This post is part 2 of the blog series on Chamorro speech attribution, where we learn about the most common ways we can indicate who is speaking in a story (ie: he said, she asked, the woman asked her, etc.). Understanding speech attribution helps us if we are reading or listening to stories in the language, if we want to write our own stories, or if we are interested in translating existing works into Chamorro. It can also give our speaking and storytelling more flavor 😉 In this post we will learn about speech attribution patterns that use the -IN- infix. This post includes an introduction to the -IN- infix, how to transform words with this affix, and practice drills. All Chamorro drills include audio in Chamorro. This is a fairly long post, with 10 sections of practice drills. Happy studying!

Contents
Intro to -IN- Infix Applying the -IN- Infix I was asked by… The woman was asked by… The women were asked by… Ana was asked by Juan Additional notes References

Introduction to the -IN- Infix

The -IN- infix has a few applications in Chamorro. Usually, learners are first introduced to the -IN- infix when learning to change a word’s part of speech (i.e.: changing a verb into a noun). One well-known example is changing the verb guaiya into its noun form, guinaiya.

But another usage of the -IN- infix is to change the focus of our action sentences, and put more emphasis on the object of the sentence (the who or what is receiving the action). In texts, you may see this referred to as goal focus. This is the usage of the -IN- infix that we will focus on in this post.

To start understanding this concept of goal focus, let’s look at some English sentences in the table below. The first column focuses on who or what is receiving the action and the second column expresses the same thought in a more typical structure.

Goal-Focused1	“Typical” Structure
I was asked by the woman	The woman asked me
I was told by the woman	The woman told me
I was spoken to by the woman	The woman spoke to me
I was answered by the woman	The woman answered me
I was heard by the woman	The woman heard me

The sentences in column 1 of the table above is what we will learn in this post. First, we will learn how to apply the -IN- infix to words, then we will start using those transformed words in sentence forms we may commonly see in Chamorro speech attribution.

¹ Note About English Translations: In this post, I will translate all sentences Verb-Object-Subject order, such as in the sentence “The child was asked by the woman.” I translate this way to maintain consistency in these notes and to make it more intuitive for us to learn this sentence pattern in Chamorro. But please note that these sentences may also be translated as “The woman asked the child” or “It was the child the woman asked.”

Applying the -IN- Infix

To transform a word with the -IN- infix, we put the “IN” in front of the first vowel of the word. Since the “i” sound is in this affix, any vowel immediately following the -IN- infix must also conform to vowel harmony rules.

Let’s practice with some words that we often read in speech attribution. Notice how the words oppe’ and hungok are vowel harmonized once they are transformed with the -IN- infix:

Root Word	-IN- Infix Word
oppe’	ineppe’
faisen	finaisen
kuentusi	kinuentusi
hungok	hiningok
gagao	ginagao
sangåni	sinangåni

In the following sections, we will use all of these transformed words in our practice drills.

Group 1: I was asked by…

In this first group of sentence drills, the object, which is the person or thing receiving the action, will be expressed as a pronoun with yu’ type pronouns. We will learn how to say three types of sentences:

• I was asked by you
• I was asked by the child
• I was asked by Maria

Finaisen yu’ nu hågu

This first sentence structure will follow the general pattern of “I was asked by you.” We are using pronouns as both the subject (the person doing the action) and the object (the one receiving the action). The subject (person doing the action) is represented by an emphatic pronoun. The article nu is also in front of this pronoun, to tell us that they are the one doing the action.

[ -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + Yu’ Type Pronoun + nu + Emphatic Pronoun

To learn the pattern, let’s do a practice set with the verb finaisen and the pronoun yu’ as the object:

Chamoru	English
Finaisen yu’ nu hågu	I was asked by you
Finaisen yu’ nu guiya	I was was by him / her
Finaisen yu’ nu siha	I was asked by them
Finaisen yu’ nu hamyo	I was asked by you all

Now for variety, let’s practice with different verbs and pronouns:

Chamoru	English
Ineppe’ yu’ nu guiya	I was answered by her
Ineppe’ ham nu siha	We were answered by them
Ineppe’ gue’ nu hamyo	He was answered by all of you
Ineppe’ siha nu guahu	They were answered by me
Sinangåni hao nu siha	You were told by them
Sinangåni yu’ nu guiya	I was told by him
Sinangåni hit nu siha	We were told by them
Sinangåni siha nu hågu	They were told by you
Ginagao ham nu guiya	We were asked by her
Ginagao gue’ nu siha	She was asked by them
Ginagao hit nu hamyo	We were asked by all of you
Ginagao yu’ nu hågu	I was asked by you

Finaisen yu’ nu i patgon

In this next structure, we use a noun to represent who or what is doing the action. The article nu i will be in front of this noun to indicate that they are the one doing the action. Note that some speakers may contract nu i to ni.

