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East Cree
ᐄᔨᔫ ᐊᔨᒨᓐĪyiyū Ayimūn (crl) ᐄᓅ ᐊᔨᒨᓐĪnū Ayimūn (crj)
Native to	Canada
Region	Eeyou Istchee,Quebec
Native speakers	400 (2016)[1]
Language family	Algic Algonquian Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi[2] Cree East Cree
Writing system	Canadian Aboriginal syllabics
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: crl – Northern crj – Southern
Glottolog	sout2978  southern nort1552  northern
ELP	East Cree
Linguasphere	62-ADA-af (northern) 62-ADA-ag (southern)
Northern East Cree is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.

This article containsCanadian Aboriginal syllabic characters. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of syllabics.

East Cree, also known asJames Bay (Eastern) Cree, andEast Main Cree, is a group ofCree dialects spoken inQuebec, Canada on the east coast of lowerHudson Bay andJames Bay, and inland southeastward from James Bay. Cree is one of the most spoken non-official aboriginallanguages of Canada. Four dialects have been tentatively identified including the Southern Inland dialect (Iyiniw-Ayamiwin) spoken inMistissini,Oujé-Bougoumou,Waswanipi, andNemaska; the Southern Coastal dialect (Iyiyiw-Ayamiwin) spoken inNemaska,Waskaganish, andEastmain; the Northern Coastal Dialects (Iyiyiw-Ayimiwin), one spoken inWemindji andChisasibi and the other spoken inWhapmagoostui. 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.^[3]

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. NeighbouringNaskapi has both.^{[clarification needed]}

In East Cree there are thirteen consonants:^[4]

There are eight vowels:^[5]

In East Cree you have 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.

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 nounmishtikunaapaau is made by conjoining two other noun stems:

Independent elements forming with Verbs

English Translation: It is a good day

Gender is a grammatical distinction. East Cree hasAnimate andInanimate 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.

Some more examples of Animate nouns are:

Inanimate plural is formed with the suffix-h.

As shown above we can see that theNumber is dependent on theGender therefore if we have anAnimate word then the ending for the plural will beich in most cases and in some cases when the word ends in a w the ending will beuch after you drop the w. On the other hand, forInanimate words the ending to indicate the plural will be adding an h to the end of the word.

To indicate possession, noun stems take a personal prefix. In East Cree there areIndependent andDependent 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.

We can see that for this example the noun isIndependent because it can stand alone, also, we see that it is an inanimate noun because the plural form adds anh at the end when the plural is indicted. Please refer toGender to understand the relationship ofAnimate andInanimate 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.

Below is the table of Prefixes and Suffixes for some Dependent Nouns that are Animate

East Cree adds suffixes on verbs in order to distinguish classes based on two factors,transitivity andgender. 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.

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 orvowels.

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.

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 Animate Intransitive (VAI) usually only have one role (intransitive) filled by an animate subject. They end in-n and-vowels'.

In East Cree there areDemonstrative Pronouns this are distinguished by three areas. TheProximal noted byuu, 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 theDistal noted byan 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 theRemote noted as(a)naa or(a)nwaa 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 theproximal,distal, and theremote forAnimate Pronouns. Simple Speech no gestures required.

Below is a table demonstrating the relation of prefixes on the words using theproximal,distal, and theremote forInanimate Pronouns.

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.

In East Cree, all six word ordersSVO,SOV,OVS,OSV,VOS, andVSO are grammatical. Below is a chart to see how they could all be used to construct the sentence,The children killed some ducks

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 theDirect 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.

For theInverse we can see that the Proximate is reflected inversely through the Object and then through the Patient, then we can see that the Obviative is reflected through the Subject and then through the Agent.

For thePassive we can see that the Proximate is reflected through the Subject then through the Patient. Then we see the Obviative through the Object and then the Agent.

The notation in the example is represented with an X to indicate the switch.

East Cree marks its possessions on the nouns by adding a secondary suffix to a possessed noun with a third-person prefix. See examples below that indicate the addition of suffixes and prefixes. There is a difference in which suffix and prefix you use if the noun in questions is animate or inanimate.

In East Cree sometimes one sentence is contained within another sentence, this is known as a subordinate or embedded clause. The verb of the subordinate clauses have conjunct suffixes and often a conjunct preverb. Below is a table detailing the subordinate clauses.

The bold part of the sentence indicates the subordinate clause in both languages.

Adverbial clauses is when the subordinate clause provides information about the time at which something happened, or the frequency with which it happens. Below are some examples of adverbial clauses.

Relative Clauses is when the subordinate clause functions as a complement to a noun. Below is an example.

• Junker, Marie-Odile (2004). "Focus, obviation, and word order in East Cree".Lingua.114 (3):345–365.doi:10.1016/S0024-3841(03)00027-5.
• Junker, Marie-Odile; MacKenzie, Marguerite; Brittain, Julie (2012).Comparative Structures of East Cree and English(PDF) (Report).
• Nikkel, Walter (2006).Language Revitalization in Northern Manitoba: A study of a Cree Bilingual Program in an Elementary School (MEd thesis). Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.hdl:1993/258.
• Swain, Erin (2008).The Acquisition of Stress in Northern East Cree: A Case Study (Master's thesis). Memorial University of Newfoundland.hdl:20.500.14783/12887.ProQuest 304403596.
• "The Structure of Cree Words." Eastern James Bay Cree Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 February 2014.
• "Nouns Inflected for Gender." Eastern James Bay Cree Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 February 2014.
• "Nouns Inflected for Gender." Eastern James Bay Cree Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 February 2014.
• "Nouns with Person Inflection." Eastern James Bay Cree Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 February 2014.
• "Demonstrative Pronouns." Eastern James Bay Cree Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar
• "Cree Verb Classes." Eastern James Bay Cree Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 March 2014.
• Www12.statcan.gc.ca,. (2014). Aboriginal languages in Canada. Retrieved 8 May 2014

• Eastcree.org
• Terry, Kevin.Thesis.The Emergence of Intransitive Verb Inflection in Northern East Cree: A Case Study. Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John's, Newfoundland: December 2009).
• Dyck, Carrie, Julie Brittain, Marguerite MacKenzie."Northern East Cree Accent" inProceedings of the 2006 annual conference of the Canadian Linguistic Association.
• OLAC resources in and about the Northern East Cree language
• OLAC resources in and about the Southern East Cree language

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