Noun Possession
Relationships between nouns described in English as ‘possession’ are communicated in
Anishinaabemowin by means of prefixes and suffixes attached to nouns.
The prefixes and suffixes are attached to the possessed noun. The prefixes specify the
person of the possessor, and the suffixes specify plural number of the possessor and of
whatever is possessed.
The form of the person prefixes (e.g., ni , ind, in , or im for first person ) is according to
the rules specified on the person prefixes handout.
Possession of Singular Animate (zhiishiib ‘duck’)
(n)inzhiishiibim ‘my duck’ my (n)in __ (im)
gizhiishiibim ‘your duck’ your gi __ (im)
ozhiishiibiman ‘her/his duck’ her/his o __ (im)an
(n)inzhiishiibiminaan ‘our duck’ our (not your) (n)in __ (im)inaan
gizhiishiibiminaan ‘our duck’ our (yours too) gi __ (im)inaan
gizhiishiibimiwaa ‘your duck’ your (pl.) gi __ (im)iwaa
ozhiishiibimiwaan ‘their duck’ their o __ (im)iwaan
Possession of Singular Inanimate (jiimaan ‘boat’)
(n)injiimaan ‘my boat’ my (n)in __ (im)
gijiimaan ‘your boat’ your gi __ (im)
ojiimaan ‘her/his boat’ her/his o __ (im)
(n)injiimaaninaan ‘our boat’ our (not your) (n)in __ (im)inaan
gijiimaaninaan ‘our boat’ our (yours too) gi __ (im)inaan
gijiimaaniwaa ‘your boat’ your (pl.) gi __ (im)iwaa
ojiimaaniwaa ‘their boat’ their o __ (im)iwaa
Notes on Possessed Nouns Page 2
Analysis of Elements
Prefixes
(n)in first person possessor
gi second person possessor
o third person possessor
Suffixes
Plural Markers
inaan first person plural possessor
iwaa second, third person plural possessor
Out of Focus (4th person, obviative) Marker (only on animates)
an out of focus (obviative) marker
Possession Marker
im possession marker
Out of Focus (4th Person, Obviative) Suffix
The out of focus (4th person) marker appears on any animate third person possessed by a
third person. Only one animate third person at any given time can be in focus, and the rule
for possession is simple and inviolable: the possessor is more grammatically in focus
than the possessed.
The Form of the out of focus suffix. The out of focus (obviative) suffix can always
be readily determined by examining the plural of a noun. To create the out of focus suffix,
simply change the final g of the plural to n. Examples follow
Item English Plural Out of Focus Form
akik ‘kettle’ akikoog akikoon
asab ‘net’ asabiig asabiin
mitig ‘tree’ mitigoog mitigoon
inini ‘man’ ininiwag ininiwan
akiwenzii ‘old man’ akiwenziiyag akiwenziiyan
baaka’aakwenh ‘chicken’ baaka’aakwenyag baaka’aakwenyan
zhigaag ‘skunk’ zhigaagwag zhigaagwan
Notes on Possessed Nouns Page 3
The Possession Marker
The possession marker is a special ending that is put on many (but not all!) nouns when
they are possessed. In some dialects its use is optional, but in some dialects it is
obligatorily added to all nouns which qualify for its addition.
The rules for when to add the possession marker are most easily stated by specifying which
nouns don’t take it, the assumption being that all other nouns do. The rules for Mille Lacs,
Minnesota (based on Nichols 1980) are as follows:
1. Dependent nouns do not take the possession marker. So, for example:
nimishoomis ‘my grandfather’
nimaamaa ‘my mother’
2. Nouns that end in n or m do not take the possession marker. So, for example:
injiimaan ‘my boat’ jiimaan ‘boat’
indaagim ‘my snowshoe’ aagim ‘snowshoe’
nimakizin ‘my shoe’ makizin ‘shoe’
3. A set of somewhat traditional terms also do not take the marker:
akik ‘kettle’ indakik ‘my kettle’
anit ‘fish spear’ indanit ‘my fish spear’
abwi ‘paddle’ indabwi ‘my paddle’
asab ‘net’ indasab ‘my net’
asemaa ‘tobacco’ indasemaa ‘my tobacco’
makak ‘box’ nimakak ‘my box’
mashkimod ‘bag’ nimashkimod ‘my bag’
mitigwaab ‘bow’ nimitigwaab ‘my bow (archery)’
bikwak ‘arrow’ imbikwak ‘my arrow’
Note that even when the nouns of (2) and (3), above, are made diminutive, which makes
them so they no longer end in m or n, they still do not take the possession marker, for
example:
nimakizinens ‘my little shoe’
injiimaanens ‘my little boat’
indakikoons ‘my little ‘pail’
indabwiins ‘my little paddle’
Notes on Possessed Nouns Page 4
The Form of the Possession Marker
The possession marker has two basic forms, im and om. To determine which form is
appropriate for a given noun, you need to consider the plural again. If the singular ends in a
consonant and the plural shows a w after that consonant, as in
nigig ‘otter nigigwag ‘otters
zhigaag ‘skunk’ zhigaagwag ‘skunks’
wazhashk ‘muskrat’ wazhashkwag ‘muskrats’
or the plural suffix has a long oo in it, as in
waabooz ‘rabbit’ waaboozoog ‘rabbits’
mooz ‘moose’ moozoog ‘moose (pl.)’
mitig ‘tree’ mitigoog ‘trees’
then the possessive form will have om, as in
ninigigom ‘my otter’ inzhigaagom ‘my skunk’
niwaaboozom ‘my rabbit’ nimoozom ‘my moose’
Otherwise, the form of the possessor suffix is most commonly im , as in the following
examples.
