Personal Pronouns

Personal Emphatic Pronouns

Observation
ᒫᓈᑖᐦ ᐧᐄᔨ ᒑ ᐃᑐᐦᑖᑦ᙮ Click here to hear this word maanaataah wiiyi chaa ituhtaat. It is there that s/he (and not someone else) will go.

The word ᐧᐄᔨ wiiyi is called a personal pronoun. Cree has a set of personal pronouns that are used to express emphasis.

Personal Emphatic Pronoun
ᒌᔨ Click here to hear this word chiiyi you
ᓃᔨ Click here to hear this word niiyi me
ᒌᔨᐧᐋᐤ Click here to hear this word chiiyiwaau you (plural)
ᒌᔮᓂᐤ Click here to hear this word chiiyaaniu we (including you)
ᓃᔮᓐ Click here to hear this word niiyaan we (excluding you)
ᐧᐄᔨ Click here to hear this word wiiyi him/her
ᐧᐄᔨᐧᐋᐤ Click here to hear this word wiiyiwaau them
ᐧᐄᔨ Click here to hear this word wiiyi him/her/them (the other/s) (obviative)

The pronouns may appear in many places in a sentence:

ᒫᓈᑖᐦ ᒑ ᐃᑐᐦᑖᑦ ᐧᐄᔨ Click here to hear this word maanaataah chaa ituhtaat wiiyi. It is there that S/HE will go.
ᒫᓈᑖᐦ ᐧᐄᔨ ᒑ ᐃᑐᐦᑖᑦ᙮ Click here to hear this word maanaataah wiiyi chaa ituhtaat. It is there that S/HE will go.
ᐧᐄᔨ ᓈᑖᐦ ᒋᑭ ᐃᑐᐦᑖᐤ᙮ Click here to hear this word wiiyi naataah chiki ituhtaau. It is HER who will go there.

When placed after a noun, emphatic pronouns help form equational sentences. This is how one initiates a telephone conversation, for example.

ᓘᓰ ᓃᔨ Click here to hear this word Luci niiyi. It is me, Luci/ I am Luci.

They can also be used to emphasize possession. In that case, the pronoun appears first.

ᓃᔨ ᐊᓐ᙮ Click here to hear this word niiyi an. That is mine!

The pronoun ᐧᐄ wii must not be confused with the volitional preverb ᐧᐄ wii, nor the particle ᐧᐄ wii used for emphasis with a noun.

ᓂᒧᐃ ᓅᐦᒋ ᐃᔮᓈᓐ ᐧᐄ ᑏ᙮ Click here to hear this word nimui nuuhchi iyaanaan wii tii. Even tea, we did not have.