Elision happens all the time in spoken Cree – and even more often when Cree is spoken quickly. Elisions are optional, and happen in much the same way that English contractions do: dropping out sounds that are not critically important to understanding, making words a little shorter, a little easier to say. Making speech sound a little more casual.
We often talk about SRO as a system with one letter per sound – which it is – but SRO almost always writes out the full, correct form of each word without acknowledging the elisions that fully fluent speakers often use without even thinking. One common example is the word “tânisi” which is written out in SRO with three full syllables, even though it is commonly pronounced as [tansi]. That middle “i” – that SRO still writes out every time – almost always gets elided or dropped when the word is pronounced normally.
The lesson Solomon Ratt has prepared today presents a number of words that are “elided,” creating shortcuts in normal speech. They can be read in elided or contracted form, even if they’re written out in full. Pronounced in full, they’re still correct, but the shortened forms tend to sound a little more relaxed and natural.
As you listen and read through this chart, watch for the patterns of elision: the vowels that contract or disappear, and what gets left in their place. Notice, too, how many of these are identical in y- and th-dialects. Most of these examples are strings of particles (words that are neither nouns nor verbs) that have vowels at their beginnings and endings where words meet – and collide. But “colliding” means bumping into something, whereas “elide” seems to imply something more graceful. In each of these examples, the vowels glide into one another creating small changes that leave meaning intact. These patterns appear again and again in Cree where one vowel sound follows another, or where unstressed vowels tend to gracefully disappear.
[Today’s photograph of First Nations University presents Douglas Cardinal’s building perfectly aligned with corresponding cut-outs in the silhouette of Lionel Peyachew’s baby bison that runs along behind its mother on the front lawn. The cutouts mirror and align with the building itself. The photo it is the work of r/DesignPorn (and was found on Reddit). Too often the term “University Cree” is used as an insult by those who have not acquired full Cree language literacy. The photo fits the punchline Sol buried in the table: kihci-kiskinwahamâtowikamikohk “at the University” there are “no shortcuts”!
| dialect | full form | with elision | vowels affected | English | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y | êkosi anima | êkosânima | (i + a = â) | that’s the way! | |
| y | tânisi ôma? | tânsôma? | (drop mid i from tânisi, then i + ô = ô) | How is this then? | |
| y | tânisi êtikwê | tânsêtikwê | (i + ê = ê) | I wonder how? | |
| y | êwako awa | êwakwâwa | (o + a = kwâ) | This is the one. | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| y | êwako ana | êwakwâna | (o + a = kwâ) | That’s the one. | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| y | êwako ôma | êwakôma | (o + ô = ô) | This is the one. | (Use with inanimate nouns.) |
| y | êwako anima | êwakwânima | (o + a = kwâ) | That’s the one! | (Use with inanimate nouns.) |
| y | awa ita | awîta | (a + i = î) | Here s/he is! | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| y | ôma ita | ômîta | (a + i = î) | Here it is! | (Use with inanimate nouns.) |
| y | awîna awa | awînâwa | (a + a = â) | Who is this? | |
| y | awîna êtikwê | awînêtikwî | (a + ê = ê) | I wonder who? | |
| y | awîna ana | awînâna | (a + a = â) | Who is that? | |
| y | tânisi êkwa? | tânsêkwa? | (i + ê = ê) | Howyadoin? | |
| y | êkosi êsa | êkosêsa | (i + ê = ê) | That’s the way apparently. | |
| y | anima anita | animânta | (drop the i from anita then a + a = â) | That one! | (Use with inanimate nouns.) |
| y | ana anita | anânta | (drop the i from anita then a + a= â) | That one! | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| y | tâna êwako? | tânêwako? | (a + ê = ê) | Which one? | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| y | tânima êwako? | tânimêwako? | (a + ê = ê) | Which one? | (Use with Inanimate nouns) |
| y | kihci-kiskinwahamâtowikamikohk | at the university | (Sorry no shortcuts!) | ||
| dialect | full form | with elision | vowels affected | English | Comment |
| th | ikosi anima | ikosânima | (i + a = â) | that’s the way! | |
| th | tânisi ôma? | tânsôma? | (drop mid i from tânisi, then i + ô = ô) | How is this then? | |
| th | tânisi îtokî | tânsîtokî | (i + î = î) | I wonder how? | |
| th | iyako awa | iyakwâwa | (o + a = kwâ) | This is the one. | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| th | iyako ana | iyakwâna | (o + a = kwâ) | That’s the one. | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| th | iyako ôma | iyakôma | (o + ô = ô) | This is the one. | (Use with inanimate nouns.) |
| th | iyako anima | iyakwânima | (o + a = kwâ) | That’s the one! | (Use with inanimate nouns.) |
| th | awa ita | awîta | (a + i = î) | Here s/he is! | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| th | ôma ita | ômîta | (a + i = î) | Here it is! | (Use with inanimate nouns.) |
| th | awîna awa | awînâwa | (a + a = â) | Who is this? | |
| th | awîna îtokî | awînîtokî | (a + î = î) | I wonder who? | |
| th | awîna ana | awînâna | (a + a = â) | Who is that? | |
| th | tânisi ikwa? | tânsîkwa? | (i + i = î) | Howyadoin? | |
| th | ikosi îsa | ikosîsa | (i + î = î) | That’s the way apparently. | |
| th | anima anita | animânta | (drop the i from anita then a + a = â) | That one! | (Use with inanimate nouns.) |
| th | ana anita | anânta | (drop the i from anita then a + a= â) | That one! | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| th | tâna iyako? | tânîyako? | (a + i = î) | Which one? | (Use with animate nouns.) |
| th | tânima iyako? | tânamîyako? | (a + i = î) | Which one? | (Use with Inanimate nouns) |
| th | kihci-kiskinwahamâtowikamikohk | at the university | (Sorry no shortcuts!) |
