Prepronominal prefixes specify such things as negation, conditional, etc. Although this will focus on the verb; many nouns and adjectives take these same prefixes. This can occur if the noun or adjective is derived from a verb. If so, then it must bear the same prefixes as the verb. The prepronominal prefix must come before the pronominal prefix. They can have a number of variant forms depending on what comes before and after it. Some can even cause tone changes in the verb. Several have two different basic forms, depending on the verb stem. Some prepronominal prefixes can occur together. However, not all can go together. It is also very rare to see more than three prepronominal prefixes together.

Let’s get started:
y-
Known as the Irrealis Prefix, negative, conditional, and counterfactual. It references an action that has not / or might occur.

One function is negation. When negation occurs y- is always accompanied by the negation adverb tla (hla in Oklahoma). yi- appears before consonants except w, yu- before w, and y- before vowels

Ꮭ ᏱᎪᎵᎦ / tla yigoliga / tla yigooliìga – Ꮭ ᏱᎪᎵᎦ pronounced tl – short a y – short i – g – long o (held) – l – short i (held and rising tone) g – short a. tla yigoliga means I don’t understand it.
It is not necessary for tla to occur directly before the y-verb.

Ꮭ ᎣᏍᏓ ᏯᎩᏰᎸ / tla osda yagiyelv / tla óósd(a) yagiyeelv – tla osda ysgiyelv is pronounced tl – short a long o (held, longfall tone) – s – d *Note the a is silent y – short a – g – short i – y – long a (held) – l – nasalized uh. Ꮭ ᎣᏍᏓ ᏯᎩᏰᎸ means I don’t feel good about that.

When y- is used without tla it creates conditional meaning. It can translated as if, whatever, contrary-to-fact or hypothetical. For these constructions a highfall tone is used on the rightmost long vowel to indicate the verb is modifying the main part of the sentence. When this occurs there is a special suffix added to the verb as well, – a, which will be talked about later.

ᏯᎩᏬᏂᏌ ᎠᎩᎾᎸᎪ / yagiwonisa aginalvgo / yagiwóoníís(a) aȁkinaálvvgo – ᏯᎩᏬᏂᏌ ᎠᎩᎾᎸᎪ is pronounced y – short a – g – short i – w – long o (held and high tone) – n – short i (held and highfall tone) – s *the a is silent at the end* short a (held and lowfall tone) k – short i – n – short a (held and rising tone) -l – nasalized uh (held and falling tone) – g – long o. yagiwonisa aginalvgo means whenever he talks to me I get angry.

An example of a change in tone compare:

ᏱᏣᏚᎵᎭ / yitsaduliha / yijaduuulííha – yitsaduliha is pronounced y – short i – j – short a – d – short u (held) – l – short i (held, highfall tone) – h – short a. ᏱᏣᏚᎵᎭ means if you want it.

ᏱᏣᏚᎵᎭ / yitsaduliha / yiȉjaduulííha. – ᏱᏣᏚᎵᎭ is pronounced y – short i (held and lowfall tone) – j – short a – d – short u (held) – l – short i (held and highfall tone) – h – short a. yitsaduliha means if you all want it.

y- can be attached to an immediate verb stem to express possibility, translated as can or will, and used for something that can take place in the near future.

ᎲᎴᏊ ᏱᏣᎴᎾ / hvlequu yitsalena / hvleegwu yiijaleéna – hvlewuu yitsalena is pronounced h – nasalized uh – l – long a (held) gw – short u y – short i (held) – j – short a – l – long a (held, rising tone) – n – short a. ᎲᎴᏊ ᏱᏣᎴᎾ means immediately you can all start.

Used on the immediate stem, it can also be used to convey the ability to perform an action.

ᏰᎵᏊ ᏐᏈᎵ ᏱᎫᏔᎩ / yeliquu soquili yigutagi / yeeliíw soógwíl yiguutagi – ᏰᎵᏊ ᏐᏈᎵ ᏱᎫᏔᎩ is pronounced y – long a (held) – l – short i (held and rising tone) – gw *Note the u is silent* s – long o (held and rising tone) – gw – short i (high tone) – l *Note the i is silent* y – short i – g – short u (held) – t – short a – g – long e.. yeliquu soquili yigutagi means he can pick up a horse.

y- is sometimes used to form a conditional meaning

ᏱᏣᏚᎳᏍ ᏣᎳᎩ ᏗᏣᏕᏠᏆᏍᏗ / yitsadulas tsalagi ditsadetloquasdi / yiijaduulas jalagi diijadeehlo(h)gwaasdi – yitsadulas tsalagi ditsadetloquasdi is pronounced y – short i (held) – j – short a – d – short u (held) – l – short a – s j – short a – l -short a — g – long e d – short i (held) – j – short a – d – long a (held) – hl – long o – aspiration – gw – short a (held) s – d – long e. ᏱᏣᏚᎳᏍ ᏣᎳᎩ ᏗᏣᏕᏠᏆᏍᏗ means would you all like to learn Cherokee?

A couple final notes to remember
This prepronominal prefix is y – before a vowel, yi- before consonants, and yu – before w. If y- directly comes after h- then metathesis (transposition of letters or sounds in words) occurs. Typically speaking the next syllable rises in tone. y – is used with the negative adverb, tla, to negate verb forms. If it occurs without tla, it translates to uncertainty on the part of the speaker toward the occurrence of the action or state expressed by the verb. This expression of uncertainty mused be used as a subordinate clauses in larger sentences.