OK, onto basic nominal morphology, specifically the final suffixes and plural-stem formation.
Basically the noun inflectional suffixes are continued to some extent from PA, but they have not been spared from the degredations of time. The system still marks the proximate-obviative-inanimate distinction, and has incorporated the locative into the set as well, while the vocative has been lost. The proximate singular plural essentially continue the PA forms, however in order to explain the rest of the forms it is necessary to say that underlyingly a reanalysis has taken place, which explains the behaviour of stem forms before the plural -o suffix.
Simply put, Proto-Algonquian stems that ended in all of *k *h *m *n *w and *y lost their stem-final consonant/semivowel through sound change, giving a vowel-final stem in the daughter-language. However, the lost consonant shows up again (when that consonant is not *k or *h) in the plural forms, and would show up also in the obviative and locative singulars as well. However, where it still resurfaces the final consonant has been reanalysed as forming part of a plural stem, which leaves the singular forms to interact with the bare stem.
Most commonly the inserted consonant is <š>, the reflex of both *w and *y. This is assumed to be the default form.
The proto-Algonquian nasals continue their original shapes in the plural stem, and are cited with a bracketed (M) and (N) respectively.
Finally, with stems which ended in one of either the consonants *h & *k or one of the clusters *hk or *nk, with or without a following semivowel, there is no separate plural stem: this causes the vowel of the plural to abut the stem-final vowel in the same manner as with the locative suffix given below. These roots are cited with a following (K), reflecting their historical origin.
Consonant-final stems do not show this in any way. This means that after consonants the singular and plural forms for both the obviative and the locative are essentially identical.
The rest of the system follows the pattern. The obviative and locative singular reflexes have been generalised and are used freely after both singular and plural stems.
In the case of the locative singular, as well as with all plurals before -K stems, this causes the vowel of the suffix -á to abut with the preceding vowel. This causes the vowel of the root to either be deleted (with root final short -o with the plural and -a with the locative) or else one of the vowels is converted into a glide or broken into a vowel-glide combination, potentially with the addition of echo vowels if that glide is adjacent to a consonant. The results of these operations are shown below, though with the first vowel the accent is ignored:
Code: Select all
-o -á
i oyo ayá
a aw(a) á
o o awá
ii iyo iyá
aa ayo ayá
oo óo owá
With the a + o combination the bracketed (a) is epenthesised whenever the suffix is of the form -oC with a final consonant.
The obviative singular, on the other hand, is simply -ot after consonants and -t after vowels.
The full system is given below.
Code: Select all
PRO OBV INA LOC
SG -0 -(o)t -0 -á
PL -o -ot -ot -á
Some examples of the plural forms:
mó'o
mó'-o
bear-PRO.PL
bears
mó'ahinot
mó'ahi(N)-ot
moccasin-INA.PL
moccasins
nakáayamot
na-káaaya(M)-ot
1-louse-OBV.PL
My lice
pasit
pasi-t
lynx-OBV
lynx, bobcat (obv.)
pasišot
pasi-ot
lynx-OBV.PL
lynxes, bobcats (obv.)
ó'iyá
ó'ii(K)-á
snake-LOC
In the snake/in a bunch of snakes/among snakes
(sorry with the lice example, the word given in the OP is wrong, because bugs in SCA2. I'll bring it up some other time: for now all that needs to be said is that that is the correct form as given here)