Plains Cree language
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Plains Cree (
endonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
: ) is a dialect of the Algonquian language,
Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
, which is the most populous Canadian indigenous language. Plains Cree is considered a dialect of the Cree-Montagnais language or a dialect of the Cree language that is distinct from the Montagnais language. Plains Cree is one of five main dialects of Cree in this second sense, along with Woods Cree, Swampy Cree, Moose Cree, and Atikamekw. Although no single
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
of Cree is favored over another, Plains Cree is the one that is the most widely used. Out of the 116,500 speakers of the Cree language, the Plains Cree dialect is spoken by about 34,000 people primarily in
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
and
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
but also in
Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
and
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
. The number of people who can speak an Aboriginal language, such as Plains Cree, has increased. For example, in the 2016 census, 263,840 people could speak an Aboriginal language well enough to conduct a conversation. From 1996 to 2016, the total number of people who were able to speak an Aboriginal language went up by 8%. The number of Plains Cree speakers similarly has increased along with population increases over the past 20 years.*Stats Canada
/ref>


Phonology


Consonants

The
consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
inventory of Plains Cree contains 10 or 11 sounds. This includes the
semi-vowel In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are the ...
s and , which are glides that act like and often follow consonants. The consonants of Plains Cree in the two standard
writing systems A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form ...
, Cree syllabics and the Cree Latin alphabet, are listed in the following table (with
IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners ...
phonemic In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west ...
notation within slashes). Note that the Cree syllabics symbols chosen for this table all represent
syllable coda A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of Phone (phonetics), speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered t ...
s, as in ᐁᐤ ''ēw'', ᐁᑊ ''ēp'', ᐁᐟ ''ēt'', etc. The consonants are represented differently when they comprise or are a component of a
syllable onset A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
, as in ᐍ ''wē'', ᐯ ''pē'', ᐻ ''pwē'', ᑌ ''tē'', etc. The exception is ᐦ ''h'', which always has the same representation, as in ᐁᐦ ''ēh'' or ᐦᐁ ''hē''. The status of the
glottal stop The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...
, , as a phoneme in Plains Cree is uncertain. It was recorded in the word ''ēhaʔ'' “yes" (transcribed ''ähaʔ'') by
Leonard Bloomfield Leonard Bloomfield (April 1, 1887 – April 18, 1949) was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. He is considered to be the father of American distributionalism ...
, who stated that the sound occurred only in this word. In a collaborative online dictionary, Cree speakers have contributed several variants of this word, including ᐁᐦᐊ ''ēha'' (written ''eha'' and ''êha''), ᐁᐦᐁ ''ēhē'' (written ''êhê''), and ᐄᐦᐃ ''īhi'' (written ''îhi''). None of these forms includes a final glottal stop. However, there is no way of writing a glottal stop in the standard Latin alphabet or in Cree syllabics. Wolfart's grammar contains a text sample which includes this word without a glottal stop, and in his synopsis of Plains Cree sounds no mention of this sound is made. The same word also occurs in
Michif Michif (also Mitchif, Mechif, Michif-Cree, Métif, Métchif, French Cree) is one of the languages of the Métis people of Canada and the United States, who are the descendants of First Nations (mainly Cree, Nakota, and Ojibwe) and fur trade work ...
, a language derived in part from Plains Cree. There it appears with a final consonant (and nasalized vowels), as ''aenhenk'' “yes". There is a degree of variation in the sounds ᐨ ''c'' and ᐢ ''s'' . On the Sweetgrass Reserve in Saskatchewan in 1925, ᐨ ''c'' was either alveolar or palatoalveolar , but ᐢ ''s'' was normally alveolar , and only abnormally palatoalveolar . In contrast to this, Michif words of Plains Cree origin at Turtle Mountain, North Dakota, invariably have palatoalveolar pronunciation for both of these sounds. Voicing of the stops and the affricate is not contrastive in Plain Cree, which is to say that the phonemes ᑊ ''p'' , ᐟ ''t'' , ᐠ ''k'' , ᐨ ''c'' have
voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...
allophone In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in ''s ...
s , , , and
voiced Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer ...
allophones , , , . According to Wolfart and Carroll, the distribution of voiceless and voiced allophones is complementary: voiceless allophones occur in unvoiced phonological contexts; voiced allophones occur in voiced contexts. The context limit is word boundary, not phrase boundary. So voiceless variants occur at the beginning of a word, at the end of a word, and after ᐦ ''h'' or ᐢ ''s'' . The voiced variants occur in all other situations. However, other distributions of voiceless versus voiced sounds are possible. Bloomfield reported the same voicing pattern as a possibility for the phoneme ᐠ ''k'' /k/, but did not mentioned it for ᑊ ''p'' /p/, ᐟ ''t'' /t/, or ᐨ ''c'' /t͡s/. The Plains Cree component of Michif shows a different pattern with respect to voicing. Plains Cree ᑊ ''p'' , ᐟ ''t'' , ᐠ ''k'' , ᐨ ''c'' , and also ᐢ ''s'' normally correspond to the Michif sounds ''p'' , ''t'' , ''k'' , ''ch'' , and ''sh'' , which in Michif do not have voiced allophones. Michif has voiced sounds ''b'' , ''d'' , ''g'' , ''j'' , and ''zh'' which are distinct phonemes, and in some cases the Plains Cree sounds correspond to these. These cases all involve syncope of vowel ''i'' that results in a cluster of nasal consonant plus stop, affricate or
sibilant Sibilants are fricative consonants of higher amplitude and pitch, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the teeth. Examples of sibilants are the consonants at the beginning of the English words ''sip'', ''zip'', ''ship'', and ...
. At the beginning of a word, the nasal consonant is subsequently lost. Unlike the stops and the affricate, ''sh'' becomes voiced only at the beginning of a word. Plains Cree has pre-aspirated stops and a pre-aspirated affricate which are actually clusters of plus a following stop or affricate; these are not separate phonemes. Pre-aspiration can uniquely distinguish words. For example, compare the simple ᐠ ''k'' and cluster ᕽ ''hk'' in ᐑᒋᐦᐃᐠ ''wīcihik'' "help me!" and ᐑᒋᐦᐃᕽ ''wīcihihk'' "help him!".


