Meadow Mari - Possessive Suffixes

Meadow Mari Possessive Suffixes

**For words that end in a stressed vowel**
	Singular	Plural
1st person	~м	~на
2nd person	~т	~да
3rd person	~же, ~жо, ~жö	~шт

NB. The stress on the last vowel shifts in the 1st and 2nd plural persons to the vowel in the possessive suffix. The different forms for the 3rd person singular are ruled by vowel harmony and voicing.

**For words that end in an unstressed vowel**
	Singular	Plural
1st person	~ем	~ына
2nd person	~ет	~ыда
3rd person	~ыже, ~ыжо, ~ыжö	~ышт

NB. Remember to remove the final vowel before adding the possessive suffixes. As with the words that end in stressed vowels, the stress on the last vowel shifts in the 1st and 2nd plural persons to the vowel in the possessive suffix. In the 3rd person, the stress stays in its original place, rendering the 3rd persons unstressed. In addition, the different forms for the 3rd person singular are ruled by vowel harmony.

**For words that end in a consonant**
	Singular	Plural
1st person	~ем	~на
2nd person	~ет	~да
3rd person	~же, ~жо, ~жö, ~ше, ~шо, ~шö	~шт

For information on the differences between:

~жV; vs. ~шV;
~Cе vs. ~Cо vs. ~Cö, see vowel harmony

Words like эрге *son*
	Singular	Plural
1st person	эргым	эргына
2nd person	эргыч	эргыда
3rd person	эргыже	эргышт

NB.There are a few words, mainly words for family members, that take these exceptional forms:

вее son-in-law
оньо father-in-law
чÿчÿ mother's younger brother; uncle
чÿчÿньö mother's younger brother's wife; aunt
шешке younger brother's wife; daughter-in-law
шольо younger brother, little brother

In addition, the 2nd person singular can be used with кö, мо, although they drop the ы, leaving кöч and моч.