Naskapi (also known asᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ/Iyuw Iyimuun in the Naskapi language) is anAlgonquian language spoken by theNaskapi inQuebec andLabrador,Canada.^[3] It is written inEastern Cree syllabics.

The term Naskapi is chiefly used to refer to the language of the people living in the interior ofQuebec andLabrador in or aroundKawawachikamach, Quebec. Naskapi is a "y-dialect" that has many linguistic features in common with the Northern dialect ofEast Cree, and also shares many lexical items with theInnu language.

Although there is a much closer linguistic and cultural relationship between Naskapi and Innu than between Naskapi and other Cree language communities, Naskapi remains unique and distinct from all other language varieties in the Quebec-Labrador peninsula.

Each stop has voiced allophones as[b,d,dʒ,ɡ] and pre-aspirated allophones as[ʰp,ʰt,ʰtʃ,ʰk].^{[4][full citation needed]}

• Long vowels:/i/,/a~æ/,/u/
• Short vowels:/ɪ~ə/,/ʌ~ə/,/o~ʊ/

There are two writing systems used for Naskapi language. One is Latin, similar toInnu Language (Montagnais), and the other isCree syllabics, similar toJames Bay Cree, as well as other dialects of Cree across Canada.

The Naskapi Latin alphabet consists of three vowels,⟨a⟩,⟨i⟩, and⟨u⟩, in short form and in long form. The long form is either written with acircumflex accent, e.g.⟨â⟩, or by simply writing the vowel twice, e.g.⟨aa⟩. In addition there are twelvegraphemes to represent the consonants, including thedigraph⟨Ch⟩.

• Ch, K, P, and T are also used to write the voicedallophones.
• L and R are only used in loanwords from other languages.

Naskapi Syllabics (ᓇᔅᑲᐱ ᐃᔪᐤ ᐃᔨᒧᐅᓐ,naskapi iyuw iyimuun) is derived fromCanadian Aboriginal syllabics, and while having its unique characteristics, shares many features with other Canadian Cree Syllabic systems.Unlike other Cree Syllabics, long and short vowels are not distinguished. The final forms in Naskapi Syllabics are similar to other varieties ofEastern Cree syllabics.

• Naskapi Lexicon
• Languagegeek: Naskapi
• Naskapi Language
• OLAC resources in and about the Naskapi language

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