Vowels

Plains Cree is often described as having seven contrastive vowels, three short and four long. However, northern Plains Cree has only three long vowels. These vowels in the standard writing systems are listed in the following table (with IPA phonemic notation within slashes). Note that the Cree syllabics symbols chosen for this table all represent syllable nuclei which have no syllable onset. The vowels are represented differently with non-null onset, as for example with ''n''-onset in ᓀ ''nē'', ᓂ ''ni'', ᓃ ''nī'', etc. A distinction not indicated in the table is between back rounded and back unrounded. The back vowels ᐅ ''o'' and ᐆ ''ō'' are rounded, whereas the sometimes back vowels ᐊ ''a'' and ᐋ ''ā'' are not. Within these phonemes there is a degree of allophonic variation. The short close vowels ᐃ ''i'' and ᐅ ''o'' are typically near close and , but range to close and . The short open vowel ᐊ ''a'' is typically open, ranging from front to back , but its range extends to front open-mid and back open-mid . The long front close vowel ᐄ ''ī'' is ; ᐁ ''ē'' is close-mid ; ᐆ ''ō'' is typically close-mid but its range includes close ; and ᐋ ''ā'' ranges from front open to back open . The description of ᐁ ''ē'' must be further qualified to account for geographic variation. Although this sound is in southern Plains Cree, it becomes closer farther north, becoming and merging with in northern Plains Cree, as it has done also in neighbouring Woods Cree. Contrast in vowel length can be seen in such pairs as:


Phonological processes


Consonant sequences

The vowel is inserted when
morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...
s with non-syllabic endings are followed by morpheme-initial consonants, such as when the transitive
animate Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...
conjunct ending -''at'' is followed by the third person plural marker -''k''. The result is not ''atk'' but rather ''acik''. Note the palatalization of the /t-i/ sequence. This insertion does not occur before semivowels such as or in certain specific combinations. Because Plains Cree does not accept the phonological sequence , however, one is dropped. When the morpheme , a marker for the inclusive plural in the conjunct order, is followed by , the third person plural marker, the word is realized as .


Vowel sequences

The
glide Glide may refer to: * Gliding flight, to fly without thrust Computing *Glide API, a 3D graphics interface *Glide OS, a web desktop *Glide (software), an instant video messenger *Glide, a molecular docking software by Schrödinger (company), Schr ...
is inserted between two
long vowels In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, ...
, which is why the combination of ''kīsikā'' "be day" and ''āpan'' "be dawn" forms ''kīsikāyāpan'' "it is day-break". Also, the combination of a
long vowel In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
and a
short vowel In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
deletes the
short vowel In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
. Therefore, ''nīpā'' "in the dark" and ''ohtē'' "walk" form ''nīpāhtēw'' "he walks in the dark". This deletion is true whether the
short vowel In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
occurs before or after the
long vowel In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
. When two
short vowels In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, ...
occur in sequence, however, it is the second that deletes. For instance, the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
''ositiyi'' "his foot/feet" combines with the locative
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
/ehk/ to produce ''ositiyihk'' "on his foot/feet". Normal patterns of
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
combination and deletion, however, are set aside during
prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
ation, a process in which a is inserted between
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
s when the personal
prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
es ''ki-'', ''ni-'', ''o-'', and ''mi-'' precede a stem-initial vowel. As a result, when the personal prefix for "I" ''ni-'' is
affix In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. Affixes may be derivational, like English ''-ness'' and ''pre-'', or inflectional, like English plural ''-s'' and past tense ''-ed''. They ar ...
ed to the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
for "sit" ''apin'', the word is realized as ''nitapin'' instead of ''nipin''. In isolated cases, or is sometimes inserted instead of , such as the word ''nihayān'' "I have it".


