Tense vowels

Tense vowels can sound slightly different depending on whether or not they are accented. Most of the following examples are divided into accented and unaccented sounds for this reason. Notice in many of the words that end in a vowel, the final sound is a glottal stop [ ʔ ].

Tense II

II can be longer or shorter in duration. Longer [ iː ] sounds like the first vowel in eat. Shorter [ i ] sounds like the first vowel in eaten.

Accented

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒌᔑᒄ		chiishikw	chii – shikw	[ ˈtʃi – ʃʊkʷ ]
ᒋᓵᐲᓯᒻ		chisaapiisim	chisaa – pii – sim	[ tsa – ˈpi – sʊm ]
ᒌᔥᐴ		chiishpuu	chiish – puu	[ ˈtʃiʃ – puː ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒦᑐᔅ		miitus	mii – tus	[ˈmi: – tʊ̥s ]
ᐊᓄᐦᒌᔥ		anuhchiish	anuh – chiish
ᐊᑯᐦᐄ		akuhii	aku – hii

Unaccented

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒌᐙᑎᓐ		chiiwaatin	chii – waa – tin	[ tʃiː – waː – tɪn ]
ᐄᔮᐦᑎᒄ		iiyaahtikw	ii – yaah – tikw	[ iː – ˈjaːʰ – tʊkʷ ]
ᒫᔅᒌᔅᒃ		maaschiisk	maas – chiisk	[ ˈmas – tʃiːskʰ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒌᔥᒀ		chiishkwaa	chiish – kwaa
ᑳᓐᒌ		kaanchii	kaan – chii
ᒋᒥᐦᐄᔅᑳᓐ		chimihiiskaan	chimi – hiis – kaan

Tense UU

UU can sound intermediate between [ o ] and [ u ]. (It is often pronounced like a lowered [ u ̞] sound.) It can be long or short in duration.

Accented

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒨᔅ		muus	muus	[ ˈmuːs ]
ᐴᔑ		puushi	puu – shi	[ ˈpu̞ – ʃiʔ ]
ᓲᑉ		suup	suup	[ ˈsu̞ːpʰ ]
ᑰᒃ		kuuk	kuuk	[ ˈkuːkʰ ]
ᔫᑎᓐ		yuutin	yuu – tin	[ ˈjuː – tɪn ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒥᐦᑑᑲᐃᐦ		mihtuukaih	mih – tuu – kaih
ᒋᒨᐎᓐ		chimuuwin	chi – muu – win
ᔔᐦᐊᒻ		shuuham	shuu – ham

Unaccented

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒌᔥᐴ		chiishpuu	chiish – puu	[ ˈtʃiʃ – puː ]
ᓅᑎᒦᐙᓯᐤ		nuutimiiwaasiu	nuuti – mii – waa – siu	[ nu̞ːt – miː – ˈwaː – suʔ ]
ᑆᔥᑑ		pwaashtuu	pwaash – tuu	[ ˈpɔːʃ – tu̞ʔ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒦᓅᔥ		miinuush	mii – nuush
ᐅᔅᑲᓈᓅ		uskanaanuu	us – ka – naa – nuu
ᐹᐦᐴ		paahpuu	paah – puu

Tense AA

AA has a range of pronunciations. In most cases, it sounds more like [ a ] — the vowel in the French pronunciation of papa. To an English speaker, this vowel might sound a bit more like [ æ ] (the sound in ash). In most of the following examples, it is difficult to tell if the AA is long or short in duration.

Accented

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐋᐦᑯᓯᐤ		aahkusiu	aahku – siu	[ ˈakʷ – su̝ ʔ]
ᐊᓵᒥᒡ		asaamich	a – saa – mich	[ ɪ – ˈsaː – mɪtʃ ]
ᒌᐙᑎᓐ		chiiwaatin	chi – waa – tin	[ tʃi – ˈwaː – tɪn ]
ᑳᒄ		kaakw	kaakw	[ ˈkakʷ ]
ᑯᐃᐦᑯᐦᐋᒑᐤ		kuihkuhaachaau	kuihku – haa – chaau	[ kuikʰ – ˈha – tʃaw ]
ᓂᔅᑳᐳᐃ		niskaapui	nis – kaa – pui	[ nəs – ˈkaː – bʊj ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒋᔅᑎᑯᐦᐋᐦ		chistikuhaah	chistiku – haah
ᐋᓂᔅᑰᔥᑯᔥ		aaniskuushkush	aanis – kuush – kush
ᐊᔅᒌᒥᓈᐦᑎᒄ		aschiiminaahtikw	as – chii – min – aah – tikw

Unaccented

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒋᓵᐲᓯᒻ		chisaapiisim	chisaa – pii – sim	[ tsa – ˈpi – sʊm ]
ᑖᐦᑎᐱᐎᓐ		taahtipiwin	taah – ti – piwin	[ taʰ – tɪ – ˈpuʷən ]
ᐙᐱᑭᔨᐤ		waapikiyiu	waa – pi – ki – yiu	[ wa – ˈpɪ – ki – juʔ ]
ᔮᓈᓇᐤ		yaanaanau	yaa – naa – nau	[ ja – ˈna – naw ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᒋᔐᐋᓂᔅᑯᑖᐹᓐ		chisheaaniskutaapaan	chishe – aanis – ku – taa – paan
ᑳᐦᑳᐦᒌᔥ		kaahkaahchiish	kaah – kaah – chiish
ᒋᒥᐦᐄᔅᑳᓐ		chimihiiskaan	chimi – hiis – kaan

Tense WAA

After a consonant, WAA sounds like [ ɔ ] or [ ɒ ]. Because of the way it is pronounced, you can sometimes hear a short [ ʷ ] sound right before the vowel. The vowel WAA can be long or short in duration.

