be extended with the ablative suffix , 'from', and the allative , 'to, towards'. In locatives derived from full nouns and intransitive animate verbs, these suffixes must follow the locative suffix (e.g. 'from town'), but most particles can take them without the locative ( 'from over there'). The vocative case indicates the person or thing being addressed. It is formed regularly with the suffix in the singular and in the plural. Diminutive There are several different patterns that form diminutive nouns in Miami-Illinois. Costa describes the formation of diminutives as "extremely complex - much more irregular than that seen in its closest Algonquian relatives". The most common diminutive suffix is , which is followed by the case ending. Possession Personal possession is marked by prefixation. Nouns are either "dependent" or "nondependent", usually based on whether they are inalienably possessed or not. Dependent nouns must co-occur with a possessive prefix or with an indefinite possessor suffix, but require no possessee suffix, while non-dependent nouns can occur without a possessive prefix but often must take the possessee suffix - when possessed. The primary allomorphs of the first, second, and third possessive prefixes are , , and respectively. The number of the possessor (as well as clusivity of the first person) is marked by a suffix. A representative, but by no means comprehensive, paradigm is illustrated below with the inanimate stem 'house'. Pronouns Since Miami-Illinois is a robustly pro-drop language, independent personal pronouns are used far less frequently than in English. Pronouns do not distinguish gender or case; instead, there are distinct forms to isolate a topic (e.g. "by myself") and to make a verb reflexive. The personal pronouns are listed below. The other pronouns are 'who', 'what', 'somebody', and 'nobody'. All conjugate for number and obviation: and take suffixes, while and are regular. Notes References Further reading (The paper uses the context of Miami language reclamation programmes to examine how gender roles are manifested, understood and promoted.) External links Myaamia Center Il Parle Illinois (He speaks in the normal way): The Language of the Inoca, Parkland College OLAC resources in and about the Miami language Miami-Illinois on Native Languages Miami (Myaamia) on Omniglot How the Miami Tribe got its language back (audio report, The World in Words podcast) Central Algonquian languages Miami tribe Languages of the United States Extinct languages of North America Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands Peoria