Palatalization

Palatalization of the sounds and to and respectively occurs before the vowels and as well as the consonant . For example, the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
"fetch" becomes ''kināsin'' "you fetch me" before the ending and ''kinātitin'' "I fetch you" where it is not palatalized before the ending . This pattern includes several important exceptions, including that of the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
''wāt-'' "hole". Before the inanimate
proximate Proximates are used in the analysis of biological materials as a decomposition of a human-consumable good into its major constituents. They are a good approximation of the contents of packaged comestible goods and serve as a cost-effective and ea ...
singular
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
, one would expect the to become either or but it does not. Palatalization is also found in
diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
s, where all instances of in a word are replaced by before the diminutive suffixes , , etc. Thus, ''nitēm'' "my horse" would become ''nicēmisis'' "my little horse" and ''atimw-'' "dog" would realize as ''acimosis'' "little dog". Palatalization to indicate
diminution In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which a long note is divided into a series of ...
extends even to internal changes within the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
. This is why the statement ''yōtin'' "it is windy" can change to ''yōcin'' to say that "it is a little windy".


Apocopation

Word-final
short vowels In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, ...
tend to be subject to apocope except for when the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
is
syllabic Syllabic may refer to: *Syllable, a unit of speech sound, considered the building block of words **Syllabic consonant, a consonant that forms the nucleus of a syllable *Syllabary, writing system using symbols for syllables *Abugida, writing system ...
. That is, the word would become ''sīsīp'' "duck" but remains ''niska'' "goose" because the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
is composed of only a single
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
. Similarly, post-consonantal word-final is lost. In the case of the Plains Cree word for "dog" , the is only lost after the
short vowel In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
is dropped when the plural
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
-''k'' is added. Thus, the word is realized ''atim'' while its plural form is ''atimwak''.


Surface variations

In normal, everyday spoken Plains Cree, several phonological contractions are observed. For instance, final
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
s can merge with the initial
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
of the following word. This is how the phrase ''nāpēw mīna atim'' is reduced to ''nāpēw mīn ātim'' "a man and a dog". In this case, the
contraction Contraction may refer to: Linguistics * Contraction (grammar), a shortened word * Poetic contraction, omission of letters for poetic reasons * Elision, omission of sounds ** Syncope (phonology), omission of sounds in a word * Synalepha, merged ...
involved the same
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
; the first
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
is taken and included in the second word in its long form. When the contraction involves different
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
s, the first
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
is deleted and the second is lengthened: ''nāpēw mīna iskwēw'' "a man and a woman" is reduced to ''nāpēw mīn īskwēw''. Contraction does not always occur, and the word boundary may also be distinguished by the insertion of the sound: ''mīna iskwēw'' and ''mīna(h) iskwēw'' respectively. Within words,
short vowels In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, ...
may also disappear when they are
unstressed In linguistics, and particularly phonology, stress or accent is the relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain syllable in a word or to a certain word in a phrase or sentence. That emphasis is typically caused by such properties as i ...
, especially between and or and . In normal speech, for example, the greeting ''tānisi'' "hello" is reduced to ''tānsi''.


Syllable structure and stress

The
stress pattern In poetry, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set o ...
of Plains Cree is dependent on the number of
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
s rather than on
vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
. For instance, in
disyllabic A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "b ...
words, it is the last
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
that receives primary
stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
, as in the word /is'kwe:w/ ''iskwēw'' "woman" or /mih'ti/ ''mihti'' "piece of firewood". Words of three
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
s or more exhibit primary
stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
on the third
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
from the end. In this case,
secondary stress Secondary stress (or obsolete: secondary accent) is the weaker of two degrees of Stress (linguistics), stress in the pronunciation of a word, the stronger degree of stress being called ''primary''. The International Phonetic Alphabet symbol for ...
falls on alternate
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
s from the
antepenult In linguistics, the ultima is the last syllable of a word, the penult is the next-to-last syllable, and the antepenult is third-from-last syllable. In a word of three syllables, the names of the syllables are antepenult-penult-ultima. Etymology Ul ...
. One may observe, for instance, that the word ''pasakwāpisimowin'' "Shut-Eye Dance" is pronounced /'pasa'kwa:pi'simo'win/. This rule holds even in cases where the penultimate
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
is long.


