Editing Cree language (section)

==Writing==
[[File:Winnipeg Forks - Trilingual Plaque.jpg|thumb|Trilingual plaque in English, French and Cree]]
Cree dialects, except for those spoken in eastern [[Quebec]] and [[Labrador]], are traditionally written using [[Cree syllabics]], a variant of [[Canadian Aboriginal syllabics]], but can be written with the [[Latin script]] as well. Both [[writing systems]] represent the language phonetically. Cree is always written from left to right horizontally.<ref name="Ager">{{Cite web|title=Ager, Simon: Omniglot, Cree Syllabary|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cree.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117194347/http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cree.htm|archive-date=2012-01-17|access-date=2011-12-05}}</ref> The easternmost dialects are written using the Latin script exclusively. The dialects of Plains Cree, Woods Cree, and western Swampy Cree use [[Western Cree syllabics]] and the dialects of eastern Swampy Cree, East Cree, Moose Cree, and Naskapi use [[Eastern Cree syllabics]].

=== Syllabics ===

In Cree syllabics, each symbol, which represents a [[consonant]], can be written four ways, each direction representing its corresponding [[vowel]].<ref name="Ager" /> Some dialects of Cree have up to seven vowels, so additional [[diacritics]] are placed after the syllabic to represent the corresponding vowels. Finals represent stand-alone consonants.<ref name="Ager" /> The Cree language also has two [[semivowel]]s. The semivowels may follow other consonants or be on their own in a word.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Meet Cree : a guide to the Cree language|last=Christoph.|first=Wolfart, H.|date=1981|publisher=University of Alberta Press|others=Carroll, Janet F.|isbn=0888640730|edition=New and completely rev.|location=Edmonton|oclc=8925218}}</ref>

The following tables show the [[syllabaries]] of Eastern and Western Cree dialects, respectively:

{| class="wikitable collapsible" align=left style="margin:.1ex 1em 1ex 0"
! colspan="9" | Eastern Cree syllabary
|-
! rowspan=2|Initial
! colspan="7" | Vowels
! rowspan=2|Final
|-
! ê
! i
! o
! a
! î
! ô
! â
|-
!
| ᐁ
| ᐃ
| ᐅ
| ᐊ
| ᐄ
| ᐆ
| ᐋ
|
|-
! p
| ᐯ
| ᐱ
| ᐳ
| ᐸ
| ᐲ
| ᐴ
| ᐹ
| ᑉ
|-
! t
| ᑌ
| ᑎ
| ᑐ
| ᑕ
| ᑏ
| ᑑ
| ᑖ
| ᑦ
|-
! k
| ᑫ
| ᑭ
| ᑯ
| ᑲ
| ᑮ
| ᑰ
| ᑳ
| ᒃ
|-
! c
| ᒉ
| ᒋ
| ᒍ
| ᒐ
| ᒌ
| ᒎ
| ᒑ
| ᒡ
|-
! m
| ᒣ
| ᒥ
| ᒧ
| ᒪ
| ᒦ
| ᒨ
| ᒫ
| ᒻ
|-
! n
| ᓀ
| ᓂ
| ᓄ
| ᓇ
| ᓃ
| ᓅ
| ᓈ
| ᓐ
|-
! s
| ᓭ
| ᓯ
| ᓱ
| ᓴ
| ᓰ
| ᓲ
| ᓵ
| ᔅ
|-
! sh
| ᔐ
| ᔑ
| ᔓ
| ᔕ
| ᔒ
| ᔔ
| ᔖ
| ᔥ
|-
! y
| ᔦ
| ᔨ
| ᔪ
| ᔭ
| ᔩ
| ᔫ
| ᔮ
| ᔾ (<sup>ᐤ</sup>)
|-
! l
| ᓓ
| ᓕ
| ᓗ
| ᓚ
| ᓖ
| ᓘ
| ᓛ
| ᓪ
|-
! r*
| ᕃ
| ᕆ
| ᕈ
| ᕋ
| ᕇ
| ᕉ
| ᕌ
| ᕐ
|-
! v*, f*
| ᕓ
| ᕕ
| ᕗ
| ᕙ
| ᕖ
| ᕘ
| ᕚ
| ᕝ
|-
! th*
| ᕞ
| ᕠ
| ᕤ
| ᕦ
| ᕢ
| ᕥ
| ᕧ
| ᕪ
|-
! w
| ᐌ
| ᐎ
| ᐒ
| ᐗ
| ᐐ
| ᐔ
| ᐙ
| ᐤ
|-
! h
| ᐦᐁ
| ᐦᐃ
| ᐦᐅ
| ᐦᐊ
| ᐦᐄ
| ᐦᐆ
| ᐦᐋ
| ᐦ
|-
| colspan=9 | * Used only in foreign sounds
|}
{| class="wikitable collapsible" 
! colspan="9" | Western Cree syllabary
|-
! rowspan=2|Initial
! colspan="7" | Vowels
! rowspan=2|Final
|-
! ê
! i
! o
! a
! î
! ô
! â
|-
!
| ᐁ
| ᐃ
| ᐅ
| ᐊ
| ᐄ
| ᐆ
| ᐋ
|
|-
! p
| ᐯ
| ᐱ
| ᐳ
| ᐸ
| ᐲ
| ᐴ
| ᐹ
| ᑊ
|-
! t
| ᑌ
| ᑎ
| ᑐ
| ᑕ
| ᑏ
| ᑑ
| ᑖ
| ᐟ
|-
! k
| ᑫ
| ᑭ
| ᑯ
| ᑲ
| ᑮ
| ᑰ
| ᑳ
| ᐠ
|-
! c
| ᒉ
| ᒋ
| ᒍ
| ᒐ
| ᒌ
| ᒎ
| ᒑ
| ᐨ
|-
! m
| ᒣ
| ᒥ
| ᒧ
| ᒪ
| ᒦ
| ᒨ
| ᒫ
| ᒼ
|-
! n
| ᓀ
| ᓂ
| ᓄ
| ᓇ
| ᓃ
| ᓅ
| ᓈ
| ᐣ
|-
! s
| ᓭ
| ᓯ
| ᓱ
| ᓴ
| ᓰ
| ᓲ
| ᓵ
| ᐢ
|-
! y
| ᔦ
| ᔨ
| ᔪ
| ᔭ
| ᔩ
| ᔫ
| ᔮ
| ᐩ (ᐝ)
|-
! th
| ᖧ
| ᖨ
| ᖪ
| ᖬ
| ᖩ
| ᖫ
| ᖭ
| <sup>‡</sup>
|-
! w
| ᐍ
| ᐏ
| ᐓ
| ᐘ
| ᐑ
| ᐕ
| ᐚ
| ᐤ
|-
! h
| ᐦᐁ
| ᐦᐃ
| ᐦᐅ
| ᐦᐊ
| ᐦᐄ
| ᐦᐆ
| ᐦᐋ
| ᐦ
|-
! hk
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ᕽ
|-
! l
| colspan="8" style="text-align:center;" | ᓬ 
|-
! r
| colspan="8" style="text-align:center;" | ᕒ 
|}
{{Clear}}<!--Prevent paragraph from slipping between tables-->
Speakers of various Cree dialects have begun creating dictionaries to serve their communities. Some projects, such as the Cree Language Resource Project, are developing an online bilingual Cree dictionary for the Cree language.

