Possessive suffixes of the noun

A possessive affix is a suffix attached to a noun to indicate a possessor instead of using the possessive adjectives. Possessive suffixes indicate the number of possessors (my, your, our, his, their) and the number of objects (singular or plural).

To express possession in Altaian, a suffix is added to the noun. Each person has own possessive suffix (my town, our town, his town, etc.). Which suffix to choose also depends on Vowel harmony and whether the noun ends in a consonant or a vowel. Look at the chart of suffixes.

Possessive suffixes for singular nouns (table)

Person	Word ends in vowel	Example	Translation	Word ends in consonant	Example	Translation
My	-м	aкам	My elder brother	-ым -им	Уулым белим	My son My back
Your (singular)	-ҥ	энеҥ	Your mother	-ыҥ -иҥ	Сыныҥ јериҥ	Your height Your place
His/her/its	-зи -зы	кемези адазы	His boat His dad	-ы -и	Уулы бели	His son His back
Our	-быс -бис	такаабыс     эјебис	Our hen Our elder sister	-ыбыс -ибис	Уулыбыс    тилибис	Our son Our tongue
Your (plural or formal)	-гар -гер	балагар тилигер	Your child Your tongue	-ыгар -игер	Уулыгар тилигер	Your son Your tongue
Their	-зи -зы	кемези чамчазы	Their boat Their shirt	-ы -и	Уулы тили	Their son Their tongue

As you remember, if a word ends in a paired voiceless consonant we change it into its voiced version when adding an affix beginning with a vowel: бут → будым, кӧс → кӧзим.

Remember!
The affixes -быс(-ыбыс), -бис (-ибис) meaning our are used only in the formal speech, in the spoken language we use their reduced forms: –с if a word ends in a vowel, and –ыс, -ис after the consonant. Look at the words: эчки – goat, эчкис – our goat, уул – boy, уулыс – our son, јер – place/land, јерис – our land.
And instead of affixes -гар (-ыгар), -гер(-игер) meaning your we use their reduced forms -аар,-оор, -еер after the last consonant, and -ар, -ор, -ер if a word ends in a vowel: уулаар – your son, кызаар – your daughter, тоноор – your coat, јереер – your land/place.

So, a noun can be used without a possessive adjective when a possessive suffix is bound to its stem.

Notice! We an say адам келди – my father came, адаҥ келди – your father came, but we can not say адазы келди – his father came without indicating who is he, we need to say his name or title, for example: Айдардыҥ адазы – Aidar’s fathe or таайымныҥ чамчазы – my uncle’s shirt.
Белим оорыйт – my back hurts
Белиҥ оорыйт – your back hurts
Бели оорыйт – his back hurts ( it is not clear whose back hurts, if we did not say previously his name. So, we put here a person: баланыҥ бели оорыйт – the child’s back hurts).

Exceptions
In Altai language there are some nouns ending in -ыл, -ын, -ин, ӱн like мойын – neck, јӱлӱн – medulla, айыл – home/house. As you see this noun endings are similar to the accusative affixes -ын, -ин, so please don’t confuse them.

When adding the possessive suffixes these several nouns drop the vowel in the last syllable, have a look: айыл – house, айлы – his house, айлым – my house, айлыҥ – your house, etc.
Мойын – neck, мойны – his neck, мойным – my neck, мойныҥ – your neck.

Some nouns not only drop the vowel in the last syllable, but also change their last consonant:

эрин – lips, эрди – his lips, эрдим – my lips, эрдиҥ – your lips;
јӱлӱн – medulla, јӱлди – his medulla, јӱлдим –my medulla, јӱлдиҥ – your medulla;
карын – belly, карды–his belly, кардым – my belly, кардыҥ – your bell;
келин – daughter -in- law, келди – his daughter -in- law, келдим – my daughter -in- law, келдиҥ – your daughter -in- law.
ӧжӱн – forearm, this noun has both regular suffixes and irregular ones:
ӧшти/ӧжӱни – her forearm, ӧҗим/ӧжӱним – my forearm, ӧжиҥ/ӧжӱниҥ – your forearm.