Arapaho - Inanimate Nouns - Possession

 

To say “my book” or “your shirt”, you must add prefixes to the noun. Examples (with hyphens added for clarity) are:

 

no-wo3ónohoe             my book

he-bíixúút                     your shirt

hi-wo’óh                      his shoe

ne-bíixúút                     my shirt

ho-wo3ónohoe             your book

hi-bíixúút                      her shirt

 

The general rule is:

 

my                   ne- or no-

your                 he- or ho-

his/her             hi-

 

You use ne- and he- when the first vowel of the noun is e or i. You use no- and ho- when the first vowel of the noun is o or u. Note that hi- never changes.

 

Possession and plurals:

 

You can make the nouns plural in the normal way:

 

no-wo3ónohóé-no       my books

he-bíixúút-ono              your shirts

hi-wo’óh-no                 his shoes

 

Exercize: Translate the following sentences into Arapaho:

 

1.  Your bag

2.  Her book

3.  My papers

4.  His chairs

5.  His table

6.  My shoes

7.  Your pants

8.  Her shoes

9.  My chair

10.  Your paper

 

ANSWERS