Cree syllabics has not commonly or traditionally used the [[Full stop|period]] ({{Grapheme|.}}). Instead, either a full-stop glyph ({{Grapheme|᙮}}) or a double em-width space has been used between words to signal the transition from one sentence to the next.

=== Romanization ===<!-- Derived from Plains Cree#Standard Roman Orthography -->

For [[Plains Cree language|Plains Cree]] and [[Swampy Cree language|Swampy Cree]], Standard Roman Orthography (SRO) uses fourteen letters of the [[ISO basic Latin alphabet]] to denote the dialect's ten consonants ({{Grapheme|p}}, {{Grapheme|t}}, {{Grapheme|c}}, {{Grapheme|k}}, {{Grapheme|s}}, {{Grapheme|m}}, {{Grapheme|n}}, {{Grapheme|w}}, {{Grapheme|y}} and {{Grapheme|h}}) and seven vowels ({{Grapheme|a}}, {{Grapheme|i}}, {{Grapheme|o}}, {{Grapheme|ā}}, {{Grapheme|ī}}, {{Grapheme|ō}} and {{Grapheme|ē}}). [[Letter case|Upper case]] letters are not used.<ref name="How to Spell it in Cree">{{cite book|last1=Okimāsis|first1=Jean|title=How to Spell it in Cree (The Standard Roman Orthography)|last2=Wolvengrey|first2=Arok|publisher=Houghton Boston|year=2008|isbn=978-0-9784935-0-9|location=Saskatoon, Saskatchewan|name-list-style=amp}}</ref>{{RP|5}} For more details on the phonetic values of these letters or variant orthographies, see the [[Cree language#Phonology|§ Phonology]] section above.

The {{IPA|/ð/}} sound of [[Woods Cree]] is written {{Grapheme|th}}, or {{Grapheme|ð}} in more recent material.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021|reason=Which more recent material uses ''ð''?}} Plains and Swampy material written to be cross-dialectical often modify {{Grapheme|y}} to {{Grapheme|ý}} and {{Grapheme|n}} to {{Grapheme|ñ}} when those are pronounced {{IPA|/ð/}} in Swampy.<ref name="How to Spell it in Cree" />{{RP|7,53}} {{Grapheme|š}} is used in Eastern dialects where ''s'' and ''š'' are distinct phonemes. In other dialects, ''s'' is used even when pronounced like {{IPA|[ʃ]}}.<ref name="How to Spell it in Cree" />{{Rp|54}}

{{Grapheme|l}} and {{Grapheme|r}} are used natively in Moose and Attikamek Cree, but in other dialects only for loanwords.<ref name="How to Spell it in Cree" />{{Rp|55}}

The stops, ''p'', ''t'', ''k'', and the affricate, ''c'', can be pronounced either voiced or unvoiced, but the symbols used for writing these sounds all correspond to the unvoiced pronunciation, e.g. {{Grapheme|p}} not {{Grapheme|b}}, {{Grapheme|t}} not {{Grapheme|d}}, etc.  The phoneme {{IPA|/t͡s/}} is represented by {{Grapheme|c}}, as it is in various [[C#Other languages|other languages]].