Phonotactics

The
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
itself consists of an optional
onset Onset may refer to: *Onset (audio), the beginning of a musical note or sound *Onset, Massachusetts Onset is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Wareham, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,573 at the 2010 census. Geog ...
, a peak obligatory
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
and an optional
coda Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...
. The
onset Onset may refer to: *Onset (audio), the beginning of a musical note or sound *Onset, Massachusetts Onset is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Wareham, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,573 at the 2010 census. Geog ...
can be non-syllabic or a
consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
, sometimes followed by a ''w''. Although any
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
can occur in any position in the word, the long vowels and are found only rarely in initial and final positions. Plains Cree does not permit vowel clusters; clusters of identical non-syllabics; or
fricative A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...
s followed by a
fricative A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...
, nasal, or ''y''. The
coda Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...
, when it occurs, is either but many Plains Cree words end in a
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
. The following table describes the phonotactics of Plains Cree by the distribution of consonants and semivowels with relation to the obligatory vowel. Parentheses indicate optional components.


Morphology

Plains Cree is classified as a
polysynthetic In linguistic typology, polysynthetic languages, formerly holophrastic languages, are highly synthetic languages, i.e. languages in which words are composed of many morphemes (word parts that have independent meaning but may or may not be able t ...
fusional language Fusional languages or inflected languages are a type of synthetic language, distinguished from agglutinative languages by their tendency to use a single inflectional morpheme to denote multiple grammatical, syntactic, or semantic features. Fo ...
as a result of the complexity of its
affix In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. Affixes may be derivational, like English ''-ness'' and ''pre-'', or inflectional, like English plural ''-s'' and past tense ''-ed''. They ar ...
combinations. Apart from four personal
prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
es, Plains Cree utilizes
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
es exclusively.


Nouns

Because almost all grammatical information is stored within the
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
,
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
s in Plains Cree are relatively simple.
Noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
s can be marked with possessive
prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
es, which are paired with
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
es for
plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...
possessive pronouns A possessive or ktetic form (abbreviated or ; from la, possessivus; grc, κτητικός, translit=ktētikós) is a word or grammatical construction used to indicate a relationship of possession in a broad sense. This can include strict own ...
like that for our (excl.) ''ni(t)-...-inān''. Nominal morphology, like the
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
in general, is nevertheless dominated by
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
es. This includes the
diminutive suffix A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
, plural number
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
es -''ak'' and -''a'', and the locative
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
-''ihk''. These forms each have predictable
allomorph In linguistics, an allomorph is a variant phonetic form of a morpheme, or, a unit of meaning that varies in sound and spelling without changing the meaning. The term ''allomorph'' describes the realization of phonological variations for a specif ...
s. Additional
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
es include those to mark obviation.


Verbs


Position classes

Bakker (2006) provides several position class templates for the
morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...
s in the
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
s of Plains Cree, the following of which is the most derived. * Preverbs ** A – Person
r conjunct R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars'', or in Irelan ...
** B – Tense ** C – Mood ** D – Aspect 1 ** E – Aspect 2 ** F – Aspect 3 ** G – Aktionsart (Lexical Aspect) * Stem * Suffixes ** I – Possessed object (Obviation) ** II – Direction/Theme ** III – Valency ** IV – Voice ** V – Possessed subject (Obviation) ** VI – Person ** VII – Plural ** VIII – Conditional Bakker (2006) observes that this model does contain contradictions relating to the ordering of
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
s and that this is likely due to the multiple functions of some
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
s. That is, identical forms with distinct meanings can occur at different positions in the
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
complex. Wolfart (1973b) identifies two
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
position classes, position 1 and 2. The
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
s of position 1 are few and mutually exclusive while those of position 2 make up an open class of particles, of which several may occur in succession. The
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
s of position 1 include subordinating particles like /e:/ or /ka:/ and the
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
s /ka/ and /kita/, which indicate subsequence or futurity. Position 2
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
s are arranged
semantically Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
along a scale from abstract to concrete. Abstract
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
s include /a:ta/ "although, in vain", in ''ē-āta-kitōtāt'' "although he spoke to him", and /wi:/ "will, intend to", as in ''wī-mēscihāwak'' "they will all be killed". An example of a concrete
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
can be found in /ka:mwa:ci/ "quietly", in ''kī-kāmwāci-pimātisiwak '', or /ne:wo/ "four" in ''ē-kī-nēwo-tipiskāyik'' "when the fourth night passed". Bakker (2006) classes tense as a position 1
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
but the following mood as both a position 1 and position 2
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
.
Aspect Aspect or Aspects may refer to: Entertainment * ''Aspect magazine'', a biannual DVD magazine showcasing new media art * Aspect Co., a Japanese video game company * Aspects (band), a hip hop group from Bristol, England * ''Aspects'' (Benny Carter ...
1 and the
Aktionsart In linguistics, the lexical aspect or Aktionsart (, plural ''Aktionsarten'' ) of a verb is part of the way in which that verb is structured in relation to time. For example, the English verbs ''arrive'' and ''run'' differ in their lexical aspec ...
are also classified as position 2
preverb Although not widely accepted in linguistics, the term preverb is used in Caucasian (including all three families: Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian), Caddoan, Athabaskan, and Algonquian linguistics to describe certain elem ...
s. The difference between
Aspect Aspect or Aspects may refer to: Entertainment * ''Aspect magazine'', a biannual DVD magazine showcasing new media art * Aspect Co., a Japanese video game company * Aspects (band), a hip hop group from Bristol, England * ''Aspects'' (Benny Carter ...
2 and 3 seems to be that of length, with 2 being
durative The delimitative aspect is a grammatical aspect that indicates that a situation lasts only a certain amount of time.Stephen Dickey. 2007. "A prototype account of the development of delimitative ''po-'' in Russian". In Dagmar Divjak and Agata Kochań ...
and 3 being iterative.


