In longer text, sometimes frequently repeated verbs are elided, leaving the verbalising suffixes -mi and -ni attached only to the embedded subject. This happens most often with the verb ehrlumi “to speak” in prose describing a conversation.
For example:
ehrlunetenettmi, "dahshtaini? ipfen enetti ihautu. sai ipftai?"
ehrlu-et-enett-mi,
tongue-3sg-Enett-v
"dahsht-ai-i?
trouble-q-pred
ipf-en
eye-1sg
enett-i
Enett-pred
ihautu.
Ihautu
sai
who
ipf-tai?"
eye-2pl
Enett says, "Hi! I am Enett Ihautu. What're your names?"
lishtmi, "ipfen lishti ivuŋdu."
lisht-mi,
Lisht-v
"ipf-en
eye-1sg
lisht-i
Lisht-pred
ivuŋdu."
Ivungdu
Lisht: "I am Lisht Ivungdu."
sebtmi, "ipfen sebti llatu."
sebt-mi,
Sebt-v
"ipf-en
eye-1sg
sebt-i
Sebt-pred
llatu."
Llatu
Sebt: "I am Sebt Llatu."
ne enettmi, "ipfemi ipftaitu!"
ne
and
enett-mi,
Enett-v
"ipf-en-mi
eye-1sg-v
ipf-tai-tu!"
eye-2pl-dat
And Enett: "Nice to meet you!"
Notice how the verb ehrlu is elided after the first mention in the opening clause, leaving only the subject's name attached to -mi.
This elision, however, does not happen if the subject of the verb is a pronoun, because pronouns cannot stand alone and cannot appear at the head of a word.