Long vowels are denoted with either a [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]], as in {{Grapheme|ā}}, or a [[circumflex]], as in {{Grapheme|â}}.<ref name="Language Geek">{{Cite web|title=Language Geek: Cree|url=http://www.languagegeek.com/algon/cree/nehiyawewin.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204041554/http://www.languagegeek.com/algon/cree/nehiyawewin.html|archive-date=2012-02-04|access-date=2006-01-08}}</ref><ref name="How to Spell it in Cree" />{{rp|4, 7–8}} Use of either the macron or circumflex is acceptable, but usage should be consistent within a work. The vowel ''ē'' {{IPA|/eː/}}, used in southern Plains Cree, is always long and the grapheme {{Grapheme|e}} is never used. In northern Plains Cree the sound has merged with ''ī'', and thus {{Grapheme|ē}} is not used at all.<ref name="How to Spell it in Cree" />{{RP|8}}

The use of unmarked {{Grapheme|o}} and marked {{Grapheme|ō}} for the phonemes {{IPA|/u/}} and {{IPA|/oː/}} emphasizes the relationship that can exist between these two vowels.  There are situations where ''o'' can be lengthened to ''ō'', as for example in {{Lang|cr|ᓂᑲᒧ!}} {{Transliteration|cr|nikamo!}} 'sing (now)!' and {{Lang|cr|ᓂᑲᒨᐦᑲᐣ!}} {{Transliteration|cr|nikamōhkan!}} 'sing (later)!'.

In alphabetic writing, the use of punctuation has been inconsistent. For instance, in the Plains Cree dialect, the [[Interrogative word|interrogative]] [[enclitic]] ''cî'' can be included in the sentence to mark a yes–no question<ref name="Thunder" /> such that this is sometimes considered to be sufficient without including a [[question mark]] (?). However, in many modern publications and text collections (''cf.'' ''The Counselling Speeches of Jim Kâ-Nîpitêhtêw'' (1998)<ref>Ahenakew, Freda, and H.C. Wolfart, eds. 1998. [https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/the-counselling-speeches-of-jim-ka-nipitehtew ana kâ-pimwêwêhahk okakêskihkêmowina / The Counselling Speeches of Jim Kâ-Nîpitêhtêw]. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press. {{ISBN|0-88755-648-5}}</ref>) full punctuation is used.<ref>Okimâsis, Jean, and Arok Wolvengrey. 2008. [http://creeliteracy.org/how-to-spell-it-in-cree-wolvengrey-okemasis/ How to Spell it in Cree]. Regina: miywâsin ink. {{ISBN|978-0-9784935-0-9}}</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=2|lang=cr-Latn
|top= John cî kî-mîcisow?
|John cî kî-mîciso-w
|John Q PST-eat-3SG
|"Did John eat?"}}

Additionally, other [[interrogatives]] (''where, when, what, why, who'') can be used, as in other languages, and questions marks can thus be used for such questions in Cree as well.

Hyphenation can be used to separate a particle from the root word that it prefixes, especially particles that precede verbs ("preverbs" or "indeclinable preverbs") or nouns ("prenouns" or "indeclinable prenouns"). One example is {{Transliteration|cr|māci-pīkiskwē}} ('start speaking!'), derived from {{Transliteration|cr|pīkiskwē}}. Note that {{Transliteration|cr|māci-}} can neither stand alone as a separate word, nor is it an essential part of a stem. There are some more complex situations where it is difficult to determine whether an element is a particle. Some frequently used compound words can be written as unhyphenated.<ref name="How to Spell it in Cree" />{{RP|16–19}} Stress can be predicted in some cases based on hyphenation.

[[Vowel reduction]] or vowel dropping, as is common of unstressed short ''i'' {{IPA|[ɪ]}}, is not denoted in order to be more cross-dialectal—instead of using apostrophes, the full unreduced vowels are written.<ref name="How to Spell it in Cree" />{{Rp|23}}

Representation of [[sandhi]] (such as {{Transliteration|cr|oski-aya}} → {{Transliteration|cr|osk-āya}}) can be written or not written, as sandhi representation introduces greater complexity.<ref name="How to Spell it in Cree" />{{Rp|24–25}} There are additional rules regarding ''h'' and ''iy'' that may not match a given speaker's speech, to enable a standardized transcription.