Verbs (Northern dialect)
Verbs in East Cree appear in various forms. Let us look at how these forms are organized in East Cree.
VAI (Verb Animate Intransitive) stems
Stems ending with a vowel
Most VAI verbs have stems ending with a vowel. For example a verb like ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐤ shiihkichiu ‘s/he is cold’ is made of the stem ᔒᐦᑭᒋ shiihkichi- ‘be cold’ and the suffix ᐤ -u. When we conjugate ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐤ shiihkichiu, we recognize the common stem ᔒᐦᑭᒋ shiihkichi- in all the forms.
| ᓂᔒᐦᑭᒋᓐ | nishiihkichin | ‘I am cold’ | 1 |
| ᒋᔒᐦᑭᒋᓐ | chishiihkichin | ‘you are cold’ | 2 |
| ᓂᔒᐦᑭᒋᓈᓐ | nishiihkichinaan | ‘we (but not you) are cold’ | 1p |
| ᒋᔒᐦᑭᒋᓈᓂᐤ | chishiihkichinaaniu | ‘we (including you) are cold’ | 21p |
| ᒋᔒᐦᑭᒋᓈᐧᐋᐤ | chishiihkichinaawaau | ‘you are cold’ | 2p |
| ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐤ | shiihkichiu | ‘s/he is cold’ | 3 |
| ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐧᐃᒡ | shiihkichiwich | ‘they are cold’ | 3p |
| ᔒᐦᑭᒋᔨᐅᐦ | shiihkichiyiuh | ‘the other(s) is(are) cold’ | 3′ |
ᔒᐦᑭᒋ shiihkichi- is a stem ending in a short -i vowel. The different vowels are:
| short i | ᔒᐦᑭᒋᐤ | shiihkichi-u | ‘s/he is cold’ | |
| short u | ᓂᑭᒨ | nikimu-u | ‘s/he is singing’ | |
| long aa | ᓂᐹᐤ | nipaa-u | ‘s/he is sleeping’ | |
| long ii | ᐅᐦᒌᐤ | uhchii-u | ‘s/he comes from…’ |
Conjugation Tables for:
In the verb conjugations, the model verbs are indicated as -i, -ii, -u. -aa.
Stems ending with -wi
Other VAI verbs have stems ending in vowels that contain wi for some forms. For example, when we conjugate a verb like ᓃᐴ niipuu ‘s/he is standing’, we see the stem is ᓃᐴ niipu- in niipu-u, but niipuwi- in ᓃᐳᐧᐃᐧᐃᒡ niipuwi-wich.
Here are some examples:
| uwi | |||
| ᓃᐴ | niipu-u | ‘s/he is standing’ | |
| ᑳ ᓃᐳᐧᐃᑦ | kaa niipuwi-t | ‘the one who is standing’ | |
| iwi | |||
| ᒥᓂᑑᔑᐆ | minituushiu-u | ‘it (anim) has worms’ | |
| ᑳ ᒥᓂᑑᔑᐧᐃᑦ | kaa minituushiwi-t | ‘the one who has worms’ | |
| iiwi | |||
| ᓯᔅᒌᐆ | sischiiu-u | ‘it is muddy’ | |
| ᑳ ᓯᔅᒌᐧᐃᑦ | kaa sischiiwi-t | ‘the one who is muddy’ | |
| aawi | |||
| ᓈᐹᐆ | naapaau-u | ‘he is a man’ | |
| ᑳ ᓈᐹᐧᐃᑦ | naapaawi-t | ‘the one who is a man’ |
These verbs are indicated as – uwi, -iwi, -iiwi and – aawi in the dictionary. In the verb conjugations, the model verb is indicated as -wi.
Stems ending with -n
Other VAI verbs have stems ending in -n. For example, when we conjugate a verb like ᑎᑯᔑᓐ tikushin ‘s/he arrives’, we recognize the common stem ᑎᑯᔑᓐ tikushin in all the forms:
| ᓂᑎᑯᔑᓂᓐ | nitikushinin | ‘I arrive’ | 1 |
| ᒋᑎᑯᔑᓂᓐ | chitikushinin | ‘You arrive’ | 2 |
| ᓂᑎᑯᔑᓂᓈᓐ | nitikushininaan | ‘We (but not you) arrive’ | 1p |
| ᒋᑎᑯᔑᓂᓈᓂᐤ | chitikushininaaniu | ‘We (including you) arrive’ | 21p |
| ᒋᑎᑯᔑᓂᓈᐧᐋᐤ | chitikushininaawaau | ‘You arrive ‘ | 2p |
| ᑎᑯᔑᓐ | tikushin | ‘S/he arrives’ | 3 |
| ᑎᑯᔑᓂᒡ | tikushinich | ‘They arrive’ | 3p |
| ᑎᑯᔑᓂᔨᐤᐦ | tikushiniyiuh | ‘The other arrives’ | 4 |
VAI verbs with stems ending in -n, have a special behaviour. The nasal vowel n becomes h in the 3rd person proximate inflection in the conjunct indicative conjugations (#11 and #12).
| ᑎᑯᔑᓐ | tikushin (#01) | ᐋᐦ ᑎᑯᔑᐦᒃ | aah tikushih-k (#11) |
| ᑎᑯᔑᐦᑳ | tikushih-kaa or | ᑎᑯᔑᐦᒑ | tikushih-chaa (#12a) |
| ᑎᑯᔑᐦᒃᐦ | tikushih-kh or | ᑎᑯᔑᐦᒡᐦ | tikushih-chh (#12b) |
Note also that we find here a -k rather than a -t, for the third person proximate conjunct suffix.
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Cree Verb Stems |  |
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