Reduplication

Two types of
reduplication In linguistics, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word (or part of it) or even the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change. The classic observation on the semantics of reduplication is Edwa ...
occur to
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
s and particle roots to denote continuity, repetition or intensity. The first type changes the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
during the process and is not predictable, common, or productive. For example, the root ''pim''- "along" becomes ''papām''- "about". The productive type of
reduplication In linguistics, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word (or part of it) or even the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change. The classic observation on the semantics of reduplication is Edwa ...
places the
reduplicated In linguistics, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word (or part of it) or even the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change. The classic observation on the semantics of reduplication is Edwar ...
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
in front of the
root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
. The
reduplicated In linguistics, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word (or part of it) or even the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change. The classic observation on the semantics of reduplication is Edwar ...
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
is formed from the first
consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
of the word and an . The final form looks like "over and over". In words beginning with a
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
, the
reduplication In linguistics, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word (or part of it) or even the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change. The classic observation on the semantics of reduplication is Edwa ...
is marked by , as evidenced by the word "he tells it over and over".


Syntax


Word order

The basic transitive sentence is of the form SVO, such as ''awāsisak nipahēwak sīsīpa'' "the children killed some ducks", but the other forms (SOV, VSO, VOS, OVS, and OSV) are also possible. Subject and object
noun phrase In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
s both may be omitted. Thus "the children killed some ducks" may also be expressed ''nipahēwak sīsīpa'' "they killed some ducks", ''awāsisak nipahēwak'' "the children killed them" or ''nipahēwak'' "they killed them". It is uncommon in conversation for the subject and object of a
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
to be realized by full
noun phrase In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
s. Most often, the highly marked parallel
noun phrase In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
s are used to indicate emphasis. In
narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deli ...
,
sentences ''The Four Books of Sentences'' (''Libri Quattuor Sententiarum'') is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the '' sententiae'' ...
with full parallel
noun phrase In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
s often mark the beginning or end of discourse, indicate
peripeteia Peripeteia ( el, περιπέτεια) is a reversal of circumstances, or turning point. The term is primarily used with reference to works of literature; its anglicized form is peripety. Aristotle's view Aristotle, in his ''Poetics'', defines ...
in
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...
, or introduce new information. Sentences of the OSV form with two full
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
s occur extremely infrequently.


