about this book pronunciation chart
4
PREFIX FORM ANIMATE SINGULAR INANIMATE SINGULAR VERB FORM VERB FORM kaskitêwi- kaskitêsiw kaskitêwâw mihko- mihkosiw mihkwâw wâpikwanîwinâkosi - wâpikwanîwinâkosiw wâpikwanîwinâkwan sîpihko- sîpihkosiw sîpihkwâw wâposâwi- wâposâwisiw wâposâwâw nîpâmâyâ- nîpâmâyâtisiw nîpâmâyâtân kaskitê-osâwi- kaskitê-osâwisiw kaskitê-osâwâw wâpiski- wâpiskisiw wâpiskâw osâwi- osâwisiw osâwâw askihtako- askihtakosiw askihtakwâw SHORT VOWELS a as in about i as in pin o as in look LONG VOWELS â as in father ê as in pay î as in keep ô as in boat CONSONANTS p as in pin or bin t as in tin or din c as in chin or tsar h as in him k as in kin or grin s as in sin m as in me n as in no w as in will y as in yes the names of the colours about this book In English, we learn to name our colours just as we name shapes or animals. Cree works differently. In Cree, verbs must change their shape to match the associated nouns (similar to French) which are classified as animate or inanimate. Because colour words in Cree are verbs (action words), we need to learn both animate and inanimate forms for every colour, and we need to know whether each noun is animate or inanimate. If a noun is plural, the colour verb must be plural too. Another way of expressing colour in Cree attaches a special form of the colour word as a prefix to a noun. This happens in special cases where the colour is not just a description, but an important part of the noun itself. The chart on the opposite page shows every colour used in this book in each of these three forms. In each culture, people name the colours of the rainbow differently. In Cree, speakers may use the word osâwi- for yellow, orange or brown. They may use the word sîpihko- for blue, green, or grey. They may also create new colour words — as in the English language — by combining the colour words from the chart with each other, or by modifying them with wâp- (meaning ‘bright’ or ‘light’), and kaskitê- (meaning ‘dark’ or ‘black’). If you talk to other speakers of Plains Cree, they may use different terms, or combinations of terms from the ones we use here, that are still correct. The colour words used in this book were selected by one particular speaker on one particular day: on a different day, even that same speaker may have chosen differently. —Arden Ogg of the Cree Literacy Network, with help from Solomon Ratt, Arok Wolvengrey and Jean Okimâsis The Cree in this book is in the y-dialect spoken in Alberta and southern Saskatchewan, also known as nêhiyawêwin or Plains Cree. The words are spelled using the same roman alphabet used to write this sentence, which is called “Standard Roman Orthography,” which is widely taught in the region. Colour names — and even the names of plants and animals — may differ from one dialect region to the next. There are seven distinct vowel sounds in Cree, three “short,” and four “long.” Long vowels are written with a macron ( ¯ ) or circumflex ( ˆ ) accent. They sound about like this: pronunciation chart colour_layout_VFNOV29.indd 2-3 2016-11-30 12:00 AM
Transcript of about this book pronunciation chart
PREFIX FORM ANIMATE S INGULAR INANIMATE S INGULAR
VERB FORM VERB FORM
kaskitêwi- kaskitêsiw kaskitêwâw
mihko- mihkosiw mihkwâw
wâpikwanîwinâkosi - wâpikwanîwinâkosiw wâpikwanîwinâkwan
sîpihko- sîpihkosiw sîpihkwâw
wâposâwi- wâposâwisiw wâposâwâw
nîpâmâyâ- nîpâmâyâtisiw nîpâmâyâtân
kaskitê-osâwi- kaskitê-osâwisiw kaskitê-osâwâw
wâpiski- wâpiskisiw wâpiskâw
osâwi- osâwisiw osâwâw
askihtako- askihtakosiw askihtakwâw
SHORT VOWELS
a as in about
i as in pin
o as in look
LONG VOWELS
â as in father
ê as in pay
î as in keep
ô as in boat
C O N S O N A N T S
p as in pin or bin
t as in tin or din
c as in chin or tsar
h as in him
k as in kin or grin
s as in sin
m as in me
n as in no
w as in will
y as in yes
the names of the colours
about this book
In English, we learn to name our colours just as we name shapes or animals. Cree works diff erently. In Cree, verbs must change their shape to match the associated nouns (similar to French) which are classifi ed as animate or inanimate. Because colour words in Cree are verbs (action words), we need to learn both animate and inanimate forms for every colour, and we need to know whether each noun is animate or inanimate. If a noun is plural, the colour verb must be plural too.
Another way of expressing colour in Cree attaches a special form of the colour word as a prefi x to a noun. This happens in special cases where the colour is not just a description, but an important part of the noun itself.
The chart on the opposite page shows every colour used in this book in each of these three forms.
In each culture, people name the colours of the rainbow diff erently. In Cree, speakers may use the word osâwi- for yellow, orange or brown. They may use the word sîpihko- for blue, green, or grey. They may also create new colour words — as in the English language — by combining the colour words from the chart with each other, or by modifying them with wâp- (meaning ‘bright’ or ‘light’), and kaskitê- (meaning ‘dark’ or ‘black’).
If you talk to other speakers of Plains Cree, they may use diff erent terms, or combinations of terms from the ones we use here, that are still correct. The colour words used in this book were selected by one particular speaker on one particular day: on a diff erent day, even that same speaker may have chosen diff erently.
—Arden Ogg of the Cree Literacy Network, with help from Solomon Ratt, Arok Wolvengrey and Jean Okimâsis
The Cree in this book is in the y-dialect spoken in Alberta
and southern Saskatchewan, also known as nêhiyawêwin or
Plains Cree.
The words are spelled using the same roman alphabet
used to write this sentence, which is called “Standard
Roman Orthography,” which is widely taught in the region.
Colour names — and even the names of plants and animals
— may diff er from one dialect region to the next.
There are seven distinct vowel sounds in Cree, three “short,” and four “long.”
Long vowels are written with a macron (¯) or circumfl ex (ˆ) accent.
They sound about like this:
pronunciation chart
colour_layout_VFNOV29.indd 2-3 2016-11-30 12:00 AM
Black Bear
kaskitêsiw maskwa
colour_layout_VFNOV29.indd 4-5 2016-11-30 12:00 AM
Red Fox
mihkosiw mahkêsîs
colour_layout_VFNOV29.indd 6-7 2016-11-30 12:00 AM
sîpihkosiw piyêsîs
Blue Bird
colour_layout_VFNOV29.indd 10-11 2016-11-30 12:00 AM
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