[ -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + Yu’ Type Pronoun + nu i + Noun

To learn this pattern, let’s practice with the verb finaisen, the pronoun yu’ as our object, and different nouns as our subjects:

Chamoru	English
Finaisen yu’ nu i patgon.	I was asked by the child.
Finaisen siha nu i palao’an.	I was asked by the woman.
Finaisen hao nu i pale’.	I was asked by the priest.
Finaisen hit nu i lahi.	I was asked by the man.
Finaisen hamyo nu i kusineru.	I was asked by the cook.

Now let’s practice with more verbs, nouns and pronouns for variety:

Chamoru	English
Ineppe’ yu’ nu i palao’an	I was answered by the woman
Ineppe’ ham nu i påle’	We were answered by the priest
Ineppe’ gue’ nu i lahi	She was answered by the man
Ineppe’ siha nu i fafa’na’gue	They were answered by the teacher
Sinangåni hao nu i tituge’	You were told by the writer
Sinangåni yu’ nu i nana	I was told by the mother
Sinangåni hit nu i profesót	We were told by the professor
Sinangåni siha nu i ma’gas	They were told by the boss
Ginagao ham nu i fafa’cho’cho	We were asked by the worker
Ginagao gue’ nu i kákanta	He was asked by the singer
Ginagao hit nu i bisinu	We were asked by the neighbor
Ginagao yu’ nu i suruhåna	I was asked by the healer

Finaisen yu’ as Maria

In this final structure, the subject (the person doing the action) is indicated by a person’s name. Since we are using a person’s name, it will be preceded by the article “as” to tell us they are the one doing the action.

[ -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + Yu’ Type Pronoun + as + Proper Name

Let’s practice this with some basic drills, using the verb finaisen, the pronoun yu’ as our object, and different names as our subjects:

Chamoru	English
Finaisen yu’ as Maria.	I was asked by Maria.
Finaisen yu’ as Juan.	I was asked by Juan.
Finaisen yu’ as Henry.	I was asked by Henry.
Finaisen yu’ as Ana.	I was asked by Ana.

Now let’s practice more sentences. In these examples, I am using a variety of Chamorro nicknames with the full name as the “translation” in English:

Chamoru	English
Ineppe’ yu’ as Kin.	I was answered by Joaquin.
Ineppe’ ham as Manet.	We were answered by Manuel.
Ineppe’ gue’ as Chai.	She was answered by Rosa.
Ineppe’ siha as Chilang.	They were answered by Cecilia.
Sinangåni hao as Chumbai’.	You were told by Jesus.
Sinangåni yu’ as Kika’.	I was told by Marikita.
Sinangåni hit as Måme’.	We were told by Carmen.
Sinangåni siha as Di’di’.	They were told by Cleotilde.
Ginagao ham as Tona’.	We were asked by Antonia.
Ginagao gue’ as Sita.	She was asked by Teresita.
Ginagao hit as Chu.	We were asked by Jesus.
Ginagao yu’ as Lupe.	I was asked by Guadalupe.

Special Note: For certain nouns, such as nanå-hu, tatå-hu, or Yu’os, you will see these used with as instead of ni. So you may see or hear phrases like Sinangåni yu’ as tatå-hu; Sinangåni yu’ as nanå-hu; or Sinangåni yu’ as Yu’os.

Group 2: The woman was asked by…

In this second group of sentence drills, the object, which is the person or thing receiving the action, will be expressed as a noun. The three sentence types we will learn are:

• The woman was asked by you
• The woman was asked by the child
• The woman was asked by Maria

Finaisen i palao’an nu hågu

In this sentence structure, the subject (person who is doing the action) is represented by an emphatic pronoun. It is preceded by the article nu to tell us they are the one doing the action.

