Long a/e/i Stems27 shiship-pishimᵘ 2024

  1. English
  2. Grammar
  3. Verbs
  4. Verb Stems
  5. VII Stems
  6. Long a/e/i Stems
Observation
mishau it is big, large
ańakuneu it is covered with snow
timiu the water is deep

The verbs above have a stem ending in a, e, or i : misha-, ańakune-, timi-. The final vowels a, e, i of these stems are (historically) long vowels. In this type of stem, we always see the stem vowel, no matter what ending (plural, obviative, conjunct) is added. For example, uapau it is white: uapau, uapaua, uapańu, uapańua, uapat, uapati, uapańit, uapańiti, etc.

EXAMPLES OF II VERBS WITH LONG a STEMS
neiau there is a point apu neiat there is not a point
tipishkau it is night apu tipishkat it is not night
pimau it is twisted pimańu it (obviative) is twisted
akunau it is an overhang apu akunat it is not an overhang
uińipau it is black uińipańu it (obviative) is black
apitau it is purplish apitatshe it must be purplish
pitshau it is far apu pitshat it is not far
kauau it is rough kauańu it (obviative) is rough
EXAMPLES OF II VERBS WITH LONG e STEMS
ńueu it loses air apu ńuet it does not lose air
amipimeu it (grease) overflows apu amipimet it (grease) does not overflow
ańakuneu it is covered in snow apu ańakunet it is not covered in snow
amipeu it overflows apu amipet it does not overflow
uteu it boils apu utet it does not boil
ashtueu it is extinguished ashtueńu it (obviative) is extinguished
sheueu there is an echo apu sheuet there is not an echo
EXAMPLES OF II VERBS WITH LONG i STEMS
timiu the water is deep apu timit the water is not deep
pimatimiu there is a channel apu pimatimit there is not a channel
kushkuatimiu the channel is straight apu kushkuatimit the channel is not straight
natuakamiu there is a large pool in the river natuakamit if there is a large pool in the river
NOTES
  • If most II verbs ending in -iu, when conjugated in the 3rd person singular of the Independent Indicative Present (dictionary form), are long i verbs, some will in fact be long u verbs. For example: atitshiu, pinassiu, uashtessiu, etc. They are indicated in the dictionnary by stem: -u.
  • Many long i stems end with the morphemes –timi- (meaning there is a hollow or a channel in the water) and -kami- (stretch of water).
  • In the dictionary, the phonetic transcriptions of these verbs indicate long vowels with a colon: [a:], [e:], [i:].

related topics
Verb Stems Roots, stems and inflections
Verb Classes Verb conjugations