In addition to the past and future prefixes, Arapaho has many other prefixes that alter the meaning of verbs. These prefixes always come after heet- and nih- if they are present. Examples include:

 

tonoo-	almost (as in almost did something, but avoided it)
noosou-	still (doing something)
nii-	habitually do something, as a rule
niitecó'on-	"always" do something
henéé3nee-	very (often used with "descriptive" verbs)
nonó'ot-	lots (often used with "action" verbs)
nóówoh-	like to (do something)
benéet(oh)-	want to (do something)
won-	be on the way to do something
(nii)ni'-	able to (do something)

 

There are many other such forms, but these are useful ones to learn right now. Here are some examples of the prefixes being used:

 

nih-to'óótowoo	I have struck it
nih-too-to'óótowoo	I almost struck it
hiinóno'éítinoo	I'm speaking Arapaho (right now)
nii-(te)có'oní-ínono'éítinoo	I'm always speaking Arapaho
heetn-ootoonóótowoo	I will buy it
héét-won-ootóònóótowoo	I will go to buy it
heniinókotiit	He is playing
noowoh-'iinókotiit	He likes to play (nii-nowoh- > noowoh-)

 

These forms also follow -hoow- and koo-:

 

Koo-he-nihi'kóó(hu)	Are you running?
Koo-he-béét-nihi'koo(hu)	Do you want to run?
Néíhoow-noohóót	I don't see it
Neihoowu-ni'-noohóót	I'm not able to see it.

 

In general, the rule for using these prefixes is:

1. Determine if the word already has a prefix such as heet-, nih-, koo-, or -hoow-: nihto'óótowoo- nih - to'óóto - woo

2. Add the prefix to the word between the original prefix and the root: nih-tonoo-to’ooto-woo

3. Adjust the sounds: nih-too-to’ootowoo

 

 

No exercises are available for this section yet, but you can:

Continue on to Lesson Eleven