[ -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + i + Noun + nu + Emphatic Pronoun

To learn this sentence structure, let’s practice with the verb finaisen, the object as the noun i palao’an, and different emphatic pronouns:

Chamoru	English
Finaisen i palao’an nu hågu	The woman was asked by you
Finaisen i palao’an nu guiya	The woman was was by him / her
Finaisen i palao’an nu siha	The woman was asked by them
Finaisen i palao’an nu hamyo	The woman was asked by you all

Now let’s practice with more verbs:

Chamoru	English
Ineppe’ i lahi nu guiya	The man was answered by her
Ineppe’ i fafa’cho’cho nu siha	The worker answered by them
Ineppe’ i patgon nu hamyo	The child was answered by all of you
Ineppe’ i bábaila nu guahu	The dancer was answered by me
Sinangåni i é’eyak nu siha	The learner was told by them
Sinangåni i danderu nu guiya	The musician was told by him
Sinangåni i malångu nu siha	The sick person told by them
Sinangåni i suruhåna nu hågu	The healer was told by you
Ginagao i påle’ nu guiya	The priest was asked by her
Ginagao i ma’gas nu siha	The boss was asked by them
Ginagao i tituge’ nu hamyo	The writer asked by all of you
Ginagao i kákanta nu hågu	The singer asked by you

Finaisen i palao’an nu i patgon

In this second sentence structure, the subject (the person doing the action) is represented by a noun, and has the article “nu i” in front of it, to differentiate from the object.

[ -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + i + Noun + nu i + Noun

We’ll learn this sentence structure with the verb finaisen, the object as i palao’an, and different subjects:

Chamoru	English
Finaisen i palao’an nu i patgon.	The woman was asked by the child.
Finaisen i palao’an nu i biha.	The woman was asked by the elderly woman.
Finaisen i palao’an nu i pépenta.	The woman was asked by the painter.
Finaisen i palao’an nu i kuékuentos.	The woman was asked by the speaker.
Finaisen i palao’an nu i abugao.	The woman was asked by the lawyer.

Now let’s practice this with more verbs and nouns:

Chamoru	English
Ineppe’ i lahi nu i bihu	The man was answered by elderly man
Ineppe’ i fafa’cho’cho nu i guágualo	The worker answered by farmer
Ineppe’ i patgon nu i techa	The child was answered by the prayer leader
Ineppe’ i bábaila nu i danderu	The dancer was answered by musician
Sinangåni i é’eyak nu i fafa’na’gue	The learner was told by teacher
Sinangåni i danderu nu i palao’an	The musician was told by the woman
Sinangåni i malångu nu i mediku	The sick person was told by the doctor
Sinangåni i suruhåna nu i amko’	The healer was told by the elderly person
Ginagao i påle’ nu i sakke’	The priest was asked by the thief
Ginagao i ma’gas nu i labandera	The boss was asked by the laundry woman
Ginagao i tituge’ nu i sindålu	The writer was asked by the soldier
Ginagao i kákanta nu i á’adahi	The singer was asked by the guard

Finaisen i palao’an as Maria

In this final section, the subject (the person doing the action) is a person’s name, and is preceded by the article “as”.

[ -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + i + Noun + as + Proper Noun

Let’s practice this new structuer with the verb finaisen, the object i palao’an, and different names:

Chamoru	English
Finaisen i palao’an as Maria.	The woman was asked by Maria.
Finaisen i palao’an as Juan.	The woman was asked by Juan.
Finaisen i palao’an as Henry.	The woman was asked by Henry.
Finaisen i palao’an as Ana.	The woman was asked by Ana.
Finaisen i palao’an as Lupe’.	The woman was asked by Guadalupe.

Now let’s practice with more verbs and nouns:

Chamoru	English
Ineppe’ i lahi as Kin.	The man was answered by Joaquin.
Ineppe’ i patgon as Manet.	The child was answered by Manuel.
Ineppe’ i amko’ as Chai.	The elderly person was answered by Rosa.
Ineppe’ i nana as Chilang.	The mother was answered by Cecilia.
Sinangåni i tata as Chumbai’.	The father was told by Jesus.
Sinangåni i påle’ as Kika’.	The priest was told by Marikita.
Sinangåni i tanores as Måme’.	The altar server was told by Carmen.
Sinangåni i lálaksi as Di’di’.	The seamstress was told by Cleotilde.
Ginagao i tenderu as Tona’.	The shop keeper was asked by Antonia.
Ginagao i bábaila as Sita.	The dancer was asked by Teresita.
Ginagao i tituge’ as Chu.	The writer was asked by Jesus.
Ginagao i guágualo as Lupe.	The farmer was asked by Guadalupe.

