Spelling East Cree (Northern) – ᓯᐤ and at the end of a word and other …iu …uu endings

Introduction

In the Northern dialects many of the VAI verbs in the dictionary now end in either ᓯᐤ or . This is to reflect the pronunciation of elders, as well as the fact that the verbs ending in ᓯᐤ have in most endings.

For example ᐋᐦᑯ conjugates as ᓂᑖᐦᑯᓐ, ᒋᑖᑯᓐ, ᑳ ᐋᐦᑯᑦ,… etc. In the grammar, we say that this verb has a stem ending in short i.

On the other hand, ᒦᒋ conjugates as ᓂᒦᒋᓐ, ᒋᒦᒋᓐ, ᑳ ᒦᒋ. In the grammar, we say that this verb has a stem ending in short u.

The spelling of ᐋᐦᑯᓯᐤ used to be ᐋᐦᑯᓲ but has been changed to make it much easier to write all the other endings for each verb.

Note that in the Southern dialect, people do not write the difference in the spelling of the dictionary form, and need to look up the stem to find out whether the verb conjugates with short i or short u.

ᓯᐤ or are not the only endings that work this way. Here are some examples of the verbs in the dictionary which have a different ending in Northern and Southern, as well as ones that have the same ending.

DIFFERENT (i stem) SAME (u stem)
Northern Southern Northern Southern
ᐅᑐᒋᓯᐤ ᐅᑐᒋ ᒦᒋ ᒦᒋ
ᐋᐦᑯᓯᐤ ᐋᐦᑯ ᐲᐦᑖ ᐲᐦᑖ
ᐹᔨᑯᔑᐤ ᐹᔨᑯ ᐧᐄᑖᐳ ᐧᐄᑖᐳ
ᐱᐤ ᑖᐦᒋ ᑖᐦᒋ
ᒋᐤ (no word)
ᐊᔨᒥᐤ ᐊᔨ ᓂᑭ ᓂᑲ
ᐱᒥᐱᔨᐤ ᐱᒥᐸ ᐧᐃ ᐧᐄᔨ
ᑯᓯᑯᑎᐤ ᑯᓯᑯ ᐧᐹᒋᔅ ᐧᐯᒋᐦ
ᐧᐄᔖ ᐧᐄᔖ
ᓅᔖᓂᐤ ᓅᔖ
ᒥᐧᔖᑭᓂᐆ ᒥᐧᔖᑲ

Verbs ending in ᓯᐤ

Verbs ending in ᓯᐤ are illustrated below, with different endings which have , along with other verbs that work the same way.

first person independent third person conjunct dictionary form
ᓂᑎᐦᑐᐱᐳᐧᓈᓯᓐ ᑳ ᐃᐦᑎᐦᑐᐱᐳᐧᓈᓯᑦ ᐃᐦᑎᐦᑐᐱᐳᐧᓈᓯᐤ
ᓅᑐᒋᓯᓐ ᑳ ᐅᑐᒋᓯᑦ ᐅᑐᒋᓯᐤ
ᓅᒋᒫᐧᐋᔨᐦᑖᑯᓯᓐ ᑳ ᐅᒋᒫᐧᐋᔨᐦᑖᑯᓯᑦ ᐅᒋᒫᐧᐋᔨᐦᑖᑯᓯᐤ
ᓂᐲᒋᔅᑳᑖᔨᐦᑖᑯᓯᓐ ᑳ ᐲᒋᔅᑳᑖᔨᐦᑖᑯᓯᑦ ᐲᒋᔅᑳᑖᔨᐦᑖᑯᓯᐤ
ᓅᑯᔑᔑᓐ ᑳ ᐅᑯᔑᔑᑦ ᐅᑯᔑᔑᐤ
ᓅᑳᓯᒋᒥᓐ ᑳ ᐅᑳᓯᒋᒥᑦ ᐅᑳᓯᒋᒥᐤ
ᓂᐹᑖᔥᑎᒥᐱᓐ ᑳ ᐹᑖᔥᑎᒥᐱᑦ ᐹᑖᔥᑎᒥᐱᐤ

Verbs ending in

Verbs ending in are illustrated below, with different endings which have , along with other verbs that work the same way. In these verbs you can still hear the sound at the end when different endings are used. For a word like ᒦᒋᓲ you cannot say ᓂᒦᒋᓯᓐ or ᑳ ᒦᒋᓯᑦ so it will not take the ᓯᐤ ending. But you can still hear the sound when you say ᓂᒦᒋᓱᓐ or ᑳ ᒦᒋᓱᑦ so it takes a ending. The rule is the same for any of the other consonants ᑰ, ᒨ and so on.

first person independent third person conjunct dictionary form
ᓅᑎᐦᑖᐱᓱᓐ ᑳ ᐅᑎᐦᑖᐱᓱᑦ ᐅᑎᐦᑖᐱ
ᓅᑖᑯᔑᐅᒦᒋᓱᓐ ᑳ ᐅᑖᑯᔑᐅᒦᒋᓱᑦ ᐅᑖᑯᔑᐅᒦᒋ
ᓅᒋᐧᑳᓱᓐ ᑳ ᐅᒋᐧᑳᓱᑦ ᐅᒋᐧᑳ
ᓂᐲᐦᑖᓱᓐ ᑳ ᐲᐦᑖᓱᑦ ᐲᐦᑖ
ᓅᒋᐱᑎᑯᓐ ᑳ ᐅᒋᐱᑎᑯᑦ ᐅᒋᐱᑎ
ᓂᐲᔥᑖᐅᑖᒧᓐ ᑳ ᐲᔥᑖᐅᑖᒧᑦ ᐲᔥᑖᐅᑖ
ᓂᐲᐦᑎᑖᑖᒋᒧᓐ ᑳ ᐲᐦᑎᑖᑖᒋᒧᑦ ᐲᐦᑎᑖᑖᒋ