In this post, we will start using possessive pronouns in Chamorro. Using possessive pronouns in Chamorro requires some changes to how we pronounce the words we attach them to, and this post will focus on seeing, hearing and practicing these sound shifts. In my experience, many texts gloss over the pecularities of the sound changes that occur with possessive pronouns. So in this post I try to provide many examples, grouped by sound pattern, to give us a systematic overview of the most common sound changes. This post includes practice drills in Chamorro with Chamorro audio, and English translations for all the drills. Happy studying!

Contents
Overview of Possessive Pronouns Intro to Sound Changes Using -mu, -ña, -ta Using -hu versus -ku Using -måmi, -miyu, -ñiha Wrapping Up: Keep Practicing on Quizlet! Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson References

Overview of Possessive Pronouns

There are 7 possessive pronouns in Chamorro, and it’s important to know that these pronouns cannot be used by themselves; they must always be attached to the end of a word. When we attach a possessive pronoun to the end of a word in Chamorro, it can help to think about the result as a single word, rather than as two separate words. For example: In English we say two distinct words to indicate “my car” but in Chamorro, it becomes one word, karetå-hu, with kareta being the word “car” and the -hu being the possessive pronoun “my.”

The possessive pronouns in Chamorro are as follows:

Chamoru	English
-hu / -ku	My
-mu	Your (singular)
-ña	His / Hers / Its
-ta	Our (inclusive)
-måmi	Our (exclusive)
-miyu	Your (plural)
-ñiha	Their (plural)

Special Note for Food, Drink, and Animals

If we want to make possessive statements about food, drinks, or animals in Chamorro, such as “your water”, “her soup”, or “my dog”, we cannot just attach these possessive pronouns directly to those words. For example: we cannot say i ga’lågú-hu. In these instances we must use words called classifiers with our possessive pronouns.

Classifiers will be covered in separate posts, but I wanted to give you a heads up about this rule before we continue.

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Introduction to Sound Changes

When we attach these possessive pronouns to the end of a word, it is important to remember that the pronunciation of the word will usually change. When we are using the possessive pronouns, the following sound changes may occur (especially with the possessive pronouns -mu, -ña, -ta, -hu/-ku):

1. The stress placement of the word moves
2. Certain vowels may change their pronunciation

Let’s learn about both of these sound changes in more detail.

Stress Placement

The stress placement will land on the second-to-last syllable in the word, but using possessive pronouns means that the second-to-last syllable in the word will change. This change occurs because attaching a possessive pronoun to the end of a word adds more syllables to the word.

Consider the example of kareta. In its root form the stress lands on the “e”. Notice how the stress shifts when we add possessive pronouns, as shown in the table below:

Original Word	+ Possessive Pronoun
karéta	karetå-hu
karéta	karetå-ña

Vowel Changes

We must also be mindful of the last vowel sound in the root word we are attaching the possessive pronoun to, because the way we pronounce that last vowel may change. Some common changes are as follows:

• a changes to å
• u changes to o
• i changes to e

In different textbooks you may see these vowel changes referred to as vowel lowering. If you are wondering why we make these sound changes in Chamorro, the short answer is that it makes the movement of sound easier in our mouths, which facilitates melodious and rapid speech.

The easiest way to learn these patterns is to hear them, see them, and practice. In the following sections we will do practice drills with the different possessive pronouns, grouped by sound pattern.

Note on Spelling: From my experience, these sound changes associated with using possessive pronouns can be difficult to see in written Chamorro, especially if you are using the Guam orthography. For the drills in this post, I will add stress marks to our words to help us see how these stress patterns change, and bold the letter(s) that take the stress. I may also choose to spell things more phoenetically to help us connect the sounds we are hearing with the words we are reading.

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Using -mu, -ña, -ta

When using the possessive pronouns -mu, -ña, and -ta, we will start with some general examples to see how the stress placement of a word shifts. When using these possessive pronouns, the stressed syllable will shift to be the syllable that occurs right before the possessive pronoun. Let’s practice with the following examples:

Chamoru	Affixed	English
i chinálek	i chinalék-mu	your laughter
i chinálek	i chinalék-ña	her/his laughter
i chinálek	i chinalék-ta	our laughter
i ílu	i ilú-mu	your head
i ílu	i ilú-ña	her/his head
i ílu	i ilú-ta	our head
i átadok	i atadók-mu	your eye
i átadok	i atadók-ña	her/his eye
i átadok	i atadók-ta	our eye
i pí‘ao	i pi’áo-mu	your bamboo
i pí‘ao	i pi’áo-ña	her/his bamboo
i pí‘ao	i pi’áo-ta	our bamboo

Words Ending in “u” sound

When we attach -mu, -ña, and -ta to words that end with a u sound, we might see that sound change to more of an “o” sound. But it doesn’t always happen (like with i ilu above).

