Language+of+the+Cree

=**Language of the Cree** =



The Cree language, created by James Evans, was derived from the original Ojibwe language. Most Cree Indians speak English or French, but a few also speak their native Cree language. In their native language the Crees call themselves "Nehiyawok" or "the people". Cree is a musical language spoken by more than 45,000 people across southern Canada and into Montana.

There are five major dialects: Western/Plains Cree, Northern/Woodlands Cree, Central/Swampy Cree, Moose Cree, and Eastern Cree but linguists agree that these dialects are mutually intelligible. All five dialects are written in unique syllabary (a set of written symbols that translate into words) with minor differences depending on the dialect. These differences include the shapes of the characters, writing styles, punctuation, using dots or spaces between words, or not indicating word separation at all. Consonants are represented by shapes and they are then rotated to represent certain vowels.

The Cree language is one of the most influential American Indian languages and it also has one of the best chances of survival in the future. Cree Indian children are often raised to speak English or French as their first language, but many are bilingual and can speak another dialect of the Cree language as well.

As a polysynthetic language, Cree is primarily verb-based with a fairly free order. It is written horizontally from left to right, such as this phrase below.

The Cree language does not use periods, they use full-stop glyph's which are symbolized by an 'x'.

They also do not use question marks. Instead they use the suffix // cî to //indicate a question.

**ᑳᒫᒋᐲᑭᐢᒁᑎᑯᐟ ᐆᐦᐃ ᐅᐢᑳᔭ ᐁᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᔨᐟ᙮ ᒫᑲ ᓇᒨᔭ ᓂᓯᑐᐦᑕᐍᐤ ᐊᐘ ᐅᐢᑭᓂᑮᐢ ᑖᓂᓯ ᐁᐃᑘᔨᐟ ᐋᑕ ᐏᐢᑕ ᐁᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐟ᙮**

Translation:

"The young people then began to speak in the language of his ancestry – Nêhiyawêwin (Plains Cree language). Unfortunately the young man could not make out what they were saying even though he was of the same nation; Nêhiyaw (Plains Cree language)"

Bibliography:

"Cree Syllabics." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia //. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. .

"Cree Language and the Cree Indian Tribe (Iyiniwok, Eenou, Eeyou, Iynu, Kenistenoag)."//Native American Language Net: Preserving and Promoting Indigenous American Indian Languages //. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. .

"Google Images." //Google //. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. .