Lax Vowels

The LAX VOWELS I, U, and A are very short in duration; they can even be silent. Lax vowels also sound quite different when they are in combination with W or U. (For example, they can be tense instead of lax.) The pronunciation of lax U, I and A is described below. (Most of the examples on this page are from speaker AD; the remainder are from speaker LS.)

Lax U

U sounds like lax [ ʊ ] (the vowel in push). It can also sound O-like [ ʊ ̞], and longer [ ʊː ]. (To an English speaker, long [ ʊː ] would a bit sound more like the [ u ] in boot because of its longer duration.) [ ʊ ] is the most common pronunciation of U. See the vowel listening practice page for more examples.

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᒥᔥᑯᔑᔥ		amishkushish	amish – kushish	[ a̝mʃ – ˈkʊʃː ]
ᐅᑎᐦᑉ		utihp	utihp	[ ˈʊːtʰpʰ ]
ᐊᒋᔅᑖᓱᓐᐦ		achistaasunh	a – chistaa – sunh	[ ɨ – tstaː – ˈsʊn ]
ᓃᔂᓱᒻᑎᓂᐤ		niiswaasumtiniu	nii – swaa – sumi – ti – niu	[ ni – sɔː – sʊm – ˈtɪ – nu̝ʔ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐋᐦᒌᑯᔥ		aahchiikush	aahchii – kush
ᑳᑯᔥᐦ		kaakushiish	kaa – ku – shiish
ᒧᐦᑌᐤ		muhteu	muh – teu

U can also sound like a tense [ u ] (the vowel in boot), particularly when preceded or followed by tense [ i ] or the glide [ j ]; it can also sound tense before [ h ], [ s ] and [ ʃ ].

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒥᔪᔑᒥᐤ		miyushimiu	mi – yu – shi – miu	[mi – ju – ˈʃɪm – mu̞ʔ ]
ᐹᑎᑯᑦ		paatikut	paati – kut	[ ˈpaːtʰ – ku̞ːtʰ ]
ᐅᑆᓐ		upwaan	u – pwaan	[ ˈu̞ – pɔːn ]
ᐅᔅᐱᑐᓐ		uspitun	us – pi – tun	[uːs – ˈpʊ – tʊn ]
ᐅᐦᐱᓐᐦ		uhpinh	uh – pinh	[ uːʰ – ˈpɪnʰ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒥᔪᔅᑲᒨ		miyuskamuu	mi – yus – ka – muu
ᐅᐦᐱᓯᑲᓐ		uhpisikan	uhpi – si – kan
ᐐᐤᐦ		wiiuh	wiiuh

In some cases, U can even sound a bit more like [ ə ] (the indistinct sound heard at the beginning of about).

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᔖᐳᒥᓐ		shaapumin *	shaa – pu – min	[ ˈʃa – pə – mɪn ]

* In this word, it’s hard to tell if the vowel sound is [ ʊ ] or [ ə ].

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐋᐃᐦᑯᓈᒉᓲ		aaihkunaachesuu	aaih – ku – naa – che – suu

Lax I

I sounds like lax [ ɪ ] (the vowel in fish). [ ɪ ] is the most common pronunciation of I.

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᑆᓂᔥ		apwaanish	a – pwaa – nish	[ ɨ – pɔː – ˈnɪʃ ]
ᒋᔅᐱᑳᐤ		chispikaau	chispi – kaau	[ ˈtspɪ – kaw ]
ᑭᐱᑖᐤ		kipitaau	ki – pi – taau	[ ˈkɪ – pɪ – taw ]
ᓂᔅᒃ		nisk	nisk	[ ˈnɪskʰ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᔫᒥᓂᒡ		ayuuminich	a – yuu – minich
ᐱᒋᔅᑲᓈᐤ		pichiskanaau	pi – chiska – naau
ᑎᒥᐦᒋᓀᐤ		timihchineu	timih – chi – neu

However, I can also sound like tense [ i ] (the vowel in eat), particularly before Y, and at the beginning of the word before [ h ], [ s ] or [ ʃ ].

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐃᔥᐱᒥᐦᒡ		ishpimihch	ish – pimihch	[ iʃ – ˈpɪmʰtʃ ]
ᐃᔮᔑᐦᑦ		iyaashiht	i – yaashiht	[ i – ˈjaʃːtʰ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐃᔨᒻ		iyim	i – yim
ᐃᔥᑯᑌᐦᑳᓐ		ishkutehkaan	ish – ku – teh – kaan
ᐃᔥᒀᔮᓂᐦᒡ		ishkwaayaanihch	ish – kwaa – yanihch

I can also sound more indistinct, like the [ ə ] sound in about or the [ ɨ ] sound in dishes.

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒫᑎᐙᐎᓐᐦ		maatiwaawinh	maa – ti – waa – winh	[ ma – tə – wɔː – ˈwənʰ ]
ᐱᒋᔅᑭᓈᐤ		pichiskinaau	pichis – ki – naau	[ pəts – ˈkɪ – naw ]
ᐱᓛᐅᔅ		pilaaus	pi – laaus	[ pə – ˈlaws ]
ᓂᔅᒋᒦᒋᒻ		nischimiichim	nis – chi – mii – chim	[ nɨs – tʃə – ˈmiː – tʃɨm ]
ᒥᐦᒀᐤ		mihkwaau	mih – kwaau	[ ˈmɨh – kɔːw ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒫᐦᑯᐱᑕᒻ		maahkupitam	maah – ku – pi – tam
ᒋᒨᓂᐸᔫ		chimuunipayuu	chi – muu – ni – pa – yuu

One interesting fact about the East Cree roman spelling system is that the letter I can sound like [ ʊ ] when the following vowel is U, or when KW follows, or when some M sounds follow (particularly when the M is at the end of the word).