Practice the following and notice how the stress placement and the ending sound of the word changes:

Word	Affixed	English
i lépblu	i lepbló-mu	your book
i lébplu	i lepbló-ña	her/his book
i lépblu	i lebpló-ta	our book
i linalålu’	i linalåló‘-mu	your anger
i linalålu’	i linalåló‘-ña	her/his anger
i linalålu’	i linalåló‘-ta	our anger
i tánu’	i tanó‘-mu	your land
i tánu’	i tanó‘-ña	her/his land
i tánu’	i tanó‘-ta	our land
i fínu’	i finó‘-mu	your language
i fínu’	i finó‘-ña	her/his language
i fínu’	i finó‘-ta	our language

We can also see this change when the “u” sound is the last vowel sound in the word. It doesn’t necessary have to be the last letter in the word. Here are some examples of this pattern. Note that the sound change might be more subtle, like for mináguf / minagóf-hu:

Word	Affixed	English
i mináguf	i minagóf-mu	your happiness
i mináguf	i minagóf-ña	her/his happiness
i mináguf	i minagóf-ta	our happiness
i sapåtus	i sapatós-mu	your shoes
i sapåtus	i sapatós-ña	her/his shoes
i sapåtus	i sapatós-ta	our shoes
i tinánum	i tinanóm-mu	your plant
i tinánum	i tinanóm-ña	her/his plant
i tinánum	i tinanóm-ta	our plant
i pátgun	i patgón-mu	your child
i pátgun	i patgón-ña	her/his child
i pátgun	i patgón-ta	our child

Words Ending in “a” sound

When we have words that end in an a sound, it tends to change to an å sound when we attach the possessive pronouns -mu, -ña, and -ta, but there are always exceptions. Let’s practice with the following:

Word	Affixed	English
i gíma’	i gimå‘-mu	your house
i gíma’	i gimå‘-ña	her/his house
i gíma’	i gimå‘-ta	our house
i karéta	i karetå-mu	your car
i karéta	i karetå-ña	her/his car
i karéta	i karetå-ta	our car
i sága	i sagå-mu	your place
i sága	i sagå-ña	her/his place
i sága	i sagå-ta	our place
i eskuéla	i eskuelå-mu	your school
i eskuéla	i eskuelå-ña	her/his school
i eskuéla	i eskuelå-ta	our school

Words Ending in “i” sound

For words that end in an “i” sound, adding the possessive pronouns -mu, -ña, and -ta will sometimes change it to more of an “e” sound. Again, there are always exceptions. But here are some examples to practice:

Word	Affixed	English
i tinígi’	i tinigé‘-mu	your writing
i tinígi’	i tinigé‘-ña	her/his writing
i tinígi’	i tinigé‘-ta	our writing
i hinénggi’	i hinenggé‘-mu	your belief
i hinénggi’	i hinenggé‘-ña	her/his belief
i hinénggi’	i hinenggé‘-ta	our belief
i gineflí‘i’	i ginefli’é‘-mu	your love
i gineflí‘i’	i ginefli’é‘-ña	her/his love
i gineflí‘i’	i ginefli’é‘-ta	our love
i kinempréndi	i kinemprendé-mu	your understanding
i kinempréndi	i kinemprendé-ña	her/his understanding
i kinempréndi	i kinemprendé-ta	our understanding

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Using -hu versus -ku

When we make possessive statements for anything that is “mine”, such as “my book”, “my car” or “my table”, the same rules apply as for the previous examples with -mu, -ña and -ta. The stress will shift to the last syllable in the root word, and the same vowel changes will apply (ie: u changes to o; a changes to å; i changes to e).

But we have two options for this particular possessive pronoun: we can use either -hu or -ku. How do we know which one to use? Choosing one over the other depends on the sounds in the word we are attaching the pronoun to.

Practicing with -ku

When determining whether to use -hu or -ku, we want to pay attention to the last sound in the word. One general rule is to use -ku when there are multiple consonants (also referred to as a consonant cluster) in front of the last vowel of the word. There are exceptions (which will be discussed below) but this is a good, general rule to follow.

