomi worldview precludes people from owning nature, and so adding possessive marking to natural objects can be seen as offensive or blasphemous
The diminutive on a noun adds the meaning that it is physically small – or just small relative to expectations.
For example, the diminutive of wdabyan ‘car’ is wdabyanés, and that could either mean a car that is small (like a compact car) or a toy or model car. Diminutive nouns occasionally have specialized definitions; for example, the diminutive of zhonya ‘money’ is zhonyas, ‘a coin' - it does not mean "a little money."
The pejorative suffix is generally glossed as something like “good-for-nothing” or with a mild swear. This calls for sensitivity in its use: modern speakers reject pejoratives of many words that hold a special cultural or spiritual significance. For instance, using the pejorative ending on a word for a water sources like springs, rivers, and lakes are seen as offensive or blasphemous.
An overview of some typical noun patterns is given below. (V: means "long vowel" or "strong vowel," so WNALP i, a, é and sometimes o)
[1] With strong é inconsistently in some forms in plural, locative, obviative. [2] Compare with Valentine’s reference grammar, but with the added wrinkle that in Potawatomi the short e alternates with long vowels i and é in Potawatomi.
Examples of each class are given below.
wdabyan ‘automobile, car’
pl: wdabyanek
loc: wdabyanek
obv: wdabyanen
poss: ndodabyan
bezhew ‘bobcat'[*]
pl: bezhewek
loc: bezhewek
obv: bezhewen
poss: nbezhowem / ndebezhowem[**]
[*] Older sources give this as bzhew but JT/BD both prefer bezhew.
[**] This is nbezhewem/ndebezhewem, but speakers of modern Potawatomi usually prefer spelling and pronunciation with o.
agem ‘snowshoe’
pl: agmek
loc: agmek
obv: agmen
poss: ndagem
mayos ‘cat’
pl: mayosek
loc: mayosek
obv: mayosen
poss: nmayosem
Class (2) simply adds the consonant of the suffix, deleting the e; Class (3) inserts a y between the final vowel of the word and the vowel of the ending.
In the modern language, these are often intermingled, so the result is that many nouns that end in a strong vowel like a, é, i, and sometimes o have two options. If you're unsure of which to use, the safest bet is Class 3; many words that historically did not insert a y do now.
amo ‘bee’
pl: amok / amoyek
loc: amok / amoyek
obv: amon / amoyen
poss: ndamom / nde’amoyem
Anma ‘German person’
pl: anmayek
loc: ?
obv: anmayen / anmayin
poss: ndanmam
gédgya ‘spotted horse, bay horse’
pl: gédgyayek
loc: gédgyayek
obv: gédgyayen
poss: ngédgyayem / ndegédgyayem
bébisya ‘larger bead, pony bead’
pl: bébisyayek
loc: bébisyayek
obv: bébisyayen
poss: nbébisyayem
bené ‘turkey’
pl: bnék / benéyek
loc: bnék / benéyek
obv: -- / benéyen
poss: nbeném / ndebnéyem
All of the categories after this are somewhat irregular and weird, so below there are some typical examples of the various irregular categories.
Some nouns add a -w or -o in the inflectional endings. This is very common with words ending in -g or -k but occurs in other nouns as well, like nene 'man' which ends in a short vowel.
nene ‘man’
pl: nenwek
loc: nenwek
obv: nenwen
poss: ndennim
kwé ‘woman’
pl: kwék / kwéwek
loc: kwék / kwéwek
obv: kwén / kwéwen
poss: ndekwém[*]
[*] Compare with a similar word ndekwéyom which is typically ‘my wife.’
bzheke ‘cow’
pl: bzhekwek
loc: bzhekwek
obv: bzhekwen?
poss: nbezhkim / nde-bzhekim
bbek ‘flea’
pl: bbegok
loc: bbegok
obv: bbegon
poss: ?
gizes ‘sun, moon, month’
pl: gizsok
loc: gizsok
obv: gizson
poss: ?
jejak ‘crane’
pl: jejakok / jejakoyek
loc: jejakok / jejakoyek
obv: jejakon / jejakoyen
poss: ndejejakom
kek ‘kettle’
pl: kekok
loc: kekok
obv: kekon? kekoyen?
poss: ndekek
pkwakwet ‘ball’
pl: bkwakwedon / pkwakwdon
loc: bkwakwedok
poss: nbekwakwedom
miziwgemek ‘bathroom, outhouse’
pl: miziwgemgon
loc: miziwgemgok
poss: nmiziwgemek
mtek ‘tree’
pl: mtegwék / mtegok
loc: mtegok
obv: mtegwén / mtegon
poss: nmetgom
gon ‘snow’
pl: (none- mass noun)[*]
loc: gonik
obv: gonin
poss: ngonim
[*] Older speakers attested gonyék as the plural form, but modern speakers no longer accept this.
pen ‘potato’
pl: penyék / penik
loc: penyék / penik
obv: penyén / penin
poss: ndopenim
sep ‘net’
pl: sebyén / sebin [*]
loc: sebyék / sebik
poss: ndesebyém
[*] Laura (Buszard-)Welcher recorded this form as animate, with sebyék for the plural; in 2010 fieldwork, speakers responded with the inanimate plural given in (a).
sen ‘stone’
pl: senyék / senin[*]
loc: senyék / senik [**]
obv: senin
poss: ndesenyém / ndesnim
[*] The word ‘stone’ in many Algonquian languages can be either animate or inanimate, and there is often an accompanying difference in meaning. It is unclear whether or not this is the case in Potawatomi.
[**] senik may be due to Ojibwe influence.
ke ‘land, earth, soil’
pl: kiwén / kiwen[*]
loc: kik
poss: ndekim
[*] Hockett has kiwén in the lexicon of his dissertation; Welcher offers kiwen.
A small set of words optionally takes -a in a few forms, especially the locative, diminutive, and pejorative.
nwibet ‘my tooth’
pl: nwibdén
loc: nwibdak
nwinzes ‘my strand of hair’
pl: nwinzesén
loc: nwinzesak / nwinzesik
nteweg ‘my ear’
pl: ntewgén
loc: ntewgak
Potawatomi verbs are notoriously complex. Study the tables below and note their patterns.
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