Grammar
Syllabification of East Cree
Speakers of a language use intuition when it comes to separating words into syllables but they follow general rules of their language. The rules stated below have been used throughout this site to syllabify the words used to demonstrate the Sounds of East Cree.
| 1. | Consonant Clusters: Put a dash between consonants in a consonant cluster, but only if you can hear separate consonants; (i.e., don’t separate C-H or S-H). | |||
| Unless: | ||||
| a. | The consonant cluster is at the end of the word. | |||
| b. | The consonant cluster consists of: KW, TW, PW, MW. | |||
| c. | The consonant follows CHISH, CHIS, CHIH, or CHICH. | |||
| d. | The next vowel is inaudible in the spelling. | |||
| e. | There is no audible vowel sound before the consonant cluster. | |||
| 2. | Silent Vowels: If the vowel in the spelling is inaudible, put a dash after it. | |||
| Unless: | ||||
| a. | The vowel is immediately followed by a consonant and a dash. | |||
| b. | The vowel is the last one in the word. | |||
| c. | The vowel is the first one in the word. | |||
| d. | The following vowel is inaudible in the spelling. | |||
| 3. | Vowels: If the vowel in the spelling is audible, put a dash after it. | |||
| Unless: | ||||
| a. | The vowel is immediately followed by a consonant and a dash. | |||
| b. | The vowel is the last vowel of the word. | |||
| c. | The vowel is immediately followed by another vowel (such as ai, aai, ei, aau, au, eu). | |||
| d. | The following vowel is inaudible in the spelling. | |||
Examples:
| Word | kaawiihkwaasit | iiyaahtikwaasht | kushtaachiu | chishtaapaawiiwaakin | |
| 1. | kaawiiH-Kwaasit | ||||
| 1.a | iiyaahtikwaaSHT | ||||
| 1.b. | kaawiih-KWaasit | iiyaahtiKWaasht | |||
| 1.c | CHISHtaapaawiiwaakin | ||||
| 1.d. | iiyaaHTIkwaasht | ||||
| 1.e. | kuSHTaachiu | ||||
| 2. | iiyaahtI-kwaasht | ||||
| 2.a. | |||||
| 2.b. | |||||
| 2.c. | kUshtaachiu | ||||
| 2.d. | |||||
| 3. | kAA-wiih-kwAA-sit | II-yaahti-kwaasht | kushtAA-chiu | chishtAA-pAA-wII-wAA-kin | |
| 3.a. | kaa-wIIH-kwaa-sit | ||||
| 3.b. | kaa-wiih-kwaa-sIt | ii-yaahti-kwAAsht | chishtaa-paa-wii-waa-kIn | ||
| 3.c. | |||||
| 3.d. | |||||
| Result: | kaa-wiih-kwaa-sit | ii-yaahti-kwaasht | kushtaa-chiu | chishtaa-paa-wii-waa-kin |