Cree language

 

Cree Nēhiyawēwin, Nīhithawīwin, Nēhinawēwin.
Spoken in:	Canada
Total speakers:	50,000 approx.
Language family:	Algic  Algonquian   Central Algonquian    Cree
Writing system:	Latin alphabet, Cree syllabics (variation of Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics)
Official status
Official language of:	Northwest Territories (Canada)
Regulated by:	no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	cr
ISO 639-2:	cre
ISO 639-3:	variously: nsk — Naskapi moe — Montagnais atj — Atikamekw cre — Cree (generic) crm — Moose Cree crl — East Cree (North) crj — East Cree (South) crw — Swampy Cree cwd — Woods Cree crk — Plains Cree
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Cree is the name for a group of closely-related Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 50,000 speakers across Canada, from Alberta to Labrador.

Dialect criteria

The Cree dialect continuum can be divided by many criteria. Dialects spoken from northern Ontario and coastal north-western Quebec make a distinct difference between /ʃ/ (sh as in she) and /s/, while those to the west (where both are pronounced /s/) and east (where both are pronounced either /ʃ/ or /h/) do not. In several dialects, including northern Plains Cree and Woods Cree, the long vowels /eː/ and /iː/ have merged into a single vowel, /iː/. In the Québec communities of Chisasibi, Whapmagoostui, and Kawawachikamach, the long vowel /eː/ has merged with /aː/.

However, the most transparent phonological variation between different Cree dialects are the reflexes of Proto-Algonquian *l in the modern dialects, as shown below:

Dialect	Location	Reflex of *l	Word for "Native person" ← *elenyiwa	Word for "You" ← *kīla
Plains Cree	SK, AB, BC, NT	y	iyiniw	kiya
Woods Cree	MB, SK	ð/th	iðiniw/ithiniw	kīða/kītha
Swampy Cree	ON, MB, SK	n	ininiw	kīna
Moose Cree	ON	l	ililiw	kīla
Northern East Cree	QC	y	īyiyū	čiy ᒌ
Southern East Cree	QC	y	iynū	čiy ᒌ
Kawawachikamach Naskapi	QC	y	iyyū	čiy
Atikamekw	QC	r	iriniw	kira
Western Innu	QC	l	ilnū	čil
Eastern Innu	QC, NL	n	innū	čin

The Plains Cree, speakers of the y dialect, refer to their language as nēhiyawēwin, whereas Woods Cree speakers say nīhithawīwin, and Swampy Cree speakers say nēhinawēwin. This is similar to the alternation in the Siouan languages Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota.

Another important phonological variation among the Cree dialects involves the palatalisation of Proto-Algonquian *k: East of the Ontario-Quebec border (except for Atikamekw), Proto-Algonquian *k has changed into /tʃ/ or /ts/ (ch as in cheese and ts as in Watson) before front vowels. See the table above for examples in the *kīla column.

Very often the Cree dialect continuum is divided into two languages: Cree and Montagnais. Cree includes all dialects which have not undergone the *k -> /tʃ/ sound change (BC–QC) while Montagnais encompasses the territory where this sound change has occurred (QC–NL). These labels are very useful from a linguistic perspective but are confusing as East Cree then qualifies as Montagnais. For practical purposes, Cree usually covers the dialects which use syllabics as their orthography (including Atikamekw but excluding Kawawachikamach Naskapi), the term Montagais then applies to those dialects using the Latin script (excluding Atikamekw and including Kawawachikamach Naskapi). The term Naskapi typically refers to Kawawachikamach (y-dialect) and Natuashish (n-dialect).

Dialect groups

We can broadly classify the Cree dialects into nine groups. From west to east:

• Plains Cree (y-dialect)
• Woods/Rocky Cree (th-dialect)
• Swampy Cree (n-dialect)

Swampy Cree in turn has an eastern and a western dialect which differ in the use of the phoneme š. In the western dialect, š has merged with s.

• Moose Cree (l-dialect)
• James Bay Cree (y-dialect, sometimes called East Cree)

James Bay Cree has a northern and a southern dialect which differ in the number of vowel distinctions they make. The long vowels ē and ā have merged in the northern dialect but are distinct in the southern. Also, the southern dialect has lost the distinction between s and ʃ. Here, the southern dialect falls in line with the rest of the Montagnais groups where both phonemes have become ʃ. Nonetheless, the people from the two areas easily communicate.

• Atikamekw (r-dialect)
• Western Montagnais (l-dialect)
• Eastern Montagnais (n-dialect, also sometimes called Innu-aimun)
• Naskapi (y-dialect)

Syntax

Like many Native American languages, Cree features a complex polysynthetic morphology and syntax. A Cree word can be very long, and express something that takes a series of words in English, while at other times Cree is more explicit than English. For example, the Plains Cree word for "school" is ᑭᐢᑭᓄᐦᐊᒫᑐᐏᑲᒥᐠ kiskinohamātowikamik, "Know-by.hand-caus-applicative-reciprocal-place," "The knowing-it-together-by-example place". To say "he always danced like that" in Plains Cree, however, is simply ᑭ ᐃᓯ ᓇᓃᒥᐦᐃᑐᐤ ki-isi-nanīmihitow.

Written Cree

Cree dialects, except for those spoken in eastern Quebec and Labrador, are traditionally written using Cree syllabics, a variant of Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics, but can be written with the Roman alphabet as well. The easternmost dialects are written using the Roman alphabet exclusively.

Creole languages

Cree was also a component language in two creoles unique to Western Canada. Michif, combining Cree and French; and Bungee, combining Cree and Scottish Gaelic. Both languages were spoken by Métis voyageurs and settlers in Western Canada. Many Cree words also became the basis for words in the Chinook Jargon trade language used until some point after contact with Europeans.

Legal status

The social and legal status of Cree varies across Canada. Cree is one of the seven official languages of the Northwest Territories, but is only spoken by a small number of people there in the area around the town of Fort Smith. In many areas, it is a vibrant community language still spoken by large majorities and taught in schools. In other areas, its use has declined dramatically. Cree is one of the least endangered aboriginal languages in North America, but is nonetheless at risk since it possesses little institutional support in most areas.

Literature

• Ahenakew, Freda, Cree Language Structures: A Cree Approach. Pemmican Publications Inc., 1987. ISBN 0-919143-42-3
• Steller, Lea-Katharina (geb. Virághalmy): Alkalmazkodni és újat adni – avagy „accomodatio“ a paleográfiában In: Paleográfiai kalandozások. Szentendre, 1995. ISBN 963-450-922-3
• Wolfart, H. C. & Freda Ahenakew, The Student's Dictionary of Literary Plains Cree. Memoir 15, Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics, 1998. ISBN 0-921064-15-2
• Wolvengrey, Arok, ed. nēhiýawēwin: itwēwina / Cree: Words / ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ: ᐃᑗᐏᓇ [includes Latin orthography and Cree Syllabics]. [Cree-English English-Cree Dictionary - Volume 1: Cree-English; Volume 2: English-Cree]. Canadian Plains Research Center, 15 October 2001. ISBN 0-88977-127-8

External links

• The Gift of Language and Culture website
• Nehinawe: Speak Cree
  • Cree Language Lessons
• The East Cree language web
• Our Languages: Cree (Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre)
• Language Geek: Cree -- OpenType font repository of aboriginal languages (including Cree).
• CBC Digital Archives - Eeyou Istchee: Land of the Cree

Languages of Quebec
Official languages French
Non-official languages Quebec English · Algonquin · Atikamekw · Abenaki · Cree · Mi'kmaq · Innu-aimun · Inuktitut

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