Possession

Jack B. Martin

7 Possession

English has possessive pronouns like my mouth, your mouth, or her mouth. Those pronouns can be used with almost any noun to show possession. Nouns in Mvskoke fall into two groups that are possessed in different ways.

Two types of possessive markers:
cvcukwv	‘my mouth’	vm efv	‘my dog’
cecukwv	‘your mouth’	cem efv	‘your dog’
(e)cukwv	‘his/her/its/their mouth’	em efv	‘his/her/its/their dog’
pucukwv	‘our mouths’	pum efv	‘our dog’

Nouns that refer to parts of one’s body or that show relationship are generally possessed with the prefixes cv– ‘my’, ce– ‘your’, e– ‘his/her/its/their’, and pu– ‘our’. These words usually imply a relationship (like you and your mother or you and your arm). The word hocefkv ‘name’ also uses these prefixes.
When possession indicates ownership, the vm prefixes are usually used.
Not all nouns are possessed. Wild animals, for example, don’t belong to anyone.

**Possession with cv– prefixes: cvcke ‘my mother’**

The prefixes cv– ‘my’, ce– ‘your’, e– ‘his/her/its’, and pu– ‘our’ are generally used for parts of the body and family terms. The prefixes may change their shape slightly based on the following noun.

Before a consonant, cv– ‘my’, ce– ‘your’, e– ‘his/her/its’, and pu– ‘our’ are used.

When a noun begins with e, drop the e and treat it the same way.

Beginning with consonant:		Beginning with e.
hvcko	‘ear’	enke	‘hand’
cvhvcko	‘my ear’	cvnke	‘my hand’
cehvcko	‘his/her/its ear’	enke	‘his /her/its hand’
(e)hvcko	‘his/her/its ear’	enke	‘his/her/its hand’
puhvcko	‘our ears’	punke	‘our hands’

When a word begins with ē, drop the ē and lengthen the prefix.

Beginning with ē:
ēwvnwv	‘sister’
cawvnwv	‘my sister’
cēwvnwv	‘your sister’
ēwvnwv	‘his sister’
powvnwv	‘our sister’

When a noun begins with o or a, the prefixes have the shape vc– ‘my’, ec– ‘your’, and ep– ‘our’.

Beginning with o or a:
onvpv	‘above’
vconvpv	‘above me’
econvpv	‘above you’
onvpv	‘above him/her/it’
eponvpv	‘above us’

A noun phrase like mv efv ‘that dog’ can also be a possessor. In this case, the possessor precedes the possessed noun, and the third person possessed form is used.

mv	efv	(e)hvcko
that	dog	its ear(s)
‘that dog’s ear(s)’

**Possession with vm prefixes: vm efv ‘my dog’**

The prefixes vm ‘my’, cem ‘your’, em ‘his/her/its’, and pum ‘our’ generally show possession with an item that can be transferred. The prefixes change their shape slightly based on the following noun.

Before vowels and m, the prefixes end in m.

Before vowels:		Before m:
atvme	‘car’	mēkko	‘chief’
vm atvme	‘my car’	vm mēkko	‘my chief’
cem atvme	‘your car’	cem mēkko	‘your chief’
em atvme	‘his/her/its/their car’	em mēkko	‘his/her/their chief’
pum atvme	‘our car’	pum mēkko	‘our chief’

Before most other consonants, the prefixes end in n.

cuko	‘house’	fuswv	‘bird’
vncuko	‘my house’	vnfuswv	‘my bird’
cencuko	‘your house’	cenfuswv	‘your bird’
encuko	‘his/her house’	enfuswv	‘his/her/their bird’
puncuko	‘our house’	punfuswv	‘our bird’

Hesaketvmesē	‘God’	kapv	‘coat’
vn Hesaketvmesē	‘my God’	vnkapv	‘my coat’
cen Hesaketvmesē	‘your God’	cenkapv	‘your coat’
en Hesaketvmesē	‘his/her/their God’	enkapv	‘his/her/its/their coat’
pun Hesaketvmesē	‘our God’	punkapv	‘our coat’

Before p, speakers may use the forms ending in m or n.

A noun phrase like mv honvnwv ‘that man’ can also be a possessor. In this case, the possessor comes first, and the possessed item uses the third person possessed form.

mv	honvnwv	em efv
that	man	his dog
‘that man’s dog’

**Nouns taking cv- or vm prefixes**

Some nouns are possessed with cv– ‘my’, ce– ‘your’, e– ‘his/her/its’, and pu– ‘our’. Others are possessed with vm ‘my’, cem ‘your’, em ‘his/her/its’, and pum ‘our’.

Aside from vntalv ‘my rib’, most parts of the body use cv- prefixes.

