Spelling East Cree (Northern) – Boundaries

Adding a personal prefix

Personal Prefix on Nouns

The personal prefixes are ᓂ, ᒋ, ᐅ are added to possessed nouns. The personal prefixes ᓂ, ᒋ are added to Independent verb stems. They are written joined to the word or the first preverb.

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

If the noun begins with ᐅ, then use ᓅ for the first person (ᓃᔨ my, ᓃᔮᓐ our but not your) and ᑰ for the second person (ᒌᔮᓂᐤ our (you and I), ᒌᔨ, ᒌᔨᐧᐋᐤ your); for the third person (ᐧᐄᔨ her/his, ᐧᐄᔨᐧᐋᐤ their) use a long ᐆ:

Note that some people would like to write ᐅ twice for ᐆᑖᐹᓐ: ᐅᐅᑖᐹᓐ but this creates problems with the current technology where all double vowels are automatically converted to long vowels in typing tools and syllabic convertors.

Note that it is very common for children to use ᒎ instead of ᑰ in words (this is a language change that makes it more regular):

For some nouns these prefixes are already part of the word. These words are mostly names of relatives and body parts and are called dependent nouns (marked nad or nid in the dictionary)

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

The word ᐊᐳᐃ has different pronunciations:

Personal Prefix on Verbs

The personal prefixes ᓂ, ᒋ are added to Independent verb stems. They are joined to the word or the first preverb. Note that there is no personal prefix added before the third person (he, she) forms.

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

If the verb begins with ᐅ, then use ᓅ for the first person (ᓃᔨ I, ᓃᔮᓐ we (but not you) and ᑰ for the second person (ᒌᔨ you singular, ᒌᔮᓂᐤ we (you and I), ᒌᔨᐧᐋᐤ ‘you [plural]’); for the third person no personal prefix is used on verbs.

Note that it is very common for children to use ᒎ instead of ᑰ in words, due to regular language change :

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