Leksion Chamoru: Prefix mi-

The prefix mi- is added to nouns to say "full of" or "plenty of." Here are some examples:

• åcho' = rock
  Mi- + åcho' => Mi'acho' = Full of rocks, rocky.
  
• kulot = color
  Mi- + kulot => Mikulot = Full of color, colorful.
• unai = sand
  Mi- + unai => Mi'inai = Full of sand, sandy.

The primary stress of the new word falls on mi-, so for the above examples we get:

• Mi'acho' => ME'-a-choo'
• Mikulot => ME-koo-lut
• Mi'inai => ME'-ee-nigh

One thing to note is that mi- follows the rules of vowel harmony. That just means that, in general, the first vowel of the root word is "pulled back." I.e.: å to a, o to e, and u to i.