There are ways of expressing two or even three levels of relationships within the same sentence, i.e. when the possessor has its own possessor:
| anaanaga | my mother |
| anaanama aninga | my mother's brother |
| anaanama aningik | my mother’s two brothers |
| anaanama aningit | my mother’s brothers (3+) |
The -ma ending relates the root word back to me, but it also relates the root to another person or people.
Note that the word that follows -ma must take the ending -nga (in the singular), -ngik in the dual or -ngit in the plural to show that it is part of the possessive relationship.
The ending -ma could be followed by an object as well as a person:
| nukaq | a younger sibling of the same sex |
| nukarma umianga | my younger sibling’s boat |
| panik | daughter |
| panimma nunasiutinga | my daughter’s car |
Note also in the above examples that -ma changes the final -k of a noun root to -m and final -q to -r, while -nga deletes a preceding consonant.
The following table sets out the variations of this type of construction:
| -ma | |
| anaanama aninga | my mother's brother |
| -tta | |
| anaanatta aninga | our (2+) mother’s brother |
| -vit | |
| anaanavit aninga | your (1) mother's brother |
| -ssik | |
| anaanassik aninga | the brother of your (2) mother |
| -ssi | |
| anaanassi aninga | the brother of your (3+) mother |
| -ngata | |
| anaanangata aninga | his/her mother's brother |
| -ngatta | |
| anaanangatta aninga | the brother of their (2) mother |
| -ngita | anaanangita aninga |
| anaanangita aninga | the brother of their (3+) mother |
Remember, in the third person, if you want to name the possessor, you add the ending -up to the end of the name or noun:
| Simiuniup nunasiutinga | Simiuni’s car |
| angutiup qimmingit | the man’s dogs |
From the table above, we can use the endings -ngata (singular) and -ngita (dual/plural) to build even more complex layers of relationships:
| ataatama piqatingata umianga | my father’s friend’s boat; the boat of my father’s friend |
| piqativit nuliangata aninga | your friend’s wife’s brother; the brother of your wife’s friend |
| Simiuniup nunasiutingata kiinga | the key to Simiuni’s car |
| angutiup qimmingita anungit | the man’s dogs’ harnesses; the harnesses of the man’s dogs |