Atikamekw language

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Atikamekw Atikamekw
Spoken in:	Canada
Region:	Quebec.
Total speakers:	3,995 (1998 Statistics Canada)
Language family:	Algic  Algonquian   Cree-Montaignais-Naskapi    Atikamekw
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	atj
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	atj
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

The Atikamekw language (also spelled 'Attikamek') is an Algonquian language, and is a dialect of the Cree language complex. It is spoken in southwestern Quebec by nearly all the Atikamekw. It is notable for being the only modern Cree dialect to still retain the /r/ sound which has become /n/, /y/, /l/ or /ð/ in all other Cree-Montagnais dialects. The dialect is also notable for having numerous borrowings from Ojibwe.

Contents 1 Classification 2 Phonology 2.1 Consonants 2.2 Vowels 3 References

[edit] Classification

Atikamekw is an Algonquian language, of the Algic family of languages, and is descended from Proto-Algonquian. It is part of the Cree dialect continuum, along with Montaignais and Naskapi.

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Consonants

The consonants of Atikamekw in the standard orthography are listed below (with IPA notation in brackets):

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Velar	Glottal
Stop	p  [p]	t  [t]		k  [k]
Affricate			tc  [tʃ]
Fricative		s  [s]	c  [ʃ]		h  [h]
Nasal	m  [m]	n  [n]
Approximant	w  [w]
Tap		r  [r]

[edit] Vowels

• short
  • a [a]
  • e [e]
  • i [i]
  • o [o]
• long
  • â [aː]
  • ê [eː]
  • î [iː]
  • ô [oː]

[edit] References

Béland, Jean-Pierre. 1978. Atikamekw Morphology & Lexicon. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.