Direction and obviation

Direction, or the
semantic Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
designation of the actor-goal relationship, is morphologically expressed through theme signs that also show agreement between the
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
and its nominal complements. In Plains Cree, direction is dependent on person hierarchy, or the order of person-marking
morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...
s in the verb. The person hierarchy in Plains Cree is: . Note that 3' refers to the
obviative Within linguistics, obviative (abbreviated ) third person is a grammatical-person clusivity marking that distinguishes a non- salient (obviative) third-person referent from a more salient (proximate) third-person referent in a given discourse cont ...
third person Third person, or third-person, may refer to: * Third person (grammar), a point of view (in English, ''he'', ''she'', ''it'', and ''they'') ** Illeism, the act of referring to oneself in the third person * Third-person narrative, a perspective in p ...
. Derivational
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
es mark whether the
semantic Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
roles of persons follow this person hierarchy or invert it, called direct or inverse form respectively. The following examples place the second person marker first linearly but the
direct Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...
and inverse
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
es change the
semantic Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
roles. The direct marker /-i-/ in the sentence ''ki-wāpam-i-n'' indicates that it should be read "you see me". The reading is reversed to "I see you" in the sentence ''ki-wāpam-iti-n'' because of the inverse marker /-iti-/. Compare the difference in meaning between the two directions in the following tables. Note that the situation is made more complicated when both referents are third persons because Plains Cree implements obviation. For example, we have the sentence ''sēkihēw nāpēw atimwa''. The
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
''sēkihēw'' "scare" contains the direct-set marker /-e:w-/, indicating that the proximate third person is acting on the
obviative Within linguistics, obviative (abbreviated ) third person is a grammatical-person clusivity marking that distinguishes a non- salient (obviative) third-person referent from a more salient (proximate) third-person referent in a given discourse cont ...
. The
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
''nāpēw'' "man" is marked as
proximate Proximates are used in the analysis of biological materials as a decomposition of a human-consumable good into its major constituents. They are a good approximation of the contents of packaged comestible goods and serve as a cost-effective and ea ...
through the absence of a
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
while the
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
''atimwa'' "dog" contains the
obviative Within linguistics, obviative (abbreviated ) third person is a grammatical-person clusivity marking that distinguishes a non- salient (obviative) third-person referent from a more salient (proximate) third-person referent in a given discourse cont ...
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
/-wa/. Thus the sentence reads "the man scares the dog", with special emphasis on the
proximate Proximates are used in the analysis of biological materials as a decomposition of a human-consumable good into its major constituents. They are a good approximation of the contents of packaged comestible goods and serve as a cost-effective and ea ...
"man". This is contrasted by the sentence ''sēkihik nāpēw atimwa'', where the markers for obviation are the same but the direction marker is now the inverse-set /-ik/ representing action of the
obviative Within linguistics, obviative (abbreviated ) third person is a grammatical-person clusivity marking that distinguishes a non- salient (obviative) third-person referent from a more salient (proximate) third-person referent in a given discourse cont ...
third person Third person, or third-person, may refer to: * Third person (grammar), a point of view (in English, ''he'', ''she'', ''it'', and ''they'') ** Illeism, the act of referring to oneself in the third person * Third-person narrative, a perspective in p ...
on the proximate third. Therefore, the sentence becomes "the dog scares the man" and the emphasis still lies with the
proximate Proximates are used in the analysis of biological materials as a decomposition of a human-consumable good into its major constituents. They are a good approximation of the contents of packaged comestible goods and serve as a cost-effective and ea ...
"man". Of course, the sentence may require that the dog ''atim'' be the
proximate Proximates are used in the analysis of biological materials as a decomposition of a human-consumable good into its major constituents. They are a good approximation of the contents of packaged comestible goods and serve as a cost-effective and ea ...
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
, in which case the sentence would be either ''sēkihēw nāpēwa atim'' "the dog (3) scares(3-(3')) the man (3')" or ''sēkihik nāpēwa atim'' "the man (3') scares ((3')-3) the dog (3)". Direction and obviation are not versions of the
passive Passive may refer to: * Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages, see also Pseudopassive * Passive language, a language from which an interpreter works * Passivity (behavior), the condition of submitting to the influence of o ...
, which is formed separately in Plains Cree.


Locative suffix

Because Plains Cree does not have a true case marking system, it has to instead rely on direction, obviation, and the locative
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
. This
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
, /ehk/ or its variant /ena:hk/, has the basic meanings of ''at'', ''in'', ''on'', etc. The simple locative
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
/ehk/ can be used with stems or possessed themes, such as the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
''skāt'' "leg". The
personal pronoun Personal pronouns are pronouns that are associated primarily with a particular grammatical person – first person (as ''I''), second person (as ''you''), or third person (as ''he'', ''she'', ''it'', ''they''). Personal pronouns may also take dif ...
/ni-/ can be added to the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
to make ''niskāt'' "my leg" and the addition of the plural
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
/-a/ makes ''niskāta'' "my legs". On top of these changes, the simple locative
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
is affixed to produce ''niskātihk'' "on my leg(s)". The distributive locative
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
/ena:hk/ is used with
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
s that reference humans or animals. In this way, ''ayīsiyiniw-'' "human being" becomes ''ayīsiyinināk'' "among humans" or "in this world". Similarly, the
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
''sāsīw'' "Sarci Indian" changes to "at Sarci Reserve" ''sāsīnāhk''.


