III. Transitive Inanimate Verbs (VTI)

Transitive Inanimate Verbs are classified as such because 1) they are transitive verbs (i.e. they have both a subject and an object), and 2) the object of the verb refers to a (grammatically) inanimate participant. Since VTI stems do refer to an animate subject, they show the full range of first, second and third person marking, while there are no differences based on the number (singular or plural) of the inanimate object. Just like VAI stems, then, a full VTI paradigm consists of Independent, Conjunct indicative and future conditional forms, and the Imperative.

There are three main types of VTI verb stems which will thus be subclassified as VTI₁, VTI₂, and VTI₃.

Regular or Consonant-Final VTI Stems (VTI₁)

The first and by far the most common subclass of VTI stem always end in a consonant. This stem, however, is never a complete word in Cree, but requires various person marking affixes to used as a full utterance. The examples in (1) and (2) show the stems forms along with second person singular acting on an inanimate object (2s-0) Immediate Imperative forms, as marked by the ending -a, and third person singular acting on an obviative inanimate object (3s-0′) Independent, as marked by the ending -am.

(1)  niton-   “to see look for s.t.”           nitona   “look for it!”            nitonam    “s/he looks for it.”

(2)  otin-   “to take s.t.”                          otina   “take it!”                   otinam    “s/he takes it.”

The full paradigms will be provided in the own dedicated VTI₁ page.

/ā/-Final VTI Stems (VTI₂)

A smaller but still substantial subclass of VTI stems end in an /ā/. These VTI₂ stems occur in paradigms identical with VAI₁ stems and have sometimes been identified as VAI stems (or VAI-), VAIt, etc. since they are marked just like VAI stems but they are indeed transitive. The examples in (3) and (4) show the stems forms along with second person singular acting on an inanimate object (2s-0) Immediate Imperative forms, which require no change from the stem, and third person singular acting on an obviative inanimate object (3s-0′) Independent, as marked by the ending -w.

(3)  kitā-   “to eat all of s.t.”                 kitā   “eat all of it!”               kitāw    “s/he eats all of it.”

(4)  osīhtā-   “to make s.t.”                  osīhtā   “make it!”                osīhtāw    “s/he makes it.”

/i/-Final VTI Stems (VTI₃)

Finally, a very limited number of transitive inanimate stems end in an /i/, including diminutivized VTI stems, which remain transitive. Again, these stems pattern exactly like VAI₁ stems. As such, the examples in (5) and (6) again show the stems forms along with second person singular acting on an inanimate object (2s-0) Immediate Imperative forms, which require no change from the stem, and third person singular acting on an obviative inanimate object (3s-0′) Independent, as marked by the ending -w.

(5)  mīci-   “eat s.t.”                                    mīci   “eat it!”                               mīciw    “s/he eats it.”

(6)  ācocasi-   “to tell a little about s.t.”     ācocasi   “tell a little about it!”     ācocasiw    “s/he tells a little about it.”

 

Each of these stem types will be more fully described and exemplified on their own respective page:

VTI₁      regular / consonant-final transitive inanimate stems

VTI₂      /ā/-final transitive inanimate stems

VTI₃      /i/-final transitive inanimate stems