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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

Classification

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

References

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.

Phonology

Consonants

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

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Velar	Glottal
'Stop'	'p'	't'		'k'
'Affricate'			'tc'
'Fricative'		's'	'c'		'h'
'Nasal'	'm'	'n'
'Approximant'	'w'
'Tap'		'r'

Vowels

:
★ ''short''
:
★
★ 'a'
:
★
★ 'e'
:
★
★ 'i'
:
★
★ 'o'
:
★ ''long''
:
★
★ 'â'
:
★
★ 'ê'
:
★
★ 'î'
:
★
★ 'ô'

References

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