Noun incorporation

According to Denny (1978), Wolfart identifies
intransitive verb In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb whose context does not entail a direct object. That lack of transitivity distinguishes intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, which entail one or more objects. Additionally, intransitive verbs are ...
s with transitive stems as clear examples of
noun incorporation In linguistics, incorporation is a phenomenon by which a grammatical category, such as a verb, forms a compound with its direct object (object incorporation) or adverbial modifier, while retaining its original syntactic function. The inclusion of ...
because they can be reworded with the medial replaced by independent
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
s. The example ''nōcihiskwēwēw'' "he chases women" is given to illustrate the inclusion of the
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
woman ''iskwēw'' within the
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
complex, which can be paraphrased as ''iskwēwa nōcihēw'' "he pursues a woman". Denny (1978) contends that these
sentences ''The Four Books of Sentences'' (''Libri Quattuor Sententiarum'') is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the '' sententiae'' ...
have an importance
semantic Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
difference in that the meaning of the incorporative form is narrower and denotes habitual action. He argues that the medial, or
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
classifier, has taken on an adverbial meaning in this context. This is illustrated in the Plains Cree sentence ''wanihastimwēw'' "he loses his horse" or, literally, "he horse-loses".


Vocabulary

Plains Cree is one of several dialects of Cree-Montagnais. The following tables show words in Plains Cree and corresponding words in a selection of other Cree dialects. A number of similarities and some differences can be seen. In some cases the differences are only in orthography. Plains Cree has some regular sound correspondences with other Cree-Montagnais dialects, and in some cases the differences between Plains Cree and other dialects exemplify these regular correspondences. Note that in terms of linguistic classification, the East Cree dialect which appears in these tables is a dialect of Montagnais. In the following table, each noun is given in its singular form. All forms are either specifically proximate, or can be either proximate or obviate. If a noun is possessed, the possessor is first person singular. In the following table, each verb is given with a third person singular subject, and if a verb is transitive, with a third person object or objects (primary and secondary). The pronouns used in the English translations are imprecise due to an imprecise correspondence of Cree categories with English categories. “He/she" in a subject and “him/her" in an object refer to Cree animate gender even when “it" might be a better English translation. So for example the verb “he/she kills him/her/them", might describe a bear killing a moose, in which case "it kills it" would be a better English translation. In the table, “it" in a subject or an object refers to Cree inanimate gender. The presence of “they" or “them" indicates that the subject or object could be either singular or plural. And finally, the designation “him/her/it/them" indicates that the object could be either animate or inanimate and either singular or plural. Words sources for these tables are: Plains Cree, the Online Cree Dictionary website; Woods Cree, the Gift of Language and Culture website and the Saskatchewan Indian Languages website, western Swampy Cree, the Saskatchewan Indian Languages website; eastern Swampy Cree, Ontario Ministry of Education (2002), and East Cree, the Eastern James Bay Cree Language website. Note that where a table entry is blank, it is because the word was not found in these listed sources; without additional information this should not be interpreted to imply that the word does not exist for the dialect in question.


Writing systems

Two
writing systems A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form ...
are used for Plains Cree: Syllabics and
Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Italy ...
.


Cree Syllabics

Plains Cree follows the western Cree usage of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics. The distinguishing features of western Cree syllabics are the position of the ''w''-dot and the use of western finals. The western ''w''-dot is placed after its syllabic, as in ᒷ ''mwa'' (eastern ᒶ ''mwa''). The form of a western final is unrelated to the corresponding syllabic with ''a''-nucleus, whereas an eastern final is like superscript version of the corresponding syllabic with ''a''-nucleus; thus the western final ᐟ ''t'' bears no resemblance to ᑕ ''ta'' (eastern final ᑦ ''t''), and western final ᒼ ''m'' is not like ᒪ ''ma'' (eastern final ᒻ ''m''). Some Plains Cree communities use a final for ''y'' which is different from the usual western final. This is a superposed dot ᐝ, instead of the usual ᐩ, as in ᓰᐱᐩ (ᓰᐱᐝ) ''sīpiy'' “river". When the dot ''y''-final is placed after a syllabic which has a ''w''-dot, the two dots combine to form a colon-like symbol, as in ᓅᐦᑖᐏᐩ (ᓅᐦᑖᐃ᛬) ''nōhtāwiy'' “my father". Writing style in syllabics can differ with respect to ''pointing''. In the Online Cree Dictionary, examples can be found of words with vowel length not distinguished due to lack of pointing.


