{"id":415,"date":"2009-12-29T10:27:34","date_gmt":"2009-12-29T15:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.eastcree.org\/eastcree\/?page_id=415"},"modified":"2017-07-17T21:10:36","modified_gmt":"2017-07-18T01:10:36","slug":"about-vowels","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/en\/grammar\/sounds-east-cree\/sounds\/vowels\/about-vowels\/","title":{"rendered":"About Vowels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h1 class=\"pg-title\"><a name=\"top\"><\/a>Hearing East Cree vowels<\/h1>\r\n<p>If you are an East Cree speaker, you really don&#8217;t need to read this page! Your &#8216;ear&#8217; is already trained to hear (or classify) East Cree sounds properly. In contrast, if you are an English speaker listening to East Cree vowels, you will hear<\/p>\r\n<ul><li>vowels that sound <em>in-between<\/em> one vowel and another<\/li>\r\n<li>vowels that sound completely different, yet East Cree speakers classify (and spell) them as the same.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul><h3 class=\"head\">Vowels that sound &#8216;in-between&#8217;<\/h3>\r\n<p>Vowels in East Cree may sound \u2018in between\u2019 to your ear. A good example is the way tense UU sounds in the Northern East Cree word <span class=\"bjct\">\u14f2\u1449<\/span> <img class=\"clickable\" title=\"Click here to hear this word\" data-sound-url=\"\/snd\/phonetics\/cree-north\/suup.mp3\" alt=\"Click here to hear this word\" src=\"\/img\/speak.gif\"><span class=\"crt\">s<strong>uu<\/strong>p<\/span>.<\/p>\r\n<p>Does it sound like the <span class=\"ipa\">[ u ]<\/span> in <em>soup<\/em> or like the <span class=\"ipa\">[ o ]<\/span> in <em>soap<\/em>? In Northern East Cree UU is more like a short <span class=\"ipa\">[ o ]<\/span> or lowered <span class=\"ipa\">[ u \u031e]<\/span> sound.<\/p>\r\n<p>In East Cree, the distinction between the <span class=\"ipa\">[ u ]<\/span> sound in <em>soup<\/em> and the <span class=\"ipa\">[ o ]<\/span> sound in <em>soap<\/em> is not important.<\/p>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>By &#8216;not important&#8217;, we mean that the difference between <span class=\"ipa\">[ u ]<\/span> and <span class=\"ipa\">[ o ]<\/span> does not convey any differences in word-meaning, (the way it does in English with <em>soup<\/em> and <em>soap<\/em> or <em>boot<\/em> and <em>boat<\/em>).<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>Since East Cree does not make a distinction between <span class=\"ipa\">[u]<\/span> and <span class=\"ipa\">[o]<\/span>, East Cree speakers can also use a vowel that is part-way between a <span class=\"ipa\">[ u ]<\/span> and an <span class=\"ipa\">[ o ]<\/span> sound. Technically speaking, it is more like a lowered <span class=\"ipa\">[ u \u031e]<\/span> sound.<\/p>\r\n<p>You can hear many more examples of in-between vowels on the pages describing <a href=\"..\/\" target=\"_blank\">vowel sounds<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<h3 class=\"head\">Vowels that sound completely different<\/h3>\r\n<p>&#8230; yet East Cree speakers classify (and spell) them the same.<\/p>\r\n<p>If you have listened to the pages describing vowel sounds, you will have noticed that East Cree speakers accept a wider range of pronunciations than do English speakers, particularly for the lax vowels I, U, and A. For example, recall that lax A can sound like <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u025b ]<\/span> (the vowel in<em><strong> e<\/strong>nd<\/em>), or like <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u026a ]<\/span> (the vowel in <em>f<strong>i<\/strong>sh<\/em>), like <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u0268 ]<\/span> (the last vowel sound in<em> dish<strong>e<\/strong>s<\/em>), or like <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u028c ]<\/span>, the vowel in<em> h<strong>u<\/strong>m<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n<p>A can sound like any of the following: <span class=\"ipa\">[\u026a, \u025b, \u0259, a, \u0268, \u028c]<\/span>.