Editing Shoshoni language (section)

=== Nouns ===

==== Absolutive suffixes ====
Many nouns in Shoshoni have an absolutive suffix (unrelated to the [[absolutive case]]). The absolutive suffix is normally dropped when the noun is the first element in a compound, when the noun is followed by a suffix or postposition, or when the noun is incorporated into a verb. For instance, the independent noun ''sɨhɨpin'' "willow" has the absolutive suffix ''-pin''; the root loses this suffix in the form ''sɨhɨykwi'' "to gather willows". The correlation between any particular noun stem and which of the seven absolutive suffixes it has is irregular and unpredictable. The absolutive suffixes are as follows:<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|16}}

* ''-pin''
* ''-ppɨh''
* ''-ppɨ''
* ''-pittsih, -pittsɨh''
* ''-mpih''
* ''-pai''
* ''-ttsih''

==== Number and case ====
Shoshoni is a [[Nominative–accusative language|nominative-accusative]] language. Shoshoni nouns inflect for three [[Grammatical case|cases]] ([[Subjective case|subjective]], [[Objective case|objective]], and [[possessive]]) and for three [[Grammatical number|numbers]] (singular, dual, and plural).

Number is marked by suffixes on all human nouns and optionally on other animate nouns. The regular suffixes for number are listed in the table below. The Shoshoni singular is unmarked.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|26}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! colspan="3" |Number
|-
! Singular
! Dual
! Plural
|-
! rowspan="3" |Case
! Subjective
| Ø ||-nɨwɨh||-nɨɨn
|-
! Objective
|Ø||-nihi||-nii
|-
! Possessive
| Ø
| -nɨhɨn || -nɨɨn
|}
Case is also marked by suffixes, which vary depending on the noun. Subjective case is unmarked. Many nouns also have a zero objective case marker; other possible objective markers are ''-tta'', ''-a'', and ''-i''. These suffixes correspond with the possessive case markers ''-n'', ''-ttan'' or ''-n'', ''-an'', or ''-n'' (in Western Shoshoni; this last suffix also appears as ''-an'' in Gosiute and is replaced by ''-in'' in Northern Shoshoni). These case markers can be predicted only to a degree based on phonology of the noun stem.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|27}}

==== Derivational morphology ====
Nominal derivational morphology is also often achieved through suffixing. For instance, the instrumental suffix ''-(n)nompɨh'' is used with verb stems to form nouns used for the purpose of the verb: ''katɨnnompɨh'' "chair" is derived from ''katɨ'' "sit"; ''puinompɨh'' "binoculars" is derived from ''pui'' "see".<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|17}} The characterization suffix ''-kantɨn'' be used with a root noun to derive a noun characterized by the root: ''hupiakantɨn'' "singer" is derived from ''hupia'' "song"; ''puhakantɨn'' "shaman" is derived from ''puha'' "power", as one characterized by power.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|18}}