Plains Cree: A Grammatical Study - Computer Science Club

28 [TRANS. AMER. PHIL. SOC.
number-obviation paradigm and a few other suffixes
(3.6, 3.7) form an outer layer of affixation.
Nouns are of either gender, animate or inanimate.
Simple noun stems end in a non-syllabic or a cluster
of non-syllabics, e.g. maskisin- 'shoe,' ihkw- 'louse.'
The usual citation form of nouns is not the stem but
the inflected form for proximate singular which is
identical with the stem except where the latter is
monosyllabic; see 3.31.
3.1. AFFIX POSITION CLASSES
The position classes of the nominal affixes corre-
spond closely, as far as applicable, to those of the
verbal affixes; cf. 5.4. The present section may also
serve as an index of morphemes.
The prefixes are described in 2.1; but see also 3.22,
especially for the indefinite possessor prefix mi-.
The suffix position classes and their order are
summarized below. The brief labels used in this
list are intended as approximations only.
1
2
3
4
5
6
possessive theme sign
thematic obviative sign
/epan/ 'former, absent'
possessive person suffixes
third person, locative, and vocative suffixes
plural and obviation (animate) suffixes
Suffix position 1 is occupied by the possessive theme
sign /em/ (3.21).39
The obviative sign of position 2, /eyi/, marks an
obviative possessor (3.22).40
The suffix /epan/ 'former, absent' is tentatively
assigned to suffix position 3; see 3.5.
In suffix position 4 there appear the personal
suffixes of the possessive paradigm (3.22).
In suffix position 5 there appear the third person
suffixes of the number-obviation paradigm; the
animate suffix is /wa/-/a/,
WOLFART: PLAINS CREE
the inanimate suffixes
are /wi/-/i/ and /wah/-/ah/ (3.31).
The locative (3.6) and vocative (3.7) markers are
mutually exclusive with the morphemes of position
5 and 6.
In position 6 there appear the animate plural and
obviative markers of the number-obviation paradigm,
namely /k/ and /h/ (3.31).
39 Note the homonymy of /em/ with the thematic obviative
sign of verbs; cf. 5.41.
40Although in a strict positional analysis positions 2 and 4
might be merged, they are here kept apart for reasons of overall
patterning; cf. 5.4 and 5.43.
In eastern dialects the corresponding suffix marks the obviative
in the number-obviation paradigm of inanimate nouns (see Ellis,
1962: p. 3-20 and especially p. 8-13 for James Bay Cree; and also
Rogers, 1960: pp. 110, 112 for the Mistassini dialect of Montagnais-Naskapi);
however, since the data are incomplete and
lack certain crucial examples (e.g., "he saw our canoe(s)" and
"his son saw our canoe(s)") the relevance of this evidence cannot
be assessed and the issue must be left open.
3.2 THE POSSESSIVE PARADIGM
The possessive paradigm provides anaphoric refer-
ence to a person other than that denoted by the noun
itself. Possession in a narrow sense is, of course, only
the primary or focal meaning of this morpheme class
(and the label "possessive" is chosen just because of
its concreteness).4 Besides this narrowly possessive
function, as in nitem 'my horse,' there are other, more
attenuated meanings, as in ninehiyawewin 'my Cree-
ness, my speaking Cree,' or in otocikaniwdw 'their
doing'; (cf. the use of my in my mother or in my going to
New York tomorrow).
While certain noun stems show a special possessed
theme (see 3.21), the possessive paradigm may occur
with any noun stem. Conversely, however, some
noun stems are obligatorily inflected for possession;
these bound stems are called DEPENDENT noun stems.
Dependent nouns mostly include kin terms, and terms
for body-parts and a few personal possessions.42
In general, the categories of the possessive paradigm
are independent of those of the number-obviation
paradigm. Thus, a stem inflected for a first person
possessor may be either proximate, e.g. nisit 'my foot,'
nisita 'my feet,' or obviative, as nitema in ndpew
wdpamew nitema. 'The man sees my dog.' If the
possessor is a third person, however, the usual rules
of obviation operate. The possessor is always nearer
(more in focus) than who or what is possessed, so that
any third person possessor automatically causes the
noun itself to be obviative.
3.21. Theme Formation
Possessed themes are formed with the theme sign
/em/ which immediately follows the stem. However,
the formation of possessed themes is subject to a
great deal of irregularity which requires further study.
The absence of the special theme sign is typical of
stems ending in n (but is by no means restricted to
these). It is found, for example, with a number of
noun types derived from verbs, such as the abstract
nouns of 6.41; e.g., nipimttisiwin 'my life,' otocikan
'his doing, fault.' Possessive forms without special
theme sign are also common with dependent stems,
e.g., nistes 'my older sibling'; but contrast nisim
'my younger sibling,' nitotem 'my kinsman,' etc.
Other than that, the distribution of /em/ cannot
even tentatively be indicated; the obvious hypothesis
of an alienable: inalienable category has been explored
without success. Examples: sSsip 'duck': nislsipim
'my duck'; iskotew 'fire': nitiskotem 'my fire'; ihkw-
'louse': nitihkom 'my louse'; etc.
As an example of the seemingly erratic distribution
of /em/ consider nitaskiy 'my country,' from askiy,
in contrast to nipimsm 'my lard,' from pimiy.
41 Hockett (e.g., 1966) uses the term "allocation."
42 There is no evidence for an alienable: inalienable dichotomy.