<\/p>\r\n<table class=\"clear\"><tbody><tr><th style=\"text-align: center;\" colspan=\"3\">Northern<\/th>\r\n<th style=\"width: 30%;\">Syllables<\/th>\r\n<th style=\"width: 30%;\"><a title=\"Click here for more information on the International Phonetic Alphabet\" href=\"http:\/\/www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk\/ipa\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">IPA<\/a><\/th>\r\n<\/tr><tr><td class=\"bjcex\" style=\"text-align: right;\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 18px;\"><img class=\"clickable\" title=\"Click here to hear this word\" data-sound-url=\"\/snd\/phonetics\/cree-north\/amiskw.mp3\" alt=\"Click here to hear this word\" src=\"\/img\/speak.gif\"><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"crex\"><strong>a<\/strong>miskw<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"syllable\"><strong>a<\/strong>miskw<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"ipa\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr><td class=\"bjcex\" style=\"text-align: right;\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 18px;\"><img class=\"clickable\" title=\"Click here to hear this word\" data-sound-url=\"\/snd\/phonetics\/cree-north\/anichikw.mp3\" alt=\"Click here to hear this word\" src=\"\/img\/speak.gif\"><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"crex\"><strong>a<\/strong>nichikw<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"syllable\"><strong>a<\/strong>ni &#8211; chikw<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"ipa\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr><td class=\"bjcex\" style=\"text-align: right;\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 18px;\"><img class=\"clickable\" title=\"Click here to hear this word\" data-sound-url=\"\/snd\/phonetics\/cree-north\/anichikw_LS.mp3\" alt=\"Click here to hear this word\" src=\"\/img\/speak.gif\"><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"crex\"><strong>a<\/strong>nichikw<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"syllable\"><strong>a<\/strong>ni &#8211; chikw<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"ipa\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr><td class=\"bjcex\" style=\"text-align: right;\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 18px;\"><img class=\"clickable\" title=\"Click here to hear this word\" data-sound-url=\"\/snd\/phonetics\/cree-north\/asaamich.mp3\" alt=\"Click here to hear this word\" src=\"\/img\/speak.gif\"><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"crex\"><strong>a<\/strong>saamich<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"syllable\"><strong>a &#8211; <\/strong>saamich<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"ipa\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr><td class=\"bjcex\" style=\"text-align: right;\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 18px;\"><img class=\"clickable\" title=\"Click here to hear this word\" data-sound-url=\"\/snd\/phonetics\/cree-north\/atihkw_th.mp3\" alt=\"Click here to hear this word\" src=\"\/img\/speak.gif\"><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"crex\"><strong>a<\/strong>tihkw<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"syllable\"><strong>a<\/strong>tihkw<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"ipa\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr><td class=\"bjcex\" style=\"text-align: right;\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 18px;\"><img class=\"clickable\" title=\"Click here to hear this word\" data-sound-url=\"\/snd\/phonetics\/cree-north\/atim.mp3\" alt=\"Click here to hear this word\" src=\"\/img\/speak.gif\"><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"crex\"><strong>a<\/strong>tim<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"syllable\"><strong>a &#8211; <\/strong>tim<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"ipa\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p>For an English speaker, the <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u025b ]<\/span> sound in <em><strong>e<\/strong>nd<\/em> and the <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u026a ]<\/span> in <em>f<strong>i<\/strong>sh<\/em> are completely different vowels. These sounds can signal a difference in meaning: for example,<em> pen<\/em> <span class=\"ipa\">[ p\u02b0\u025bn ]<\/span> is different from <em>pin<\/em> <span class=\"ipa\">[ p\u02b0\u026an ]<\/span> (at least in many varieties of English.)<\/p>\r\n<p>In contrast, for an East Cree speaker, the <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u025b ]<\/span> and <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u026a ]<\/span> sounds &#8212; as well as the <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u0259]<\/span> sound in <em><strong>a<\/strong>bout<\/em>, and the <span class=\"ipa\">[ \u028c ]\u00a0<\/span>sound in <em>h<strong>u<\/strong>m<\/em> &#8212; all count as instances of the vowel A. In other words, these four sounds are classified as being &#8216;the same&#8217; in East Cree. While East Cree speakers can <em>hear<\/em> the difference between these sounds, they do not exploit this difference in order to signal differences in word-meaning.