Lesson 8.1: Personal Affixes

Prefix ni–

The prefix ni- marks the first person, “I, me.”

nibalutela

ni-balu-te-la

1:ABS-live-tns-dec

I live.

The prefix ni– plus the suffix –bo makes the verb into a plural first person:

nibalubotela

ni–balu-bo–te-la

1:ABS-live-PL:ABS-tns-part

We live.

Notice how that works in other verbs (Click on the Timucua words to hear them spoken):

nimanela

ni-mane-la

1:ABS-think-dec

I think.

nimanibola

ni-mani-bo-la

1:ABS-think-PL:ABS-dec

We think.

nimitela

ni–mi-te-la

1:ABS-go-tns-dec

I go.

nimibotela

ni-mi-bo-te-la

1:ABS-go-PL:ABS-tns-dec

We go.

The prefix chi–

The prefix chi– marks the second person and, like the first person prefix ni-, it is made plural by the suffix –bo. (Click on the Timucua words to hear them spoken)

chibalutela

chi-balu-te-la

2:ABS-live-tns-dec

You live.

chibalubotela

chi-balu-bo-te-la

2:ABS- live-PL:ABS-tns-dec

You all live.

chimitela

chi-mi-te-la

2:ABS-go-tns-dec

You go.

chimibotela

chi-mi-bo-te-la

2:ABS-go-PL:ABS-tns-dec

You all go.

The suffix -mo ~ –ma

The third-person plural subject, “they,” comes in two forms, –mo and –ma. It works differently than the first and second person markers. Unlike ni– and chi-, –mo is a suffix and goes after the verb stem. When appearing directly before the –la suffix, –mo becomes –ma. This suffix also comes after the default tense marker –te (sometimes. –ta). We will be discussing the order of all the suffixes in a later chapter.