Nouns Inflected for Gender

Observation

ᓂᐧᐋᐱᒫᐧᐃᒡ ᐊᓂᒌ ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔑᒡ᙮		niwaapimaawich anichii awaashishich.	I see those children.
ᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓐ ᐊᓂᐦᐄ ᒥᔅᒋᓐᐦ᙮		niwaapihtaan anihii mischinh.	I see those shoes.

In the examples above, ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔑᒡ awaashishich ‘children’ and ᒥᔅᒋᓐᐦ mischinh ‘shoes’ do not have the same plural endings: -ich and -h. Notice also that different verb forms are used.

Nouns in East Cree fall into two classes: ANIMATE (children) and INANIMATE (shoe).

Noun Animate (na)
ᐹᔨᒄ ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔥ		paayikw awaashish	one child
ᓃᔓ ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔑᒡ		niishu awaashishich	two children

Noun Inanimate (ni)
ᐹᔨᒄ ᒥᔅᒋᓐ		paayikw mischin	one shoe
ᓃᔓ ᒥᔅᒋᓐᐦ		niishu mischinh	two shoes

The plural ending -ich is used with the animate stem ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔥ awaashish and the plural ending -h is used with the inanimate stem mischin.

Animate nouns are used for humans, animals, and in general all living creatures, including trees and some plants. Also included are some personal belongings such as pants and sleds. (animate)

ᐱᔨᒌᔅ		piyichiis	pair of pants
ᐱᔨᒌᓯᒡ		piyichiisich	pair(s) of pants
ᒥᔥᑎᒄ		mishtikw	tree
ᒥᔥᑎᑯᒡ		mishtikuch	tree(s)
ᐅᑖᐹᓈᔅᒄ		utaapaanaaskw	sled
ᐅᑖᐹᓈᔅᑯᒡ		utaapaanaaskuch	sled(s)

However, unless you are a fluent speaker, you can never know for sure if something is going to be animate or inanimate in the language. This is why we say that GENDER is a grammatical distinction. It is a distinction made in the language, not necessarily always in the outside world.

Animate and inanimate nouns are used with different verbs:

ᓂᐧᐋᐱᒫᐤ ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔥ		niwaapimaau awaashish	(animate)	I see a child
ᓂᐧᐋᐱᐦᑖᓐ ᒥᔅᒋᓐ		niwaapihtaan mischin	(inanimate)	I see a shoe

Animate and inanimate nouns also have their own sets of demonstrative pronouns:

ᐊᓂᒌ ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔑᒡ		anichii awaashishich	(animate plural)	those children
ᐊᓂᐦᐄ ᒥᔅᒋᓐᐦ		anihii mischinh	(inanimate plural)	those shoes