Now let’s look closely at some words that use -ku. In the words below, I’ve put the consonant clusters in bold, which tell us to use -ku instead of -hu.

Word	Affixed	English
lepblu	i lepbló-ku	my book
kåtta	i kattå-ku	my letter
kånta	i kantå-ku	my song
sogra	i sogrå-ku	my mother-in-law
kinemprendi	i kinemprendé-ku	my understanding
hinenggi’	i hinenggé’-ku	my belief
kuattu	i kuattó-ku	my room

Notable Exceptions: The words familia or guinaiya are notable exceptions to this “consonant cluser” rule. Many people will say familiå-ku and guinaiya-ku, but notice that the last sounds of those words have only one consonant, rather than a consonant cluster. Also note that the last “a” in guinaiya-ku does not change to an “å”. These remind us that rules can help us, but they are not always applied with 100% consistency in natural speech. Therefore, we must always remember to balance learning the rules with language input 😉

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Using -måmi, -miyu, -ñiha

In this final section, we will practice using the plural possessive pronouns -måmi, -miyu, and -ñiha. When attaching these possessive pronouns to words, we must be mindful of the following:

1. If we are attaching a plural possessive pronoun to a word that ends in a vowel, we add an “n” at the end of the word
2. The stress falls on the first syllable in the possessive pronoun.

Now let’s practice using these possessive pronouns.

In this first group of drills, we are going to practice attaching -måmi, -miyu, and -ñiha to words we already practiced with in the previous section. Notice how the pronunciation of the root word effectively stays the same, and the stress is on the first syllable in the possessive pronoun:

Word	Affixed	English
i chinálek	i chinalek-måmi	our laughter
i chinálek	i chinalek-míyu	your laughter
i chinálek	i chinalek-ñíha	their laughter
i mináguf	i minaguf-måmi	our happiness
i mináguf	i minaguf-míyu	your happiness
i mináguf	i minaguf-ñíha	their happiness
i tánu’	i tanu’-måmi	our land
i tánu’	i tanu’-míyu	your land
i tánu’	i tanu’-ñíha	their land
i gíma’	i gima’-måmi	our house
i gíma’	i gima’-míyu	your house
i gíma’	i gima’-ñíha	their house

Special Note on Glota: When using these plural possessive pronouns, remember that the glota counts as a letter. So for words like i gima’, since it ends with a glota instead of a vowel, we don’t put an “n” at the end of the word.

Practice Adding “n”

Now we will practice adding plural possessive pronouns to words that end in a vowel. We just add the letter “n” at the end of the word, and then attach the possessive pronoun. The stress still remains on the first syllable in the possessive pronoun. Here are some practice drills:

Chamoru	Affixed	English
i lépblu	i lepblun-måmi	our book
i lépblu	i lepblun-míyu	your book
i lépblu	i lepblun-ñíha	their book
i karéta	i karetan-måmi	our car
i karéta	i karetan-míyu	your car
i karéta	i karetan-ñíha	their car
i sága	i sagan-måmi	our place
i sága	i sagan-míyu	your place
i sága	i sagan-ñíha	their place
i eskuéla	i eskuelan-måmi	our school
i eskuéla	i eskuelan-míyu	your school
i eskuéla	i eskuelan-ñíha	their school

Lesson Study Tip: To make it easier to learn the sound changes associated with using possessive pronouns, listen to as much Chamorro as possible, and read as much in the language as you can. Over time, you will absorb both the sound and feel for these sound changes until it feels intuitive.

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Wrapping Up: Keep Practicing on Quizlet!

In this lesson we learned how to use the Possessive Pronouns in Chamorro, and how attaching these pronouns to the ends of words can change both the word stress and pronunciation of the word.

If you want more practice with the examples in this lesson, use this Quizlet Deck as a supplementary study tool.

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Keep Learning! Continue to the Next Lesson

When you are ready to continue to the next lesson, click the link below to learn how to use the Chamorro Food Classifier to make possessive statements with food:

Lesson 33: Talking About Your Food in Chamorro – “My Breadfruit”

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References

This lesson was largely based upon my own process of learning and noticing the sound changes associated with using possessive pronouns, which I personally found challenging to learn because the “rules” I was given always seemed inconsistent and under-documented.

If you would like some references to existing texts, see the following:

Topping, D. M., & Dungca, B. C. (1980). Chamorro Reference Grammar (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia). University of Hawaii Press.

• Possessive Pronouns: pg. 221-222