Prenouns are words that attach to nouns of either gender and alter the meaning of the noun. A prenoun may be added to nouns of either gender, whether the noun is singular or plural.
A hyphen marks the attachment of the prenoun to the noun which then becomes a compound noun.
mchih-– bad
Mchih-wuyaaθ Bad meat.
wunih-– good
Wunih-wθoowhiikan. Good book.
Wunih-wθoowhiikanan Good books.
Wunih-tkwax. Good bread.
Mchíh-tkwax. Bad bread.
Wąąpih-makθunan. White shoes.
Wąąpih-ahpapóonan White chairs. Note that the prenoun uses the same form whether the noun is singular or plural, animate or inanimate.
Prenouns on possessed nouns:
When a possessed noun uses a prenoun, the prefix for possession no longer attaches to the noun and instead it attaches to the prenoun, but possessive suffixes attach to the end of the noun as usual:
Munúk. Milk (ni)
Numúnkum. My milk.
Thih-munúk. Cold milk.
Ndáhih-munúkum. My cold milk.
**Thih-numúnkum.** (ungrammatical) Prenouns on diminutive nouns:
These compound nouns also function as one big word, and the softening of consonants associated with use of the diminutive suffix (uθ) will affect the prenoun just like it affects the noun.
Thih-aθún. Cold stone.
Chahíh-aθúnuθ. Cold little stone.
Particles and prenouns
Some prenouns have detached from nouns to become invariable particles. Mxih meaning ‘big or great’ is an example.
Wθoowhiikan. Book.
Nooθoowhiikan. My book.
Mxih-wθoowhiikan. Big book.
Numaxih-wθoowhiikan. My big book.
Mxih kaakway. Big thing.
Dependent Nouns with prenoun
For example: my nice uncle ..
There is no way to remove the possessive prefixes to allow for a prenoun in this case. So one would have to use a workaround such a verb in participle form.
Nsiiθ. My uncle.
Wunaayuk nsiiθ.
My nice uncle. (my uncle the one who is nice)