The Partitive
The partitive always appears at the beginning of a verb and has the general meaning of ‘such’. The basic form is -i- [ee-]. It usually takes the stative aspect, and does not take the punctual aspect, as that requires a modal prefix (e.g., future, factual or optative), or the imperative.
It is used in verbs that refer to numbers
nęh ašęhk iskwahsǫtayeh Then it is three nights.
then three such a number of nights
iskwahsǫtayeh (It is) such a number of nights
[ee-skwah-son-tah-yeh]
i- partitive – such
-skw- repetitive
-ahsǫt- feminine-zoic singular agent: it
-a- noun suffix
-ye- verb root – to number
-h stative aspect
ahšęhk ihenǫh They (m) are three together
three they (m) are together
ihenǫh They (m) are together.
[ee-heh-nonh]
i- partitive – such
-hen- masculine plural agent – they (m)
-ǫ- verb root – to be together, to number
-h stative aspect
iyǫtǫh They say such.
[ee-yon-tonh]
i- partitive – such
-yǫ- feminine-zoic plural agent: they (f)
-tǫ- verb root – to say
-h habitual aspect
irǫmęnyehtiˀ He is a young man[1]
[ee-ron-men-yeh-tee-ee]
i- partitive – such
-r- masculine singular agent: he
-ǫmęnyehti- verb root – to be a young man
-ˀ stative aspect
iweheˀ She wishes, thinks such.
[ee-weh-heh-eh]
iw- partitive – such
-eh- feminine-zoic singular agent: she + verb root – to wish
-eˀ purposive aspect
inęh It is such.
[ee-nenh]
in- partitive – such
-ę- feminine-zoic singular agent: it + verb root – to be
-h stative
iwaˀžah It is a little size.
[ee-wah-ah-zhah]
iw- partitive – such
-a- feminine-zoic singular agent: it + verb root – to be a magnitude
-ˀž- stative aspect
-ah diminutive aspect suffix
[1] The partitive also begins with the verb that means ‘to be a young woman.’