Example Words

tshekuan	something	tshekuannu	something (obviative)
nimin	I drink	niminnan	we drink
nutapan	my car	nutapannan	our car
shiuenu niminushim	my cat is hungry	shiuennua uminushima	his/her cat is hungry
nimashinaikan	my book	nimashinaikannan	our book
uikan nuiashim	my meat is good	uikannu uiashim	his/her meat is good
tshitakun	you (sg) photograph me	tshitakunnau	you (pl) photograph me

Description of the Problem

In Innu, there aren’t many double consonants; a vowel is often written between two consonants, even if the vowel isn’t pronounced. For example, pimi lard, nuapamimau I see the other one, niteniten I think something. However, an unpronounced vowel is not written between two n consonants.

This spelling difficulty can be illustrated in two parts:

• double n consonants that are part of the lexical spelling, that is, found within the word;
• double n consonants that result from the addition of a suffix that begins with n to a word or root ending in n.

Double n as part of the word

When Innu spelling was being standardized, the decision was made for two n consonants pronounced without a vowel between them to be written nn. Here are some examples.

EXAMPLES OF WORDS CONTAINING DOUBLE n

innu	human, Innu, First Nations person	inniminan	blueberry
innipi	freshwater	inn	extremely
manneu	s/he takes something away	uinnueu	s/he hates to see him/her
uinnakuan	something is dirty	uinn	subcutaneous fat
utenni	his/her language	tatipanneu	s/he sorts things
shinneu	s/he gets the contents out by pressing on it	atimunnish	monkey

DIFFICULTY
In most dialects, we hear both n consonants when the words are pronounced. However, in the Mamit dialects, we only pronounce one n. Speakers of these dialects must therefore pay attention to words that are spelled with two n consonants.

Tool

The Innu Dictionary is the best tool for learning how to write a word that contains the double n. It’s even possible to run a search in the dictionary to find most of the words that contain these doubled consonants.

Learning Strategy for Double n

A good way to learn the spelling of words that have the double n is to identify roots that contain them, and to learn these spellings. This is a good technique for learning the spelling of many words in the same root family, such as words related to innu human, First Nations person, to live, etc. to uinn fat, dirty.

Teaching

It can be useful to create lists of words that contain two n consonants that don’t come from the addition of a suffix.

Double n created by the addition of a suffix

tshekuan	+	ńuobviative	=	tshekuanńu	something
shiueń–	+	ńuaobviative	=	shiueńńua	the other one is hungry
apu papań–	+	ńitiobviative	=	apu papańńiti	the other one can’t manage/the other one isn’t coming
nutapan–	+	nan1st person plural	=	nutapannan	our car
nimin–	+	nan1st person plural	=	niminnan	we drink
tshitakun–	+	nau2nd person plural	=	tshitakunnau	you (pl.) photograph me
tshimiń–	+	nan1st person plural	=	tshimińnan	you (sg.) give us something
tshiuepań–	+	nanuindefinite	=	tshiuepańnanu	we’re going

In order to write inflected words (words that take a grammatical marker) correctly, we must be aware that we are adding a suffix beginning with the letter n to a word that already contains an n at the end. This can be noted in the examples below where the words in the right-hand column (in grey) take a suffix that begins with an n:

EXAMPLES OF WORDS CONTAINING TWO n CONSONANTS due to the addition of a suffix

utapana	cars	utapanńu	the other car
shiueńu	s/he is hungry	shiueńńa	the other one is hungry
nimukumana	my knives	nimukumannan	our knife
tshimińauau	you (pl) give him something	tshimińnau	you (pl) give me something
nikańanan	we hide something	tshikańnan	you (pl) hide something from us
unipańu	s/he is mistaken	unipańnanu	we are mistaken
atussenanu	we work	atussenanńu etati	we work (obviative) when s/he is there
petakanu	we hear something	petakanńu unikamun	we hear his/her song
auen	who, someone	auenńua	someone (else)
eukuan	here is…	eukuanńu	here is…(the other one)

Here are the main suffixes that begin with an n and which can be added to a word or stem ending in n:

• the obviative -ń suffix which can be added to nouns, pronouns and verbs:
  

  neńua umassinńua	these shoes; the other’s shoes
  takushinńipani ute auenńua	someone (else) came here;
  shiueńńua neńua	that one (the other one) is hungry;
  apu unipańńiti neńua	that one (the other one) is not mistaken;
  atussenanńu etati	we work (obviative) when s/he is there;

• -nan and -nan suffixes of the 1^st and 2^nd person plural, which we use with possessive nouns and conjugated verbs:
  

  nimashinaikannan	tshimashinaikannan	tshimashinaikannuau
  our book	our book (yours and mine)	your (pl) book
  nuńakannana	tshuńakannana	tshuńakannuaua
  our glasses	our glasses (yours and mine)	your (pl) glasses
  nishiueńnan	tshishiueńnan	tshishiueńnau
  we (without you) are hungry	we (with you) are hungry	you (pl) are hungry
  niminnan	tshiminnan	tshiminnau
  we (without you) drink	we (with you) drink	you (pl) drink
  tshikańnan	tshikańnau	tshikańnanitshe
  you (pl) hide me, you (sg) hide us	you (pl) hide me	you (pl) must hide us
  tshitakunnan	tshitakunnau
  you (pl) photograph us, you (sg) photograph us	you (pl) photograph me

• suffixes for indefinite subject verbs: -nanu, -nanipan, -nanishapan, etc., in the independent; -nanut, -nanuti, etc., in the conjunct; the obviative forms of these indefinite suffixes: -nannu, -nannipan, -nannishapan, etc., in the independent; -nannut, -nannuti, etc., in the conjunct.
  

  shiueńnanu	shiueńnanikupan	apu shiueńnanut
  we are hungry	we should be hungry	we are not hungry
  minnanu	minnanipan	apu minnanut
  we drink	we drank	we don’t drink

Teaching

Double n consonants that result because of the addition of a suffix beginning with n to a word or stem ending in n should be a specific topic of instruction, especially for the Mamit dialects, where double n consonants are not pronounced.