Cree_language, Cree_language Information, Cree


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Cree Nēhiyawēwin, Nīhithawīwin, Nēhinawēwin.
Spoken in:	Canada
Total speakers:	89,825 (including Montagnais-Naskapi) Statistics Canada: 2006 Census
Language family:	Algic Algonquian Central Algonquian Cree
Writing system:	Latin alphabet, Cree syllabics (variation of Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics)
Official status
Official language in:	Northwest Territories (Canada)
Regulated by:	no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	`cr`
ISO 639-2:	`cre`
ISO 639-3:	variously: `cre` — Cree (generic) `nsk` — Naskapi `moe` — Montagnais `atj` — Atikamekw `crm` — Moose Cree `crl` — Northern East Cree `crj` — Southern East Cree `crw` — Swampy Cree `cwd` — Woods Cree `crk` — Plains Cree
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Cree (also known as Cree-Montagnais, Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi) is the name for a group of closely-related Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 90,000 speakers across Canada, from the Northwest Territories to Labrador, making it by far the most spoken aboriginal language in Canada. Despite numerous speakers within this wide-ranging area, the only region where Cree has any official status is in the Northwest Territories alongside 8 other aboriginal languages. Northwest Territories Official Languages Act, 1988 (as amended 1988, 1991-1992, 2003)

Dialect criteria

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dialect groups

A rough map of Cree dialect areas

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

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

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

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

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

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

Syntax

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

Written Cree

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

Contact languages

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

Legal status

A French/Cree stopsign in Québec

The social and legal status of Cree varies across Canada. Cree is one of the eleven official languages of the Northwest Territories, but is only spoken by a small number of people there in the area around the town of Fort Smith. Northwest Territories Official Languages Act, 1988 (as amended 1988, 1991-1992, 2003) In many areas, it is a vibrant community language still spoken by large majorities and taught in schools. In other areas, its use has declined dramatically. Cree is one of the least endangered aboriginal languages in North America, but is nonetheless at risk since it possesses little institutional support in most areas.

References

Ethnologue entry for Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi

Ahenakew, Freda, Cree Language Structures: A Cree Approach. Pemmican Publications Inc., 1987. ISBN 0-919143-42-3
Steller, Lea-Katharina (née Virághalmy): Alkalmazkodni és újat adni – avagy „accomodatio“ a paleográfiában In: Paleográfiai kalandozások. Szentendre, 1995. ISBN 963-450-922-3
Wolfart, H. C. & Freda Ahenakew, The Student\'s Dictionary of Literary Plains Cree. Memoir 15, Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics, 1998. ISBN 0-921064-15-2
Wolvengrey, Arok, ed. nēhiýawēwin: itwēwina / Cree: Words / ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ: ᐃᑗᐏᓇ [includes Latin orthography and Cree Syllabics]. [Cree-English English-Cree Dictionary - Volume 1: Cree-English; Volume 2: English-Cree]. Canadian Plains Research Center, 15 October 2001. ISBN 0-88977-127-8
Bloomfield, Leonard. Plains Cree Texts. New York: AMS Press, 1974. ISBN 0404581668
Castel, Robert J., and David Westfall. Castel\'s English-Cree Dictionary and Memoirs of the Elders Based on the Woods Cree of Pukatawagan, Manitoba. Brandon, Man: Brandon University Northern Teacher Education Program, 2001. ISBN 0968985807
Dahlstrom, Amy. Plains Cree Morphosyntax. Outstanding dissertations in linguistics. New York: Garland Pub, 1991. ISBN 0815301723
Ellis, C. D. Spoken Cree, Level I, west coast of James Bay. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2000. ISBN 0888643470
LeClaire, Nancy, George Cardinal, Earle H. Waugh, and Emily Hunter. Alberta Elders\' Cree Dictionary = Alperta Ohci Kehtehayak Nehiyaw Otwestamakewasinahikan. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1998. ISBN 0888643098
Norman, Howard A. The Wishing Bone Cycle Narrative Poems from the Swampy Cree Indians. New York: Stonehill Pub. Co, 1976. ISBN 0883730456
Salt, Luci. Eastern James Bay Cree Dictionary Cree - English : Northern Dialect. Chisasibi, Que: Cree Programs, Cree School is gay Board, 2004. ISBN 1894843312
Hirose, Tomio. Origins of predicates evidence from Plains Cree. Outstanding dissertations in linguistics. New York: Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0415967791
Wolfart, H. Christoph. Plains Cree A Grammatical Study. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, new ser., v. 63, pt. 5. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1973. ISBN 0871696355