Munsee/Grammar

Parts of Speech (Brainstorm)

Nouns

• Animate Nouns
• Inanimate Nouns
• Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Pronoun	Uses
nii	me, my, I
kii	you, your
neeka	him, her; his, her; he,she
niilóona	us, our, we
kiilóona	us, our, we
kiilóowa	your
neekáawa	their, them, they

Verbs

• Inanimate Intransitive Verbs (VIIs)
• Animate Intransitive Verbs (VAIs)
• Transitive Inanimate Verbs (VTIs)
• Transitive Animate Verbs (VTAs)

Productive Grammar Rules (Brainstorm)

Plural

• To make an animate noun plural, add 'ak'
• To make an inanimate noun plural, add 'al'

Obviative Endings

• Used to distinguish between 3rd person participants
• Noun without obviative ending (eg: 'al') is the proximate noun that is at the center of the discourse
• This allows for variation in word order to not cause confusion

Making a Noun Possessive

• Singular possessor + Singular animate possession
• Singular possessor + Plural animate possessions
• Plural possessors + Singular or plural animate possession
• Singular possessor + Singular inanimate possession
• Singular possessor + Plural inanimate possessions
• Plural possessors + Singular or plural inanimate possession

Using the Locative Suffix

• -ung
• Turns a noun into a location by adding meaning:
  • 'to the'
  • 'at the'
  • 'in the'
  • 'on the'
• There are rules for the contracted form of -ung

Contraction Rules for ung

Morphemes	Contracted Form
ay + ung	eeng
uy + ung	iing
uw + ung	oong

Using the Absence Suffix

• -aya
• Marks a noun as 'recently deceased'
• Only used on person name nouns and nouns that describe familial relationships (NOT plural or inanimate nouns)
  • Numoxóomus --> My grandfather
  • Nŭmoxoomsáya --> My late grandfather