East Cree, also known as James Bay (Eastern) Cree, and East Main Cree, is a group of Cree dialects spoken in Quebec, Canada on the east coast of lower Hudson Bay and James Bay, and inland southeastward from James Bay. Cree is one of the most spoken non-official aboriginal languages of Canada. Four dialects have been tentatively identified including the Southern Inland dialect (Iyiniw-Ayamiwin) spoken in Mistissini, Oujé-Bougoumou, Waswanipi, and Nemaska; the Southern Coastal dialect (Iyiyiw-Ayamiwin) spoken in Nemaska, Waskaganish, and Eastmain; the Northern Coastal Dialects (Iyiyiw-Ayimiwin), one spoken in Wemindji and Chisasibi and the other spoken in Whapmagoostui. The dialects are mutually intelligible, though difficulty arises as the distance between communities increases.
East Cree is not considered an endangered language thanks to the large population of younger people who speak it (Mela S.; Mali A. 2009). There are estimated to be more than 18,000 first-language speakers.
Phonology The long vowels *ē and *ā have merged in the northern coastal dialects but remain distinct in the southern coastal and southern inland dialects; southern inland has merged *s with *š, which remain distinct in the coastal dialects. Neighbouring Naskapi has both.
In East Cree there are thirteen consonants:
Bilabial Alveolar Postalveolar Velar Labiovelar Glottal Stop Voiceless p t k kʷ Voiced b Nasal m n Fricative s ʃ h Affricate tʃ Glide j w
There are eight vowels:
Front Central Back High i u Mid-high ɪ ʊ Mid e ə Low a
Morphology In East Cree, words are formed by primary derivation, secondary derivation, and composition.
Primary derivation Words constructed by primary derivation, are made up of two or more stems, that are not words that stand on their own.
For example, the verb:
Secondary derivation Words constructed by secondary derivation, are made up of core word stems and at least one other stem-building elements.
For example, the verb ᐱᓱᐱᔨᐦᑖᐤ pisupiyihtaau s/he makes it go slow is made up of the stem of the existing verb ᐱᓱᐱᔨᐤ pisupiyiu and the causative final -htaa.
pisu piyi htaau Initial Final Causative final/Personal suffix Initial Final Stem Stem Inflection
English Translation: she/he/it makes it go slow.
Composition Words constructed by composition contains independent elements, like two existing word stems, or a preform and another word stem.
For example, the noun mishtikunaapaau is made by conjoining two other noun stems:
Independent elements forming with Verbs
miyu chiishinkaau preverb verb stem good it is day
'It is a good day'
Gender, number, and person Gender Gender is a grammatical distinction. East Cree has Animate and Inanimate gender differentiation. However, it is not possible to know for sure if words are animate or inanimate at first glance.
Animate nouns refer to humans, animals, and general living creatures, as well as some plants and some personal belongings, such as pants and sleds. To indicate the plural, you generally add the suffix -ich; in some cases, when the word ends in -w, you drop the -w and add -uch.
Number Word Translation Singular paayikw awaashish one child Plural niishu awaashishiich two children
Some more examples of Animate nouns are:
Number Word Translation Single piyichiis pair of pants Plural piyichiisich pairs of pants Single mishtikw tree Plural mishtikuch trees Single utaapaanaaskw sled Plural utaapaanaaskuch sleds
Inanimate plural is formed with the suffix -h.
Number Word Translation Single paayikw mischin one shoe Plural niishu mischinh two shoes
Number As shown above we can see that the Number is dependent on the Gender therefore if we have an Animate word then the ending for the plural will be ich in most cases and in some cases when the word ends in a w the ending will be uch after you drop the w. On the other hand, for Inanimate words the ending to indicate the plural will be adding an h to the end of the word.
Person To indicate possession, noun stems take a personal prefix. In East Cree there are Independent and Dependent nouns.
Independent nouns are ones that can appear without personal prefixes. Therefore, they can stand alone as a word, and if you want to indicate to whom it belongs to, you would add the prefix. Example shown below.
Gender Number Noun Translation Inanimate Singular mischisin shoe Inanimate Singular nimischisin my shoe Inanimate Plural mischisinh shoes Inanimate Plural nimischisinh my shoes
We can see that for this example the noun is Independent because it can stand alone, also, we see that it is an inanimate noun because the plural form adds an h at the end when the plural is indicted. Please refer to Gender to understand the relationship of Animate and Inanimate nouns in respect to gender.
Dependent nouns are those that can not stand alone without a prefix. These types of nouns express kinship, body parts, and personal belongings, like certain pieces of clothing.
Gender Noun Translation Animate nimushum my grandfather Inanimate nishtikwaan my head
Below is the table of Prefixes and Suffixes for some Dependent Nouns that are Animate
Possessors Animate noun Translation 2 chimis your older sister 1 nimis my older sister 2p chimisiwaau your (plural) older sister 21p chimisinuu our (including you) older sister 1p nimisinaan our (excluding you) older sister 3 umis-h his/her older sister(s) 3pe umisiwaauh their older sister(s) 3'(p) umisiyuuh his/her/their older sister(s)
Classification on verbs East Cree adds suffixes on verbs in order to distinguish classes based on two factors, transitivity and gender. When referring to transitivity it means if the verbs is intransitive or transitive, and when referring to gender, it means if the subject or object of the verb is animate or inanimate. When we are looking at intransitive verbs, we see that the animacy of the subject matters. However, when we are looking at a transitive verb, we see that the animacy of the object is what matters. Below is a table that describes the differences between the transitive, intransitive and animate, inanimate in regards to the verbs and their role.
