Family and Relatives
Family words are some of the most-used words in any language, and in OVP they're tightly bound up with possession. You rarely speak of "a mother" in the abstract. You speak of your mother, his father, my sister. That makes kinship the perfect place to put possessives to work.
Many family terms have an unpossessed form ending in -bi, and a possessed form that drops the -bi and softens the first consonant (the fortis/lenis shift: p→b, t→d, w→gw). Both are given below.
Parents
| Unpossessed | Possessed (my) | English |
|---|---|---|
| piabi | i-bia | mother |
| nawabi | i-nawa | father |
I-bia-ii tüka-ti → "My mother (nearby) is eating."
Ü-nawa-uu mia-ku → "Your father (far) went."
Siblings
OVP marks older vs. younger siblings:
| Unpossessed | Possessed (my) | English |
|---|---|---|
| pabi'ibi | i-babi' | elder brother |
| hamma'abi | i-hamma' | elder sister |
| wanga'abi | i-gwanga' | younger brother |
| pünni'ibi | i-bünni' | younger sister |
There's also a cross-speaker term, saaŵu, meaning "sister" when a man is speaking and "brother" when a woman is speaking.
Grandparents
OVP distinguishes the mother's side from the father's side:
| OVP | English |
|---|---|
| mu'a | maternal grandmother (mother's mother) |
| togo' | maternal grandfather (mother's father) |
| hutsi' | paternal grandmother (father's mother) |
| künu' | paternal grandfather (father's father) |
| tsoo' | great-grandparent |
Aunts and uncles
Likewise split by side of the family:
| OVP | English |
|---|---|
| pidu' | maternal aunt (mother's sister) |
| puu' | maternal uncle (mother's brother) |
| pahwa | paternal aunt (father's sister) |
| nazaguŵa | paternal uncle (father's brother) |
| nawatsi' | uncle (general term) |
Spouses
| Unpossessed | Possessed | English |
|---|---|---|
| kuŵabi | i-guŵa | husband |
| nodügwa | i-nodügwa | wife |
Related words: nananodügwa (a married couple), kuŵadu (to marry, said of a woman: "to make a husband"), nodügwadu (to marry, said of a man: "to make a wife").
Children and young people
| OVP | English |
|---|---|
| ohaa' | baby, infant |
| naatsi' | boy |
| tsüa' | girl |
| süadümmü | young woman |
| woboka | baby boy |
| wasüüya' | baby girl |
Two handy little suffixes
The diminutive -tsi' makes a thing smaller or speaks of it with affection. It's sometimes used to create new words: nawatsi' (uncle, "little father"), tabuu'tsi' (cottontail, "our little uncle"), naatsi' (boy). You can even stack it for emphasis: woodda'-tsi'-chi', "a little tiny chipmunk."