East Cree facts for kids

Quick facts for kids East Cree
ᐄᔨᔫ ᐊᔨᒨᓐ Īyiyū Ayimūn (crl) ᐄᓅ ᐊᔨᒨᓐ Īnū Ayimūn (crj)
Native to	Canada
Region	Eeyou Istchee, Quebec
Native speakers	400  (2016)e25
Language family	Algic Algonquian Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi Cree East Cree
Writing system	Canadian Aboriginal syllabics
Linguasphere	62-ADA-af (northern) 62-ADA-ag (southern)
Northern East Cree is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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East Cree, also known as (Eastern) James Bay Cree, is a group of Cree dialects. These dialects are spoken in Quebec, Canada. You can find speakers on the east coast of Hudson Bay and James Bay. They also live inland, southeast from James Bay.

Cree is one of the most spoken Indigenous languages in Canada. There are four main dialects of East Cree. These include Southern Inland, Southern Coastal, and two Northern Coastal dialects. Even though there are different dialects, speakers can usually understand each other. It might get a bit harder if communities are very far apart.

East Cree is not considered a language in danger of disappearing. Many young people still speak it. In 2011, over 83,000 people in Canada spoke Cree. This makes Cree the largest living language in the Algonquian language family.

Sounds of East Cree (Phonology)

Every language has its own special sounds. East Cree has 13 consonant sounds. Consonants are sounds made by blocking air in your mouth.

East Cree also has eight vowel sounds. Vowels are sounds made with an open mouth.

How Words are Built (Morphology)

East Cree builds words in different ways. This is called morphology. There are three main ways: Primary Derivation, Secondary Derivation, and Composition.

Primary Derivation

This is when words are made from two or more parts. These parts are not full words by themselves. For example, the verb pisupiyiu means "s/he/it goes slow." It comes from pisu- and piyi-. These parts don't mean anything alone.

English: She/he/it goes slow.

Secondary Derivation

This happens when you take an existing word and add more parts to it. These added parts change the meaning. For example, the verb pisupiyihtaau means "s/he makes it go slow." It comes from the word pisupiyiu (goes slow) and the ending -htaa. This ending means "to cause something."

English: She/he/it makes it go slow.

Composition

This is like putting two independent words together to make a new one. For example, the word mishtikunaapaau means "carpenter." It is made from two nouns: mishtikw (wood) and napaau (man).

Words Made with Verbs

English: It is a good day.

Words Made with Nouns

English: carpenter

Gender, Number, and Person

East Cree has special ways to show if a word is about a living thing or not. It also shows how many things there are and who owns something.

Gender

In East Cree, words are either Animate or Inanimate.

• Animate words are for humans, animals, and other living things. Some plants and even certain personal items like pants or sleds can also be animate.

* To make animate words plural (more than one), you usually add -ich. If the word ends in 'w', you drop the 'w' and add -uch.

Here are more examples of animate words:

• Inanimate words are for things that are not living.

* To make inanimate words plural, you add -h.

Number

As you can see, how you make a word plural depends on its gender. Animate words mostly add -ich or -uch. Inanimate words add -h.

Person (Possession)

To show who something belongs to, East Cree adds a special prefix to the beginning of a noun.

Independent Nouns

These nouns can stand alone without a prefix. If you want to show who owns them, you add a prefix.

In the example above, "mischisin" (shoe) is an independent noun. It can be used by itself.

Dependent Nouns

These nouns cannot stand alone. They always need a prefix to show who they belong to. This often includes words for family members, body parts, and some clothing items.

Here are some prefixes and suffixes for dependent animate nouns:

Verb Types

East Cree verbs have different endings based on two things:

• Transitivity: Does the verb have one main role (like "she sleeps") or two main roles (like "she writes a book")?
• Gender: Is the subject or object of the verb animate or inanimate?

If a verb has one role (intransitive), the gender of the subject matters. If a verb has two roles (transitive), the gender of the object matters.

Here are examples of different verb types:

Different verb types have different endings:

• Inanimate Intransitive Verbs (VII): These verbs have one role, and the subject is inanimate. They often end in -n or vowels.

• Transitive Inanimate Verbs (VTI): These verbs have two roles. The subject is animate, and the object is inanimate. They often end in -am.

• Transitive Animate Verbs (VTA): These verbs have two roles. Both the subject and the object are animate. They can have many endings, like -eu.

• Animate Intransitive Verbs (VAI): These verbs usually have one role, and the subject is animate. They often end in -n and vowels.

Space and Time

East Cree has ways to show where something is and when something happens.

Space (Demonstrative Pronouns)

Demonstrative pronouns are words like "this" or "that." East Cree has three ways to show distance:

• Proximal (uu): For something very close to the speaker and in sight.
• Distal (an): For something a bit farther away.
• Remote ((a)naa or (a)nwaa): For something far away.

There are different forms for normal speech and for when you use gestures (like pointing).

Animate Pronouns (No Gestures)

Inanimate Pronouns

Time (Tense)

East Cree uses special words called "preverbs" to show when something happened. These are added to the verb. They can show past, future, or if someone wants to do something.

Here are some examples of how preverbs are used:

Word Order

In East Cree, you can arrange words in a sentence in many ways. All six possible orders for Subject (S), Verb (V), and Object (O) are correct! For example, to say "The children killed some ducks," you could use any of these orders:

Possession

East Cree shows possession by adding special endings (suffixes) to nouns. It also uses a prefix if the noun belongs to a third person (like "his" or "her"). The endings change depending on if the noun is animate or inanimate.

Complements (Sentences within Sentences)

Sometimes, one sentence is part of another sentence. This is called a "subordinate" or "embedded" clause. The verb in these smaller sentences has special endings.

Complement Clauses

These clauses complete the meaning of the main sentence.

Adverbial Clauses

These clauses give more information about when or how often something happens.

Relative Clauses

These clauses describe a noun in the main sentence.