Group 3: Ana was asked by Juan

In this structure, the subject and the object will both be people’s names. The subject (the person doing the action) will be preceded by the article “as” while the object (the person the action is done to) will be preceded by the article “si”.

[ -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + [ si + Person’s Name ] + [ as + Person’s Name ]

To learn this structure, let’s practice some sentences with the verb finaisen, the object as si Ana, and the subject as different people’s names:

Chamoru	English
Finaisen si Ana as Maria.	Ana was asked by Maria.
Finaisen si Ana as Juan.	Ana was asked by Juan.
Finaisen si Ana as Henry.	Ana was asked by Henry.
Finaisen si Ana as Chilang.	Ana was asked by Cecilia.
Finaisen si Ana as Lupe’.	Ana was asked by Guadalupe.

Now let’s practice with more verbs and names:

Chamoru	English
Ineppe’ si Dabit as Kin.	David was answered by Joaquin.
Ineppe’ si Ton as Manet.	Antonio was answered by Manuel.
Ineppe’ si Lola as Chai.	Dolores was answered by Rosa.
Ineppe’ si Bert as Chilang.	Norbert was answered by Cecilia.
Sinangåni si Kika’ as Chumbai’.	Francisca was told by Jesus.
Sinangåni si Gin as Kika’.	Virginia was told by Marikita.
Sinangåni si Bo as Måme’.	Ramon was told by Carmen.
Sinangåni si Sita as Di’di’.	Teresita was told by Cleotilde.
Ginagao si Elsie as Tona’.	Eliza was asked by Antonia.
Ginagao si Marikita as Sita.	Maria was asked by Teresita.
Ginagao si Remy as Chu.	Remedios was asked by Jesus.
Ginagao si Kiko’ as Lupe.	Francisco was asked by Guadalupe.

Group 4: The women were asked by…

In this final group of practice drills, the object will be 3 or more people. This requires our verb and any nouns that are objects to be pluralized.

Our verb will be transformed with the -IN- infix, and then have a plural man- prefix attached to the front of the word. In this form, please note that since the verb has already been transformed by the -IN- infix, we just attach the plural man- prefix to the front of the word; the usual transformation patterns needed for the man- prefix do not apply.

For the objects, they must be plural. To make them plural, we can do any of the following:

1. Use the plural form of the word (if it has one, such as palao’an –> famalao’an)
2. Add the plural man- prefix to the noun (påle’ –> mamåle’)
3. Put siha after the noun (ga’lågu siha)

In this section we will learn to say the following three types of sentences:

• The women were asked by you
• The women were asked by the child
• The women were asked by Maria

Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu hågu

In this sentence structure, there are 3 or more people who are receiving the action. The subject (the person doing the action) is represented by an emphatic pronoun and has the article “nu” preceding it.

[ Plural Man- + -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + i + Noun + nu + Emphatic Pronoun

Let’s learn this sentence structure with the verb manfinaisen, the plural noun famalao’an as our object, and different emphatic pronouns for our subject:

Chamoru	English
Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu hågu	The women were asked by you
Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu guiya	The women were asked by him / her
Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu siha	The women were asked by them
Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu hamyo	The women were asked by you all

Now let’s practice with more verbs and plural nouns:

Chamoru	English
Manineppe’ i lálahi nu guiya	The men were answered by her
Manineppe’ i famagu’on nu siha	The children were answered by them
Manineppe’ i mañaina nu hamyo	The parents/elders were answered by all of you
Manineppe’ i mamåle’ nu guahu	The priests were answered by me
Mansinangåni i mané’eyak nu siha	The learners were told by them
Mansinangåni i manåmko’ nu guiya	The elders were told by him
Mansinangåni i mandanderu nu siha	The musicians were told by them
Mansinangåni i mambábaila nu hågu	The dancers were told by you
Mangginagao i manmå’gas nu guiya	The leaders were asked by her
Mangginagao i manmalångu nu siha	The sick were asked by them
Mangginagao i mañe’lu nu hamyo	The siblings were asked by all of you
Mangginagao i mantituge’ nu hågu	The writers were asked by you

Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu i patgon

In this sentence structure, the subject is now indicated by a noun and has the article “nu i” preceding it to tell us that it is who is doing the action.

[ Plural Man- + -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + i + Noun + nu i + Noun

Let’s learn this structure with the verb manfinaisen, the plural noun famalao’an as our object, and different nouns for our subject.

