Verbs (Northern dialect)
Verbs in East Cree appear in various forms. Let us look at how these forms are organized in East Cree.
VTI (Verb Transitive Inanimate) Stems
VTI verbs can have -im or -ham stems. For example ᑭᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑎᒻ kiniwaapihtim ‘s/he looks at it’ is a verb with an -im stem , ᐅᑖᒥᐦᐊᒻ utaamiham is a verb with an -ham stem.
Stems ending with -im
ᑭᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑎᒻ kiniwaapihtim ‘s/he looks at it’ is a verb with an -im stem. This -im does not appear in all the forms, as some forms have a shortened stem, without the -im. For example When we say ᑭᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑎᒧᒡ kiniwaapihtimuch, we see the stem kiniwaapihtim and the suffix -uch. When we say ᒋᑭᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓈᓂᐤ chikiniwaapihtaanaaniu, we see the shortened stem kiniwaapiht-, the prefix ᒋ chi- and the suffix -aanaaniu.
The nasal vowel m becomes h in the 3rd person proximate inflection in the conjunct indicative conjugations (#11 and #12).
| ᐧᐋᐱᐦᑎᒻ | waapihtim (#01) | ᐋᐦ ᐧᐋᐱᐦᑎᐦᒃ | aah waapihtih-k (#11) | ||
| ᐧᐋᐱᐦᑎᐦᑳ | waapihtih-kaa or | ᐙᐱᐦᑎᐦᒑ | waapihtih-chaa (#12a) | ||
| ᐧ | ᐃᔮᐱᐦᑎᐦᒃᐦ | wiyaapihtih-kh or | ᐃᔮᐱᐦᑎᐦᒡᐦ | wiyaapihtih-chh (#12b) | |
Stems ending with -ham
ᐅᑖᒥᐦᐊᒻ utaamiham is a verb with a stem ending with -ham. This -ham does not appear in all the forms, as some forms have a shortened stem, without the -(h)am. For example, when we say ᐅᑖᒥᐦᐊ ᒧᒡ utaamihamuch, we see the stem utaamiham and the suffix -uch. When we say ᑰᑖᒥᐦᐋᓈᓂᐤ kuutaamihaanaaniu, we see the shortened stem utaamih-, the prefix ku- and the suffix -aanaaniu.
The -ham ending becomes -haah in the 3rd person in the conjunct conjugations (#01, #11 and #12). There is also a shorter form available.
| ᐅᑖᒥᐦᐊᒻ | utaamiham (#01) | ᐋᐦ ᐅᑖᒥᐦᐋᒃ | aah utaamihaah-k | or | ᐋᐦ ᐅᑕᓵᒫᐦᒃ | aah utaamaah-k (#11) |
| ᐅᑖᒥᐦᐋᑳ | utaamihaah-kaa | or | ᐅᑖᒥᐦᐋᒑ | utaamihaah-chaa (#12a) | ||
| ᐧᐋᑖᒥᐦᐋᐦᒃᐦ | waataamihaah-kh | or | ᐧᐋᑖᒫᐦᒃᐦ | waataamaah-kh (#12b) | ||
| ᐧᐋᑖᒥᐦᐋᐦᒡᐦ | waataamihaah-chh | or | ᐧᐋᑖᒫᐦᒡᐦ | waataamaah-chh(#12b) |
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Cree Verb Stems |  |
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