Noun number

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Nouns are inflected with suffixes to be singular or plural, depending on their grammatical gender classifications (animate or inanimate).[1]

Singular Plural
Animate -wa -iksi
Inanimate -yi -istsi

Examples:

póósa ‘cat’

póósiksi ‘cats’

í’ksisakoyi ‘meat’

í’ksisakoistsi ‘meats’

Possession

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To denote possession of a noun, certain prefixes and suffixes are added.[2]

Singular Plural
1st (inclusive) n-/nit-  n-/nit-…-in:a:n
1st (exclusive) k-/kit-...-in:o:n
2nd k-/kit- k-/kit-...-oa:wa
3rd w-/ot- w-/ot-…-oa:wa

Example:

ookóówayi 'home' → kookóówayi 'your (singular) home'

Inflection of intransitive verbs

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Intransitive verbs in Blackfoot are inflected with prefixes and/or suffixes to distinguish person.[3]

Two first-person plurals exist in Blackfoot: ‘we’ including the addressee, and ‘we’ excluding the addressee (i.e. “us and you” and “us but not you”).[4]

Blackfoot distinguishes between second-person plural and singular.[5]

Singular Plural
1st (inclusive) nit- -'pa
1st (exclusive) -nit-...-hpinn
2nd kit- kit-...-hpowa
3rd -wa kit-...-ywa

Examples:

áakitapoo’pa ookóówaawayi  ‘we (including you) go to their house’

nitáakitapoohpinnaan ookóówaawayi  ‘we (not including you) go to their house’

  1. ^ Frantz (1997:2)
  2. ^ Frantz (1997:14)
  3. ^ Frantz (1997:3)
  4. ^ Frantz (1997:3)
  5. ^ Frantz (1997:3)