Consonant clusters beginning with H

The clusters beginning with H include [ hp ] HP, [ ht ] HT, [ htʃ ] HCH, [ hk ] HK, [ hy ] HY, and [ hw ] HW. You may find it hard to hear the [ h ] because English does not have such clusters. In addition, East Cree speakers do not always pronounce the [ h ]. Here are some examples of clusters beginning with [ h ] in East Cree.

HP

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐅᐦᐱᓐᐦ		uhpinh	uh – pinh	[ uh – ˈpɪnʰ ]
ᐐᐦᐹᔅᒄ		wiihpaaskw	wiih – paaskw	[ ˈwiːh – paːskʷ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᑯᐦᑉ		akuhp	akuhp
ᒀᐦᑉᐦᐄ		kwaahphii	kwaah – phii

HT

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐄᔮᐦᑎᒄ		iiyaahtikw	ii – yaah – tikw	[ iː – jah – təkʷ ]
ᐃᔥᒀᐦᑖᒻ		ishkwaahtaam *	ish – kwaah – taam	[ iʃ – ˈkɔʰ –tam ]

* The H is difficult to hear in the last example.

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐋᐱᐦᑑᓐ		aapihtuun	aapih – tuun
ᑯᐦᑕ		kuhta	kuh – ta

HCH

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒋᐦᒋᐱᔨᐤ		chihchipiyiu *	chih – chi – pi – yiu	[ tʃiç – ˈtʃɪ – pɪ – juʔ ]
ᒥᐦᒌᐙᓯᐤ		mihchiiwaasiu	mih – chii – waa – siu	[ mɪh – tʃiː – ˈwa – suʔ ]

* The H sounds almost like a [ ʃ ] in this example. It is actually a [ ç ] sound, described below.

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᓵᒥᐦᒉᐤ		asaamihhcheu	a – saamih – cheu
ᒥᑎᐦᒌᐦ		mitihchiih	mi – tih – chiih

HK

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᑳᐐᐦᒀᓯᑦ		kaawiihkwaasit	kaa – wiih – kwaa – sit	[ ka – wih – ˈkɔs – sɪt ]
ᒥᐦᒀᐤ		mihkwaau	mih – kwaau	[ ˈməh – kɔːw ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐋᐦᑯᓲ		aahksuu	aahk – suu
ᒥᐦᑯᓐᐦ		mihkunh	mih – kunh

HY

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒧᔖᐙᐦᔮᐅᐲᓯᒻ		mushaawaahyaaupiisim	mu – shaa – waah – yaau – pii – sim	[ mu – ʃa – wah – jaw – ˈpi – sʊm ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐱᒥᐦᔮᐤ		pimihyaau	pimih – yaau
ᔦᐦᔦᐤ		yehyeu	yeh – yeu

HW

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐙᐦᐙᐤ		waahwaau	waah – waau	[ wah – wɔw ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒋᐸᐦᐌᐤ		chipahweu	chipah – weu

While H before consonants often sounds like H, it can also sound

• a bit more like the H in human [ ç ] after the vowels I or II, and
• a bit more like [ ɦ ] (the H sound in ahead) after the vowels A or AA.

Some examples are provided on the page describing fricatives.

As mentioned above, East Cree speakers do not always pronounce H before consonants. Instead, the preaspirated H influences the pronunciation of the preceding vowel in one of two ways:

• the vowel before the H may sound longer (but not necessarily). For examples, see the page describing fricatives.
• the vowel before the H can be deleted. (This affects only the short vowels I, U, and A, and not all of the time.)