cukhesse	‘beard’	cvcukhesse	‘my beard’
cukhvrpe	‘lip’	cvcukhvrpe	‘my lip’
cukwv	‘mouth’	cvcukwv	‘my mouth’
ekisse	‘his/her hair’	cvkisse	‘my head hair’
eke	‘his/her head’	cvkv	‘my head’
ekv-homv	‘his/her forehead’	cvkv-homv	‘my forehead’
ele	‘his/her foot’	cvle	‘my foot’
ena	‘his/her body’	cvna	‘my body’
enke	‘his/her hand’	cvnk	‘my hand’
enke-wesakv	‘finger’	cvnke-wesakv	‘my finger’
enkososowv	‘his/her fingernail’	cvnkososowv	‘my fingernail’
enkvperv	‘his/her right hand’	cvnkvperv	‘my right hand’
era	‘his/her back’	cvra	‘my back’
etetackv	‘waist’	cvtetackv	‘my waist’
etuce	‘his/her kidney’	cvtuce	‘my kidney’
fēke	‘heart’	cvfēke	‘my heart’
focowv	‘navel’	cvfocowv	‘my navel’
folowv	‘shoulder’	cvfolowv	‘my shoulder’
fune	‘bone’	cvfune	‘my bone’
hokpe	‘chest’	cvhokpe	‘my chest’
hvce	‘tail’	cvhvce	‘my tail’
hvcko	‘ear’	cvhvcko	‘my ear’
hvfe	‘thigh’	cvhvfe	‘my thigh’
hvrpe	‘skin’	cvhvrpe	‘my skin’
lupe	‘his/her liver’	cvlupe	‘my liver’
lvcce	‘limb’	cvlvcce	‘my limb’
nukwv	‘neck’	cvnukwv	‘my neck’
nute	‘tooth’	cvnute	‘my tooth’
nvce	‘side’	cvnvce	‘my side’
nvrke	‘stomach’	cvnvrke	‘my stomach’
pesē	‘breast’	cvpesē	‘my breast’
sakpv	‘arm’	cvsakpv	‘my arm’
torofv	‘face’	cvtorofv	‘my face’
turkowv	‘knee’	cvturkowv	‘my knee’
turwv	‘eye’	cvturwv	‘my eye’
tvrpv	‘wing’	cvtvrpv	‘my wing’
yupo	‘nose’	cvyupo	‘my nose’
yvnvwv	‘cheek’	cvyvnvwv	‘my cheek’
yvpe	‘horn’	cvyvpe	‘my horn’

Family terms often use cv- prefixes.

ecerwv	‘her brother’	cvcerwv	‘my brother (of a woman)’
ecuse	‘his/her younger same-sex sibling’	cvcuse	‘my younger same-sex sibling’
eccuste	‘his daughter’	cvccuste	‘my daughter’
ecke	‘his/her mother’	cvcke	‘my mother’
ecke-vhakv	‘his/her step-mother’	cvcke-vhakv	‘my step-mother’
eckuce	‘his/her aunt’	cvckuce	‘my aunt’
ehiwv	‘his/her wife’	cvhiwv	‘my wife’
ehe	‘his/her husband’	cvhe	‘my husband’
ena-hvmke	‘his/her cousin, relative’	cvna-hvmke	‘my cousin, relative’
epvwv	‘his/her mother’s brother’	cvpvwv	‘my mother’s brother’
puca	‘grandfather’	cvpuca	‘my grandfather’
puse	‘grandmother’	cvpuse	‘my grandmother’
eppuce	‘his/her son’	cvppuce	‘my son’
ervhv	‘his/her older same-sex sibling’	cvrvhv	‘my elder same-sex sibling’
erke	‘his/her father’	cvrke	‘my father’
erkuce	‘his/her father’s brother’	cvrkuce	‘my father’s brother, step-father’
ēwvnwv	‘his sister’	cawvnwv	‘my sister’

BUT some family terms use vm prefixes. Some of these require an vm prefix.

enhvtese	‘his/her daughter-in-law, son-in-law’	vnhvtese	‘my daughter-in-law, my son-in-law’
enhoktvlwv	‘his/her mother-in-law’	vnhoktvlwv	‘my mother-in-law’
enhopuewv	‘his nephew’	vnhopuewv	‘my nephew (of a man)’
ennake	‘his/her kin, blood relative’	vnnake	‘my kin, my blood relative’
emosuswv	‘his/her grandchild’	vmosuswv	‘my grandchild’
empvlse	‘his/her partner, spouse’	vmpvlse	‘my partner, spouse’
mamv	‘mom’	vm mamv	‘my mom’
tatv	‘dad’	vntatv	‘my dad’

The following nouns are not parts of the body or family terms, but they take cv- prefixes.

hute	‘container, home’	cvhute	‘my container, my home’
hvpo	‘camp’	cvhvpo	‘my camp’
hocefkv	‘name’	cvhocefkv	‘my name’
ele-hvpo	‘footprint’	cvle-hvpo	‘my footprints’
nake	‘thing’	cvnake	‘my thing, mine’
pucase	‘lord, master’	cvpucase	‘my lord, master’

Most other nouns take vm prefixes.

atvme	‘car’	vm atvme	‘my car’
vculkv	‘age’	vm vculkv	‘my age’
vpēttē	‘shadow’	vm vpēttē	‘my shadow’
cuko	‘house’	vncuko	‘my house’
cokv	‘book’	vncokv	‘my book’
hvtekpikv	‘pants’	vnhvtekpikv	‘my pants’
Hesaketvmesē	‘God’	vn Hesaketvmesē	‘my God’
enhesse	‘his/her friend’	vnhesse	‘my friend’
homahtv	‘leader’	vnhomahtv	‘my leader’
honnv	‘dress’	vnhonnv	‘my dress’
efv	‘dog’	vm efv	‘my dog’
estelepikv	‘shoe’	vm estelepikv	‘my shoes’
estuce	‘baby’	vm estuce	‘my baby’
estvlke	‘people’	vm estvlke	‘my people’
etvlwv	‘nation’	vm etvlwv	‘my nation’
eteliketv	‘clan’	vm eteliketv	‘my clan’
enkvpetvne	‘his/her boss’	vnkvpetvne	‘my boss’
mvhayv	‘teacher’	vm mvhayv	‘my teacher’
mēkko	‘chief’	vm mēkko	‘my chief’
poyvfekcv	‘spirit’	vm poyvfekcv	‘my spirit’

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Possession with cv– prefixes: cvcke ‘my mother’

Possession with vm prefixes: vm efv ‘my dog’

Nouns taking cv- or vm prefixes

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**Possession with cv– prefixes: cvcke ‘my mother’**

**Possession with vm prefixes: vm efv ‘my dog’**

**Nouns taking cv- or vm prefixes**