Cree Languages
Rather than being a single language, Cree is better understood as a collection of closely related dialects that vary in phonetics and other linguistic features. The Cree dialect continuum is often divided into two primary languages: Cree and Montagnais.
Cree culture and language have significantly influenced modern Canadian and American vocabularies. Numerous geographical names in Canada are derived from Indigenous languages. For example, “Mississippi” in a Native dialect translates to “big river.”
Cree Language Statistics
According to the 2021 Census, about 86,475 people in Canada speak Cree languages, a slight decrease of 6.1% compared to previous years. The most widely spoken dialects include Forest Cree, Plains Cree, Marsh Cree, Southeast Cree, and Northeast Cree. Alongside languages such as Inuktitut and Ojibwe, Cree remains one of the most commonly spoken Indigenous languages in Canada. Saskatchewan has the highest concentration of Cree speakers, followed by Alberta and Manitoba. Michif, a Cree dialect spoken by the Métis, saw a notable increase of 57.7% in speakers (Statistics Canada)(Statistics Canada).
Writing System
Historically, Cree was an oral language with no written system. Early European missionaries transcribed Cree sounds using the Latin alphabet. In the early 19th century, linguist James Evans created a unique writing system known as Cree syllabics. In this system, each simple geometric figure represents a syllable, with the shape indicating a consonant sound and its orientation (right, left, up, or down) signifying the vowel sound.
However, Evans did not organize the system alphabetically. As a result, modern Cree dictionaries, which are still relatively rare, typically group words by thematic categories such as geographical terms, animals, numbers, and natural phenomena, rather than by alphabetical order.
Table of Cree Syllabics
Below is a table with common syllabics of Plains Cree.