Animate Inanimate One Role (Intransitive) masinaasuu masinaateu Two Roles (Transitive) masinahweu masinaham
Verbs Gloss Classification masinahweu She writes him (his name) down Transitive Animate (VTA) masinaham She is writing it Transitive Inanimate (VTI) masinaasuu She (her name) is written down Animate Intransitive (VAI) masinaateu It is written Inanimate Intransitive (VII)
Different classes have different endings. Below is a table that describes the different ending for each classification. The classifications are, Verb Transitive Animate (VTA), Verb Intransitive Inanimate (VII), Verb Transitive Inanimate (VTI), Verb Animate Intransitive (VAI).
Verb Intransitive Inanimate (VII) only have one role (intransitive) filled by an inanimate subject. These verbs have endings such as, -n or vowels.
Verb Gloss chiinaau It is pointed wiihkan It is tasty waaskamaau It is a clear day yuutin It is windy
Verb Transitive Inanimate (VTI) have two roles (transitive) filled by an animate subject and an inanimate object. These verbs have an -am ending. They can be found in all orders with all persons.
Verbs Gloss masinaham masinahiikaniyuu Ruth Ruth is writing a book iiskupatam utaas He is pulling up his socks manaham chiistaaskwaanh She is pulling out nails
Verb Transitive Animate (VTA) have two roles (transitive) filled by an animate subject and an animate object. Both the agent and the patient are animate. They can end in many endings, but one of them is -eu.
Verb Gloss misinahuweu utawaashiimh Luci Luci is enrolling her child chispahweu waahkupaanikiikh Daisy Daisy is mixing fish-egg pancakes wepaashtimeu umuusuuyaanimh Marguerite Marguerite let her moosehide blow away
Verb Animate Intransitive (VAI) usually only have one role (intransitive) filled by an animate subject. They end in -n and -vowels'.
Verbs Gloss masinaasuu nuushimish My grandchild's name is on the list weyikaapuu Daisy che niimit Daisy stands ready to dance utaamikachisheshin John John falls on his behind
Space and time Space In East Cree there are Demonstrative Pronouns that are distinguished by three areas. The Proximal noted by uu, which can occur with suffixes. The proximal is used to indicate either a person or an object that is close to the speaker and in sight of the speaker. Then there is the Distal noted by an at the beginning of a word. The distal is used to indicate something or something specific that is slightly farther away from the speaker. In addition, there is the Remote noted as (a)naa or and is used to indicate that someone or something is far away from the speaker. In East Cree, there are two sets of demonstratives. One is to use in a normal speech setting which means, to just speak to one another and the other form is used with gestures such as hand gestures, to point or signal.
Below is a table demonstrating the relation of prefixes on the words using the proximal, distal, and the remote for Animate Pronouns. Simple Speech no gestures required.
Pronoun Proximate Obviative Singular Plural Singular or Plural Proximal uu uuchii / uuch uuyuuh / uuyeyuuh Distal an anichii / anich anuyuuh / anuyeyuuh Remote (a)naa / (a)nwaa (a)nechii / (a)nech (a)neyuuh
Below is a table demonstrating the relation of prefixes on the words using the proximal, distal, and the remote for Inanimate Pronouns.
Pronoun Proximate Obviative Singular Plural Singular Plural Proximal uu uuyuuh / uuhii uuyuu / uuyeyuu uuyuuh / uuyeyuuh Distal an aniyuuh / anihii aniyuu / aniyeyuu aniyuuh / aniyeyuuh Remote (a)ne (a)neyuuh / (a)nehii aneyuu aneyuuh
Time East Cree tense is marked on the preverbs attached to the pronoun. There is an indicative of past and future tense on the preverb such as, che, chii, kata, chika, nika, chechii, wii, nipah, chipah, e, kaa, uhchi. These preverbs indicate different aspects of the tense and when you use each one. Below is a table that shows the different environment for each preverb.
Preverb Usage Example Gloss che Future marker for conjunct verbs chii Past tense marker kata Future preverbs for independent verbs used only with 3p. kata miichisuu utaakushiyiche S/he will eat this evening chika future preverb for independent verbs used with second and third persons nika future preverb for independent verbs used with first persons nika miichisun utaakushiche I will eat this evening chechii conjunct preverb chii can always preceded by a future preverb wii want nipah should used with first persons shaash nipah kuushimuun uu e ishpishipayich I should be in bed at this hour chipah should used with second and third persons shaash chipah kuushimuun uu e ishpishipayich You should be in bed at this hour e conjunct preverb kaa Conjunct preverb uhchi from, because used in the negative independent with namui or in the negative conjunct with ekaa
Word order In East Cree, all six word orders SVO, SOV, OVS, OSV, VOS, and VSO are grammatical. Below is a chart to see how they could all be used to construct the sentence, The children killed some ducks
Word order Example Gloss SVO awasisak nipahewak sisipa children killed ducks SOV awasisak sisipa nipahewak children ducks killed VSO nipahewak awasisak sisipa killed children ducks VOS nipahewak sisipa awasisak killed ducks children OVS sisipa nipahewak awasisak ducks killed children OSV sisipa awasisak nipahewak ducks children killed
Case There is a ranking system of the grammatical functions where the subject outranks the object. This appears on the transitive verb with an animate object in order to indicate the person hierarchy, whether it be aligned (DIRECT) or crossed (INVERSE). Below is a table that demonstrates the hierarchy and the functions.
For the Direct we can see that the Proximant is reflected on the Subject and the Agent while the Obviative is reflected through the Object and the Patient.