tsinohiha – ji-ʔnoohiha – I’m bringing it (something flexible).
tsinawatiha – ji-naawh(a)thiha – I’m finding it (something flexible).
tsiloosga – ji-looʔoska – I’m falling from up high.
Other pronominal prefixes specify not only the subject but also the one who the action was done to, the object. For example, the pronominal prefix tsiy – (jiiy-) means “I did something to him/her”.
tsiyadvgia – jiiy-aathvvkiiʔa – I hear him/her.
tsiyadonvdiha – jiiy-atoonh(v)tiha – I’m dropping him/her.
tsiyayvtea – jiiy-aayvhtheeʔa – I’m kicking him/her.
There are quite a few different pronominal prefixes, and each of them occurs in several different forms, depending on which verb used. The part of the verb to the right of the hyphen – that is not the pronominal prefix – is called the verb stem. The verb stem expresses everything about the action except the people who involved. For example, the verb stem -noga means “(someone) just now brought something long”. We can see this stem in all of the following:
tsinoga – jii-nooka – I just now brought it (something long).
hinoga – hii-nooka – You just now brought it (something long).
ganoga – kaa-nooka – He/She just now brought it (something
long).
inanoga – iinii-nooka – You and I just now brought it (something
long).
osdinoga – oostii-nooka – He/She and I just now brought it (something
long).
sdinoga – sti-nooka – You two just now brought it (something
long).
idinoga – iitii-nooka – You all and I just now brought it (something
long).
otsinoga – oojii-nooka – They and I just now brought it (something
long).
itsinoga – iijii-nooka – You all just now brought it (something
long).
aninoga – aanii-nooka – They just now brought it (something long).
It is often the case that a verb stem will change its form slightly, depending on which pronominal prefix it occurs with. For example, the verb stem -atsisgovga (-ajiiskooʔvvka) means “(someone) just now told a lie”. Most of the time this stem has the form -atsovga (-ats(i)kooʔvvka), but depending on the pronominal prefix, rules may change the stem. Compare the following for (someone) just now told a lie:
gatsisgovga – k-ajiiskooʔvvka – I just now told a lie
hatsigovga – h-ats(i)kooʔvvka – You just now told a lie
atsigovga – aa-tsi(i)kooʔvvka – He/She just now told a lie
inagovga – iin – ats(i)kooʔvvka – You and I just now told a lie
osdatsigovga – oosd-ats(i)kooʔvvka – He/She and I just now told a
lie
sdatsigovga – sd-ats(i)kooʔvvka – You two just now told a lie
idatsigovga id-ats(i)kooʔvvka – You all and I just now told a
lie
otsatsigovga – ooj-ats(i)kooʔvvka – They and I just now told a lie
itsatsigovga – iij-ats(i)kooʔvvka – You all just now told a lie
anatsigovga – aan-ats(i)kooʔvvka – They just now told a lie
The verb stem itself is made up of several different parts. At the very end of the verb stem is the suffix. The suffix tells when the action of the verb occurred — either right now, some time in the past, at some point in the future, or at no particular time at all. Many of the suffixes also give other kinds of information as well.
Bridges Fam Books 