Chamoru	English
Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu i patgon	The women were asked by the child
Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu i tendera	The women were by the store keeper
Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu i bihu	The women were asked by the elderly man
Manfinaisen i famalao’an nu i påle’	The women were asked by the priest

Now let’s do more drills with other verbs:

Chamoru	English
Manineppe’ i lálahi nu i bihu	The men were answered by the elderly man
Manineppe’ i famagu’on nu i guagualo’	The children were answered by the farmer
Manineppe’ i mañaina nu i techa	The parents/elders were answered by the prayer leader
Manineppe’ i mamåle’ nu i danderu	The priests were answered by the musician
Mansinangåni i mané’eyak nu i fafa’na’gue	The learners were told by the teacher
Mansinangåni i manåmko’ nu i mediku	The elders were told by doctor
Mansinangåni i mandanderu nu i amko’	The musicians were told by the elderly person
Mansinangåni i mambábaila nu i påle’	The dancers were told by the priest
Mangginagao i manmå’gas nu i sakke’	The leaders were asked by the thief
Mangginagao i manmalångu nu i enfetmera	The sick were asked by the nurse
Mangginagao i mañe’lu nu i sindålu	The siblings were asked by the soldier
Mangginagao i mantituge’ nu i á’adahi	The writers were asked by the guard

Manfinaisen i famalao’an as Maria

Finally, in this sentence structure, the subject (the person doing the action) is represented by a person’s name and has the article “as” preceding it.

[ Plural Man- + -IN- Infix + Transitive Verb ] + i + Noun + as + Proper Noun

Let’s practice this structure with the verb manfinaisen, the plural noun famalao’an as our object, and different names as our subjects:

Chamoru	English
Manfinaisen i famalao’an as Maria.	The women were asked by Maria.
Manfinaisen i famalao’an as Juan.	The women were asked by Juan.
Manfinaisen i famalao’an as Henry.	The women were asked by Henry.
Manfinaisen i famalao’an as Ana.	The women were asked by Ana.
Manfinaisen i famalao’an as Lupe’.	The women were asked by Guadalupe.

Now let’s practice with more drills:

Chamoru	English
Manineppe’ i lálahi as Kin	The men were answered by Joaquin
Manineppe’ i famagu’on as Manet	The children were answered by Manuel
Manineppe’ i mañaina as Chai	The parents/elders were answered by Rosa
Manineppe’ i mamåle’ as Chilang	The priests were answered by Cecilia
Mansinangåni i mané’eyak as Chumbai’	The learners were told by Jesus
Mansinangåni i manåmko’ as Kika’	The elders were told by Marikita
Mansinangåni i mandanderu as Måme’	The musicians were told by Carmen
Mansinangåni i mambábaila as Di’di’	The dancers were told by Cleotilde
Mangginagao i manmå’gas as Tona’	The leaders were asked by Antonia
Mangginagao i manmalångu as Sita	The sick were asked by Teresita
Mangginagao i mañe’lu as Chu	The siblings were asked by Jesus
Mangginagao i mantituge’ as Lupe’	The writers were asked by Guadalupe

Additional Notes

Before we end this lesson, there are two other key considerations to keep in mind with these sentence forms as we read or listen in the language. The first concerns dropped words, and the second is about word order.

Dropped Words

In writing or speech, it is not uncommon for the object (the person or thing receiving the action of the verb) to be omitted from the sentence. This will happen because it will be understood, from context, who the object is. If the object is omitted, listen for the articles nu, nu i, or as because this will tell us who is doing the action.

Flexible Word Order

Finally, the word order after the verb can be flexible. In this lesson I presented all of these sentences in Verb-Object-Subject order, but they may also be Verb-Subject-Object. So you may hear or read things like finaisen as Maria i patgon rather than finaisen i patgon as Maria.

Given this flexibility, make sure to pay attention to the articles in the sentence because they will tell us who is doing what, regardless of the word order.

---

And you’ve just finished this lesson on how Chamorro speech attribution uses the -IN- infix, awesome job! To continue to the next lesson on the reciprocal a- prefix in Chamorro speech attribution, click the link below:

https://atomic-temporary-145232137.wpcomstaging.com/2024/09/10/speech-attribution-in-chamorro-part-3-the-reciprocal-a-prefix/

---

References

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

• Goal Focus: pg. 245-246

Topping, D. M., & Ogo, P. M. (1980). Spoken Chamorro with Grammatical Notes and Glossary (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia) (2nd ed.). University of Hawaii Press.

• Goal Focus drills: pg. 261-262