I sounds like [ ʊ ] in anticipation of the following U sound.

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐋᐱᑯᔒᔥ		aapikushiish	aa – piku – shiish	[ a – ˈpʊkʊ̥ – ʃiʃ ]
ᐅᔅᐱᑐᓐ		uspitun	us – pi – tun	[ us – ˈpʊ – tʊn ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒋᔅᑎᑯᐦᐆ		chistikuhuu	chistiku – huu
ᓂᑯᒑᔥ		nikuchaash	ni – ku – chaash

I sounds like [ ʊ ] in anticipation of the following KW sound.

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒌᔑᒄ		chiishikw	chii – shikw	[ ˈtʃiː – ʃʊkʷ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐋᐦᒋᒄ		aahchikw	aah – chikw

In careful pronunciations, I might sound like [ ɪ ] instead of [ ʊ ].

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐅᔅᐱᑐᓐ		uspitun	us – pi – tun	[ ʊs – ˈpɪ – tʊn ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐋᑰᔦᒋᐸᒋᑲᓐᐦ		aakuuyechipachikanh	aa – kuu – ye – chi – pa – chi – kanh

I sounds like [ ʊ ] when followed by word-final M. Historically, this M was an MW combination, so this example is similar to the chiishikw example above.

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᑎᒻ		atim	a – tim	[ ˈɪ – tʊm ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐲᓯᒻ		piisim	pii – sim

Lax A

In contrast with tense AA, which can sound like [ a(ː) ] or [ æ(ː) ], lax A more often sounds like the vowel [ ɛ ] or [ a ̝] in end, or the vowel [ ɪ ] in begin. It can be difficult to tell whether the sound in question is [ ɪ ] or [ ɛ ].

A often sounds like [ ɛ ] (the vowel in end), or like [ɪ] (the vowel in fish) or like [ ɨ ] (the last vowel sound in dishes).

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᒥᔅᒄ		amiskw	amiskw	[ ˈɛmskʷ ]
ᐊᓂᒋᒄ		anichikw	ani – chikw	[ ˈɛn – tʃʊkʷ ]
ᐊᓵᒥᒡ		asaamich	a – saamich	[ ɨ – ˈsamtʃ ]
ᐊᑎᐦᒄ		atihkw	atihkw	[ ˈɪːtʰkʷ ]
ᐊᑎᒻ		atim	a – tim	[ ˈɪ – tʊm ]
ᐊᓂᒋᒄ		anichikw	ani – chikw	[ ˈɪn – tʃʊkʷ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᑯᐦᑉ		akuhp	a – kuhp

A can also sound like [ ə ] (the first vowel in about).

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᓵᒥᒡ		asaamich	a – saa – mich	[ ə – ˈsa – mɪtʃ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᔅᒌ		aschii	as – chii

A can also sound like [ ʌ ] (the vowel in hum) when it precedes a word-final M.

Do the letters A and I represent two vowels or one?

In many cases, the letters A and I are pronounced the same. In addition to the above examples, consider this word in Northern East Cree, where the bolded A and I both sound like [ ɪ ].

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᔨᒥᐙᑭᓐ		ayimiwaakin	a – yimi – waa – kin	[ ɪ – jɪm – ˈwaː – kɪn ]

Depending on where you come from, the pronunciation of words with A and I can be very different. Northern speakers and Coastal Southern speakers tend to pronounce A and I the same way but Inland Southern speakers pronounce them differently. Listen to the word below to hear how the final A is pronounced by Coastal and Inland Southern speakers.

		Inland		Coastal
ᐊᑎᐦᑯᑲᓐ	atihkukan

Interestingly, this word in Northern East Cree is spelled with a final I, ᐊᑎᐦᑯᑭᓐ atihkukin, reflecting the current pronunciation in that dialect.
To know more, read: Dyck, Carrie, Marie-Odile Junker, and Kelly Logan. 2010. Phonetic and phonological evidence for a vowel merger in Southern East Cree. In: Beth Rogers and Anita Szakay (eds.), Proceedings of the 15th Annual Workshop on the Structure and Constituency of the Languages of the Americas. UBC Working Papers in Linguistics 29: 98-114.

How should I pronounce the letters A and I?

Conservatively speaking:

• The letters A and I both sound like [ ɪ ] or like the indistinct vowels [ ɨ, ə ].
• The letter A (but not I) can also sound like [ ɛ ] or [ ʌ ].
• The letter I (but not A) can also sound like [ i ] or [ ʊ ].

Summary of lax vowel pronunciation

The lax vowels of East Cree have the following range of pronunciations.

• I and A can sound like [ ɪ, ɨ, ə ]; the main pronunciation is [ ɪ ].
• I can also sound like [ i, ʊ ].
• A can also sound like [ ɛ, ʌ ]; it sounds like [ ɛ ] especially at the beginning of the word.
• U can sound like [ ʊ, ʊ̞, (ə) ]; the main pronunciation is [ ʊ ].

It is probably safe for you to use the main pronunciations for the lax vowels until you get a better feel for how individual words sound.

For more on what East Cree vowels sound like, see the vowel listening practice page.