East Cree

East Cree
Īyiyū Ayimūn (N), Īnū Ayimūn (S)
Native to	Canada
Region	Quebec
Native speakers	12,600  (1997)
Language family	Algic Algonquian Central Cree East Cree
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: crl – Northern crj – Southern
Linguasphere	62-ADA-af (northern) 62-ADA-ag (southern)
Linguistic subdivisions in Canada

East Cree, also known as (Eastern) James Bay Cree, and East Main Cree, is a group of Cree dialects spoken in Quebec, Canada on the east coast of lower Hudson Bay and James Bay, and inland southeastward from James Bay. Four dialects have been tentatively identified including the Southern Inland dialect (Iyiniw-Ayamiwin) spoken in Mistissini, Oujé-Bougoumou, Waswanipi, and Nemaska; the Southern Coastal dialect (Iyiyiw-Ayamiwin) spoken in Nemaska, Waskaganish, and Eastmain; the Northern Coastal Dialects (Iyiyiw-Ayimiwin), one spoken in Wemindji and Chisasibi and the other spoken in Whapmagoostui. The dialects are mutually intelligible, though difficulty arises as the distance between communities increases.

Phonology

The long vowels *ē and *ā have merged in the northern coastal dialects but remain distinct in the southern coastal and southern inland dialects; southern inland has merged *s with *š, which remain distinct in the coastal dialects. Neighboring Naskapi has both.

External links

• Eastcree.org
• Terry, Kevin. Thesis. The Emergence of Intransitive Verb Inflection in Northern East Cree: A Case Study. Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. Johns, Newfoundland: December 2009).
• Dyck, Carrie, Julie Brittain, Marguerite MacKenzie. "Northern East Cree Accent" in Proceedings of the 2006 annual conference of the Canadian Linguistic Association.