Standard Roman Orthography

Plains Cree's Standard Roman Orthography (SRO) uses fourteen letters of the
ISO basic Latin alphabet The ISO basic Latin alphabet is an international standard (beginning with ISO/IEC 646) for a Latin-script alphabet that consists of two sets (uppercase and lowercase) of 26 letters, codified in various national and international standards and u ...
to denote the dialect's ten consonants (''p'', ''t'', ''c'', ''k'', ''s'', ''m'', ''n'', ''w'', ''y'' and ''h'') and seven vowels (''a'', ''i'', ''o'', ''ā'', ''ī'', ''ō'' and ''ē'').
Upper case Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...
letters are not used. The stops, ''p'', ''t'', ''k'', and the affricate, ''c'', can be pronounced either voiced or unvoiced, but the symbols used for writing these sounds all correspond to the unvoiced pronunciation, e.g. ''p'' not ''b'', ''t'' not ''d'', etc. The phoneme /t͡s/ is represented by ''c'', as it is in various other languages. Long vowels are denoted with either a macron, as in ''ā'', or a
circumflex The circumflex () is a diacritic in the Latin and Greek scripts that is also used in the written forms of many languages and in various romanization and transcription schemes. It received its English name from la, circumflexus "bent around"a ...
, as in ''â''. Use of either the macron or circumflex is acceptable, but usage should be consistent within a work. The vowel ''ē'' /eː/, used in southern Plains Cree, is always long and the grapheme ''e'' is never used (in northern Plains Cree the sound has merged with ''ī'', thus ''ē'' isn't used at all). The use of unmarked ''o'' and marked ''ō'' for the phonemes /u/ and /oː/ emphasizes the relationship that can exist between these two vowels. There are situations where ''o'' can be lengthened to ''ō'', as for example in ᓂᑲᒧ! ''nikamo!'' “sing (now)!" and ᓂᑲᒨᐦᑲᐣ! ''nikamōhkan!'' “sing (later)!". An acute accent is sometimes used on ''y'' for the sake of mutual intelligibility with speakers of Woods Cree and Swampy Cree, where ''ý'' would be replaced by ''ð'' or ''n'' respectively. E.g. ('you') vs. or .


References

Bakker, P. 2006. Algonquian Verb Structure: Plains Cree, in "What's in a Verb", ed. by Grazyna Rowicka and Eithne Carlin. Bloomfield, L. (1934). ''Plains Cree Texts''. New York: AMS Press, 1974 (reprinted). Denny, Peter J. 1978. "The Semantic Roles of Medials within Algonquian Verbs". International Journal of American Linguistics 44.2: 153-155. Eastern James Bay Cree Language website
/ref>
Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
Laverdure, P. and I.R. Allard. 1983. ''The Michif Dictionary: Turtle Mountain Chippewa Cree''. Pemmican Publications. Winnipeg. nehiyaw masinahikan / ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐃᑲᐣ / Online Cree Dictionary
/ref> Ontario Ministry of Education (2002)
Resource Guide, The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1 to 12, Native Languages, A Support Document for the Teaching of Language Patterns, Ojibwe and Cree
/ref>
Silver, S. and Wick R. Miller. (1997). ''American Indian Languages: Cultural and social contexts''. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. Wolfart, H. Christoph and Janet F. Carroll. (1973). ''Meet Cree: A guide to the Cree language''. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. Wolfart, H. Christoph. (1973). ''Plains Cree: a Grammatical Study''. American Philosophical Society Transactions n.s. 63, pt. 5. Philadelphia. Wolfart, H. Christoph. 1996. Sketch of Cree, an Algonquian language. In ''Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. by Ives Goddard, Vol. 17: 390-439.


Bibliography

* Dahlstrom, Amy.
Plains Cree Morphosyntax
'. Outstanding dissertations in linguistics. New York: Garland Pub, 1991. * Hirose, Tomio.

'. Outstanding dissertations in linguistics. New York: Routledge, 2003. * McIlwraith, Naomi Lynne. 2007. "Nitohta anohc. Nakatohke. Now listen. Listen hard: A creative study of Nehiyawewin, the Plains Cree language, and the reasons for its preservation," University of Alberta MA thesis. * * Wolvengrey, Arok. ''nēhiýawēwin: itwēwina''. Canadian Plains Research Centre. Regina: 2001.


External links



* Bakker, Peter
Algonquian verb structure: Plains Cree
in ''What’s in a verb?'' (LOT Occasional Series 5). Landelijke Onderzoekschool Taalwetenschap (Utrecht: 2006).
OLAC resources in and about the Plains Cree language
* ttps://dictionary.plainscree.atlas-ling.ca/#/help Plains Cree Dictionary* ttp://www.creedictionary.com/ Online Cree Dictionary {{Languages of Montana Cree language Central Algonquian languages Indigenous languages of the North American Plains First Nations languages in Canada Indigenous languages of Montana Culture of Alberta