Plains Cree

The Plains Cree in Alberta is related to the Alogokian family and is spoken mainly in the areas of Alberta to Quebec. Like many other First Nation languages they have a variety of dialects, such as Woodland Cree, Swampy Cree, Moose Cree, and more. The Plains Cree dialect is largely spoken in many of the First Nations in Treaty Six.

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The plains Cree is known to use the Y-dialect. While there are two other dialects which are Th-dialact and and the N’dialact, the differences occur on the pronunciation of certain letters, for example in the word for a girl, the Th-dialect would use ‘i” in iskwisis, and the Y dialect would use ‘e’ in iskwesis. The Cree language uses two ways to read and write, which is the SRO method and syllabics. The SRO method uses the english alphabet to represent the sounds. To illustrate, there are seven distinct vowels (sounds) used from the English alphabet, and then fifteen consonants used (although some are actually paired) (Cree Literacy Network, 2020). The origins of the syllabic chart has a unique storey of a man called Badger Call who had died and then four days later came back to life. Upon his awakening he tells about his journey to the spirit world and the symbols used there. He began to start writing the symbols and is now known as the Cree Syllabic system (Stevenson, 2020). 

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SRO Method

https://creeliteracy.org/beginning-to-read-plains-cree-in-standard-roman-orthography/what-is-sro

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Cree Syllabic System

Please watch the video below

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