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308 letters in canada 1999 Other chapters address days of the week, numbers, months, seasons, times, colours, clothing, kinship terms, and possession, which each have their complexities. The book includes several appendices. Verb charts help the user break the verb into constituents and identify paradigms. There is a substantial vocabulary, both Cree to English and English to Cree. Finally, a large number of verbs with coding as to their paradigms is included. My disappointment about this book, and other works on Cree, is that they are very structurally oriented; structure is important, but I would like to see a breakthrough in terms of careful exploration of the semantics of the verb and its morphemes. The book is remarkably typo-free, at least in the English, although symbols and are introduced without explanation. The workbook contains exercises on spelling, vocabulary, and conversation. A teacher should find it a good teaching tool. This book and workbook should assist someone wishing to learn this Cree dialect. There is rich information about Cree, plus exposure to spoken Cree. The authors reveal that they present `only a brief glimpse of the Cree language,' and caution that to access the `rich and vivid colloquial and idiomatic nature of Cree' a Cree-speaking community is needed. They are realistic about what can be accomplished without extensive exposure to Cree, and recognize that their book provides the user with information to begin this exciting task. (KEREN RICE) Earl Waugh, Nancy LeClaire, and George Cardinal, editors. Alberta Elders' Cree Dictionary. alperta ohci kehtehayak otwestamâkewasinahikan University of Alberta Press. 1998. xxvi, 578. $49.95 The Alberta Elders' Dictionary Project was initiated in the 1970s by Sister Nancy LeClaire, a Cree with a love of her language. She believed that an authoritative Cree dictionary would aid Cree youth in becoming more fluent in Cree and provide a bridge for Albertans to appreciate its beauty. Earle Waugh, the editor, remarks that `the Cree people have contributed significantly to our common life together, much of it unheralded and unrecognized ... In a small way, then, the Alberta Elders' Cree Dictionary. alperta ohci kehtehayak otwestamâkewasinahikan demonstrates the amazing achievement of Alberta's Cree people in the last hundred plus years. Thus, apart from the very ordinary value of providing the right word for the right idea, we hope this dictionary will contribute to stemming the tide of the loss of Cree, providing another resource for the preservation and expansion of a rich part of our Alberta cultural heritage and demonstrating the impressive intellectual resources of the Cree people. ... When humanities 309 eventually a better version is produced, it will be because Cree has moved towards its rightful place as a valuable language for all Canadians.' The project grew out of Lacombe's Dictionnaire de la langue Crise. Words B from speakers, word lists, grammars, dictionaries B were added and forms checked. New words and appendices on government terms, vocabulary used in courts and social institutions, swearing an oath, kinship, months, and numbers were included. The Cree-English section gives `the most adequate translation of that particular word.' The user is cautioned to refer to the English-Cree section for words related to the English word. The English-Cree section gives a Cree translation. Consider an example, the English entry `Cree.' Cree. An aboriginal language, i.e.: Cree, nehiyawemowin [NI] (Northern); nehiyawewin [NI] (Plains); the Cree people, nehiyawak [NA]; a Cree person, nehiyaw [NA]. Related items appear under the Cree entry. nehiyaw pl. nehiyawak [NA] An aboriginal person; a Cree. nehiyaw cahkipewasinahikewin pl. nehiyaw cahkipewasinahikewina [NI] Syllabic writing (Plains). Alt. nehiyawasinahikewin (Northern). Further related items are listed: aboriginal land or territory, reservation; s/he speaks Cree; the act of speaking Cree; s/he speaks an aboriginal language; a Cree language; a Cree book; a Cree girl; s/he treats her/him like an aboriginal person; s/he acts like an aboriginal person; s/he treats people like aboriginals; s/he is Cree. Grammatical categories, alternative pronunciations, and dialect are given. This English entry lists words for Cree language and people; the Cree entry shows that the root, nehiyaw, refers generally to Cree or Aboriginal . Translations return the reader to English. For instance, under`treat...

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