Spelling East Cree (Southern) – Boundaries

Adding a personal prefix

The personal prefixes are ᓂ, ᒋ, and ᐅ and are added to possessed nouns. Note that only ᓂ and ᒋ are added to Independent verbs. They are written joined to the word.

If the word begins with ᐃ then add ᓂᑎ, ᒋᑎ or ᐅᑎ.

If the word begins with ᐁ then add ᓂᑌ, ᒋᑌ, or ᐅᑌ.

If the word begins with ᐊ then add ᓂᑕ, ᒋᑕ or ᐅᑕ.

If the word begins with ᐋ then add ᓂᑖ, ᒋᑖ, or ᐅᑖ.

If the word begins with ᐅ, then use ᓅ or ᑰ. For the ‘her/his’ third person change the short ᐅ to a long one by adding a dot ᐆ.

If a noun begins with ᐆ then add ᓂᑑ, ᒋᑑ, or ᐅᑑ.

If a verb begins with ᐆ then change to ᓅ or ᑰ.

Note that it is a very common for children to use ᒎ instead of ᑰ in words traditionally beginning with ᑰ:

Nouns that are already possessed do not add these prefixes, since these prefixes are already part of the word. These are mostly names of relatives and body parts and are called dependent nouns (marked nad or nid in the dictionary).

A few words are also dependent nouns that are not the names of relatives or body parts.

See also: Spelling East Cree – Northern Dialect – Adding a personal prefix