Item English Plural Possessed Form ‘my…’
zhiishiib ‘duck’ zhiishiibag inzhiishiibim
gwiiwizens ‘boy’ gwiiwizensag ingwiiwizensim
bizhiw ‘lynx’ bizhiwag imbizhiwim
There are, however, several other subclasses of nouns that show variability in the form of
the possession marker. It is beyond the goals of our introductory course to explain them all
(though all can be explained!), but a few examples are presented here.
Item English Plural Possessed Form, ‘my…’
baaka’aakwenh ‘chicken’ baaka’aakwenyag imbaaka’aakwenyim
inini ‘man’ ininiwag indininiim
makwa ‘bear’ makwag nimakom
oodena ‘town’ oodenawan indoodenaam
bigiw ‘pitch’ bigiwan imbigiim, imbigiwim
aki ‘earth, land’ akiin indakiim
asin ‘stone, rock’ asiniig indasiniim
Notes on Possessed Nouns Page 5
Note that the out of focus marker (an) comes after the possessor marker:
ozhiishiibiman ‘his/her duck’ zhiishiib ‘duck’
odasiniiman ‘his/her stone’ asin ‘stone, rock’
The Plural Possessor Suffixes
The plural possessor suffixes naan and waa are attached to a stem ending in a consonant
by means of a connective vowel, which may be i or o (or in exceptional cases, other
vowels). The rules for determining which vowel to use are the same as those outlined for
the possession marker. Here are some examples using the first person plural suffix, naan .
Item English Plural Possessed Form, ‘our…’
akik ‘kettle’ akikoog indakiko naan
makak ‘box’ makakoon nimakako naan
nibaagan ‘bed’ nibaaganan ninibaagani naan
opwaagan ‘pipe’ opwaaganag indoopwaagani naan
giigoonh ‘fish’ giigoonyag ingiigoonyimi naan
The Plural Possessed Suffixes
Forms showing plural possessed items are as follows. Note that I have chosen two words
that sound identical but differ only on the basis of their gender, i.e., whether they are
animate or inanimate, in order to highlight the differences between animates and
inanimates.
Animate, mitig ‘tree’ (simple plural, mitigoog)
my nimitigomag ‘my trees’ ni __ (im)ag
your gimitigomag ‘your trees’ gi __ (im)ag
her/his omitigoman ‘her/his trees’ o __ (im)an
our (not your) nimitigominaanig ‘our trees’ ni __ (im)inaanig
our (yours too) gimitigominaanig ‘our trees’ gi __ (im)inaanig
your (pl.) gimitigomiwaag ‘your trees’ gi __ (im)iwaag
their omitigomiwaan ‘their trees’ o __ (im)iwaan
Notes on Possessed Nouns Page 6
Inanimate, mitig ‘stick’ (simple plural, mitigoon)
my nimitigoman ‘my sticks’ ni __ (im)an
your gimitigoman ‘your sticks’ gi __ (im)an
her/his omitigoman ‘her/his sticks’ o __ (im)an
our (not your) nimitigominaanin ‘our sticks’ ni __ (im)inaanin
our (yours too) gimitigominaanin ‘our sticks’ gi __ (im)inaanin
your (pl.) gimitigomiwaan ‘your sticks’ gi __ (im)iwaan
their omitigomiwaan ‘their sticks’ o __ (im)iwaan
Template for Possession
Basically, we can outline the full system quite simply, as follows:
Person Stem Possession Possessor Possessed
Prefix Marker Plural Plural
(n)in ___ im/om inaan/onaan ig
gi iwaa/owaa in
o
Additional Examples
There is, of course, more to the picture than I have presented here. But this will do for
starters. Here are some more examples showing various quirks.
zhigaag ‘skunk’
inzhigaagom inzhigaagomag
gizhigaagom gizhigaagomag
ozhigaagoman
inzhigaagominaan inzhigaagominaanig
gizhigaagominaan gizhigaagominaanig
gizhigaagomiwaa gizhigaagomiwaag
ozhigaagomiwaan
Notes on Possessed Nouns Page 7
bizhiki ‘cow’
imbizhikiim imbizhikiimag
gibizhikiim gibizhikiimag
obizhikiiman
imbizhikiiminaan imbizhikiiminaanig
gibizhikiiminaan gibizhikiiminaanig
gibizhikiimiwaa gibizhikiimiwaag
obizhikiimiwaan
opin ‘potato’
indoopin indoopiniig
gidoopin gidoopiniig
odoopiniin
indoopiniinaan indoopiniinaanig
gidoopiniinaan gidoopiniinaanig
gidoopiniiwaa gidoopiniiwaag
odoopiniiwaan
