Spelling East Cree (Northern) – Writing Names

Writing Names

Writing the names of children in Cree Syllabics is very difficult these days when parents often give their sons and daughters English names which have non-Cree sounds and unusual spellings. The teacher and the parent may often have different ways of pronouncing, and therefore spelling, the child’s name. The child may in fact change the way she or he wishes to spell their name in Syllabics after several years of schooling in Cree.

It is up to the teacher and the parent to agree on what to do, with the understanding that there can be two right ways to spell names, and that the child can choose for herself or himself, usually around grade 3.

The Terminology Forum on the eastcree.org website suggests the Cree syllabics spelling of over 2,700 names: terminology.eastcree.org

See also: Spelling East Cree – Southern Dialect – Writing Names