<\/p>\r\n<h3 class=\"head\">Why the differences?<\/h3>\r\n<p>One of the reasons for these differences between East Cree and English vowels is that East Cree has fewer vowels than English does.<\/p>\r\n<ul><li>In languages with relatively few vowels, vowels can sound in-between. For example, since East Cree does not make a distinction between the <span class=\"ipa\">[ u ]<\/span> sound in <em>boot<\/em> and the <span class=\"ipa\">[ o ]<\/span> sound in <em>boat<\/em>, East Cree UU can sound in-between <span class=\"ipa\">[ u ]<\/span> and <span class=\"ipa\">[ o ]<\/span>.<\/li>\r\n<li>In languages with relatively few vowels, a letter such as A can stand for a relatively greater range of vowel sounds. For example, since East Cree speakers do not use vowels like the ones in <em>pin<\/em>, <em>pen<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>pun<\/em>, to signal differences in meaning, any of these sounds can be used interchangeably in a given word that contains the letter A.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul><p>In summary, the practical implications of the above discussion are that:<\/p>\r\n<ul><li>Some East Cree letters stand for vowels that sound in-between two English vowels.<\/li>\r\n<li>In contrast, some East Cree letters can stand for a range of vowels that seems to be <em>too big a range<\/em> for an English speaker.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul><div id=\"cite\" style=\"z-index: 2000000; display: none; position: fixed; top: 0; right: 0; left: 0; bottom: 0;\">\r\n<div style=\"z-index: 2000000; position: fixed; background: rgba(0,0,0,0.5); top: 0; right: 0; left: 0; bottom: 0;\" onclick=\"document.getElementById('cite').style.display='none';\"><\/div>\r\n<div style=\"z-index: 5000000; position: relative; margin: 10% auto; width: 800px; min-height: 200px; max-height:600px; background-color: white; border-radius: 1em; padding: 1em 2em;\">\r\n\r\n<button class=\"closeButton close\" title=\"close\" style=\"float:right; max-height: 14px;\" onclick=\"document.getElementById('cite').style.display='none';\"><\/button>\r\n<table style=\"max-width: 100%;\"><tbody><tr><td style=\"font-weight: bold;\">APA:<\/td>\r\n<td>Dyck, C., &amp; Junker, M.-O. (2010). <span style=\"font-style: italic;\"> The Sounds of East Cree.<\/span> In The Interactive East Cree Reference Grammar. Retrieved from <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">[URL]<\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr><td>\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<td>\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr><td style=\"font-weight: bold;\">MLA:<\/td>\r\n<td>Carrie Dyck and Marie-Odile Junker. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\"> The Sounds of East Cree.<\/span> In The Interactive East Cree Reference Grammar. 2010. Web. <span style=\"color: #ff0000\">[date]<\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p style=\"font-size: 0.8em; padding-left:20px;\"> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">[URL]<\/span> = website address, beginning with \u201chttp:\/\/\u201d<br><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">[Date]<\/span> = the date you accessed the page, styled as follows: 13 Dec. 2015<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hearing East Cree vowels If you are an East Cree speaker, you really don&#8217;t need to read this page! Your &#8216;ear&#8217; is already trained to hear (or classify) East Cree sounds properly. In contrast, if you are an English speaker listening to East Cree vowels, you will hear vowels that sound in-between one vowel and&#8230;  <a  class=\" btn btn-lg btn-primary \" href=\"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/en\/grammar\/sounds-east-cree\/sounds\/vowels\/about-vowels\/\">Read the full article&#8230;<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":413,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12951,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/415\/revisions\/12951"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eastcree.org\/cree\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}