paehtawaewesew 'He is heard by higher powers' (paeht- 'hear', -awae- 'spirit', -wese- passivizer, -w third-person subject) or (Plains Cree) kastahikoyahk "it frightens us". These languages have been extensively studied by Leonard Bloomfield, Ives Goddard, and others.

Algonquian nouns have an animate/inanimate contrast: some nouns are classed as animate, while all other nouns