Noun Stems

Alutiiq speakers add suffixes to nouns in order to add or change meanings and create new words. A student of Alutiiq can learn how to add suffixes to a noun by memorizing a few rules. To add a suffix to a noun or verb you must be able to first strip it to its stem. A stem is the basic unit of a word, but it is not a word on its own. It can only be paired with one or a number of suffixes to create a word. Suffixes will be added to the end of a word stem similar to the way "dog" becomes "dogs" in English - only it is a little more complicated.

Before we discuss suffixes, we will discuss how to find the noun stem. Most noun stems follow a predictable pattern:

If...	Then...	For Example...
The noun ends in q	drop the q and add an r	arwaq (whale) stem: arwar
The noun ends in k	drop the k and add a g	iqalluk (salmon) stem: iqallug
The noun ends in an n	No strict formula, but it will have a stem that ends in te	igarsuun (piece of chalk) stem: igarsuute
The noun ends in ta	drop the a and add e	piugta (dog) stem: piugte
Any other consonant plus a	There is no regular pattern. But these nouns are rare, so they can be remembered individually	nuna (land) stem: nuna neqa (food) stem: neqe

 

Now that you know how to find a noun's stem, you can begin adding suffixes. Or, you can learn how to find verb stems.