Since we've now started to name objects, we can begin to talk about transitive verbs - that is, verbs that involve one thing acting on another thing, or verbs which take an object. For example, in Arapaho you can say:

 

nonoohóót-owoo tóuyóó	I see the cup
woo3onóh-ow he-niisih'íít	You are writing your name

 

The forms for the personal pronouns are suffixed to the verb. Using nonoohoot- (see), the forms are:

 

nonoohóót-owoo	I see it
nonoohóót-ow	You see it
nonoohóót-o'	S/he sees it
nonoohóót-owuni'	We see it [some say nonoohoot-owuni']
nonóóh-owu'	(same as above) [some say nonooh-owuni']
nonoohóót-owuno'	We(incl) see it
nonoohóót-owunee	You(pl) see it
nonoohóot-óu'u	They see it

 

The -o- after the verb root can be thought of as "it," and the rest of the endings correspond to the different persons. Other examples are as follows:

 

nénii3ín-owoo	I have it.
níit-ó'	He is afraid of it.
hiitét-ow	You are coming to it.
hiitét-owunee	You(pl) are coming to it.

 

Note that these verbs are used only with inanimate objects. Here is a list of some very common TI verbs:

 

he'in-	know it
nii3in-	have it (with you)
noohoot-	see it
wo3onoh-	write it
hotoonoot-	buy it
hitet-	get it, take it, get to it
to'oot-	hit it
cesin-	drop it
wo'ten-	pick it up

 

Again, as we have seen before, these verbs can be used for questions and "no" responses, with the suffixes being replaced by prefixes. The system works almost exactly like it does for AI verbs, except that the special negative suffixes are different when more than one person is being talked about.

 

too'óót-owoo	I have struck it once.
néíhoow-to'óót	I have not (just) struck it.

nenii3ín-owunee	You two have it.
héíhoowu-nii3in-éébe	You(pl) don't have it.
hoowu-nii3ín-owuu	They don't have it.

nonoohóót-ow	You see it.
koohe-noohóót	Do you see it?
koohe-noohóob-éébe	Do you(pl) see it?

 

The full set of forms is:

 

neihoow-noohóót	I don't see it
heihoow-noohóót	You don't see it
hoow-noohóót	S/he doesn't see it
neihoow-noohóot-éébe	We don't see it
heihoow-noohóót-ow	We(incl) don't see it
heihoow-noohóot-éébe	You(pl) don't see it
hoow-noohóót-owuu	They don't see it

koono-noohóót	Do I see it?
kooho-noohóót	Do you see it?
koo-noohóót	Does s/he see it?
koono-noohóot-éébe	Do we see it?
kooho-noohóót-ow	Do we(incl) see it?
kooho-noohóot-éébe	Do you(pl)see it?
koo-noohóót-owuu	Do they see it?

 

 

Exercises for Lesson Six