• The sounds [ ɔ ] and [ ɒ ] are similar to the O in a New Yorker’s pronunciation of coffee, or similar to the Received (Queen’s English) Pronunciation of words like raw and law. To make this sound, make an ‘aaaaah’ [ ɑ ] sound and simultaneously round your lips (as you would do in order to say an ‘oo’ [ u ] sound.) Do not move your tongue from the [ ɑ ] position when you round your lips.

Examples of WAA after a consonant include:

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᒥᔅᒀᐹᐙᐤ		amiskwaapaawaau	amis – kwaa – paa – waau	[ ɨms – kɔ – ˈpa – wɔw ]
ᐊᒥᔅᒀᔪᐃ		amiskwaayui	amis – kwaa – yui	[ ɨms – ˈkɔ – jʊj ]
ᐊᑆᓂᔥ		apwaanish	a – pwaa – nish	[ ɨ – pɔː – ˈnɪʃ ]
ᒸᒄ		mwaakw	mwaakw	[ ˈmɔːkʰ ]
ᓃᔂᓱᒥᑎᓂᐤ		niiswaasumitiniu	nii – swaa – sumi – ti – niu	[ ni – sɔː – sʊm – ˈtɪ – nu̞ʔ ]
ᒋᔣᑖᓐ		chishwaataan	chishwaa – taan	[ tʃ(ʷ)ɔː – tan ]
ᑳᒋᓍᒡ		kaachinwaach	kaa – chi – nwaach	[ ˈka – tsɨ – nɔːtʃ ]
ᑯᑣᔥᒡ		kutwaashch	ku – twaashch	[kʊ – ˈtɔʃtʃ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐃᔥᒀᐦᑌᒻ		ishkwaahtem	ish – kwaah – tem
ᐊᒀᐃᐌᐤ		akwaaiweu	a – kwaai – weu
ᐊᑆᓐ		apwaan	a – pwaan

In contrast, after another vowel, WAA sounds like [ wa ] or [ waː ]. (To an English speaker, it sounds more like [ wæ ] or [ wæː ].)

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᐙᓐ ᐋ ᑎᐱᔥᑭᐦᒃ		awaan aa tipishkihk	a – waan aa tipish – kihk	[ a – ˈwan aː ˈtɪpʃ – kiʰkʰ ]
ᒌᐙᑎᓐ		chiiwaatin	chii – waa – tin	[ tʃiː – waː – tɪn ]
ᒋᔥᑖᐹᐐᐙᑭᓐ		chishtaapaawiiwaakin	chishtaa – paa – wii – waa – kin	[ tʃtaː – paː – wiː – ˈwaː – kɪn ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐱᒥᓄᐙᑲᓐᐦ		piminuwaakanh	pi – mi – nu – waa – kanh
ᐊᐙᔥ		awaash	a – waash

If a [ w ] sound comes after this vowel, the vowel is pronounced as [ ɔːw ] or [ ʷɔːw ], except before [ m ], where it sounds like [ ɔ ] or [ ɔː ]. (To an English speaker, the vowel would sound a lot like [ ow ] or [ ʷow ].)

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᒥᐦᒀᐤ		mihkwaau	mih – kwaau	[ ˈməh – kʷɔːw ]
ᓂᔥᑣᐅᒥᑖᐦᑐᒥᑎᓂᐤ		nishtwaaumitaahtumitiniu	nish – twaaumi – taah – tumi – ti – niu	[ nɪʃ – tɔːm – taʰ – tʊm – ˈtɪ – nu̞ʔ ]
ᐹᔂᐤ		paaswaau	paa – swaau	[ ˈpa-sɔʷ]
ᓂᔮᔻᐅᒥᑖᐦᑐᒥᑎᓂᐤ		niyaaywaaumitaahtumitiniu	ni – yaa – waaumi – taah – tumi – ti – niu	[ ni – ja – jɔm – taʰ – tʊm – ˈtɪ – nu̞ʔ ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐱᔑᒀᐤ		pishikwaau	pi – shi – kwaau
ᒋᔥᑖᑆᐅᔮᑲᓐ		chishtaapwaauyaakan	chishtaa – pwaau – yaa – kan

In contrast, at the end of the word, this vowel sounds similar to English wow [ waw ] or woah [ wow ]! (Also [ wɒw ].)

Northern			Syllables	IPA
ᐊᒥᔅᒀᐹᐙᐤ		amiskwaapaawaau	amis – kwaa – paa – waau	[ ɨms – kɔ – ˈpa – wɔw ]
ᒥᒫᓃᐙᐤ		mimaaniiwaau	mi – maa – nii – waau	[ mɪ – maː – ˈniː – wɔw ]
ᓂᑐᐦᑎᐙᐤ		nituhtiwaau	ni – tuh – ti – waau	[ ɨn – tu̥ʰ – ˈtɪ – wɔw ]

Southern			Syllables	IPA
ᐙᐱᑌᐙᐤ		waapitewaau	waa – pi – te – waau
ᒥᔥᑯᐙᐤ		mishkuwaau	mishku – waau

Summary

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

• II [ i, iː ]
• UU [ u, u̞, uː, u̞ː ]
• AA [ a, aː, æ, æː ]
• WAA [ ʷɑ, ʷɔ, ɑ, ɔ, ʷɑː, ʷɔː, wa, waː ]
• WAAU [ wɔw ]

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