Example Words

assi	earth	atai	beaver skin
ikaimu	s/he bails water out of it	itaun	territory for trapping, hunting

Short vowels, covered in more detail on the Short Vowels and Spelling page, are unstable: they are pronounced as themselves in certain dialects or contexts, they are centralized or reduced to [ǝ] in others, and in others they are completely erased.

Description of the Problem

In Innu, when a word begins by one of the short vowels (a or i), this vowel is generally:

• maintained in the Mamit dialects, meaning it keeps the pronunciation [a] or [i]
• maintained, but as a centralized vowel ([ǝ]) in Sheshatshiu (Tshishe-shatshit);
• deleted in western dialects.

Short vowels present two difficulties:

• identifying the presence of an initial short vowel when it is not pronounced (as in western dialects)
• identifying a short vowel when it is absent or replaced by [ǝ]: a or i, sometimes u

DIFFICULTY

In most cases, it is easy to identify that a word begins with a short vowel, as demonstrated in the strategy further below. However, knowing that this vowel is hidden (or underlyingUNDERLYING VOWELS: In linguistics, we can propose what is called an underlying form, which does not completely correspond to the pronounced form. Then, we apply rules that will generate or create the final form, known as the surface form. It’s almost as though there was a hidden form that underwent modifications before being pronounced. In the case of initial short vowels in Innu, the underlying form is modified either by becoming centralized (a, i > [ǝ]) or by being deleted (a, i > Ø).), comes from the lexical spellingLEXICAL SPELLING: Spelling not based on the application of grammatical rules (GRAMMATICAL SPELLING). Lexical spelling can be based on the pronunciation of a word, but that’s not always the case: it can be partly abstract for historical reasons, among others. This is what has happened with the spelling of short vowels in Innu, which isn’t always based on the actual pronunciation of a word but on an older, historical form. and requires a certain level of learning. As with other short vowels, the spelling of words with correct vowels must ultimately be memorized.

RULE FOR INITIAL SHORT VOWELS – Underlying initial short vowels, or historical vowels, must always be written. To write these initial short vowels, we usually use the letter a, i, and sometimes u, based on the historic vowels. The dictionary should be consulted in cases of doubt.

EXAMPLES OF INITIAL SHORT VOWELS 

aiamiau	s/he prays	aiau	s/he buys something
akaneshau	s/he is English	akamit	across on the other side
akashku	arrow	akunishkueun	hat
akushiu	s/he climbs	akuteu	something is hung
amatshuateu	something boils over	amaku	netting needle for babiche
anakassiu	something is large	anapi	fishing net
anikutshash	squirrel	animan	it’s difficult
anuenimu	s/he answers back	anushkan	raspberry
anutshish	now	apakuai	heavy canvas
apapanu	something thaws	apu	s/he is sitting
apu tshekuan	nothing	apui	paddle, oar
ashakaueu	s/he grabs it	asham	racket
assimatamu	s/he weaves something	atakutau	s/he hangs something elsewhere
atiku	caribou	atshapi	bow
atshapiupanu	something bounces	atshiku	seal
atshimeu	s/he counts them	atshinepiku	snake
atshitshineu	s/he holds its head down	atusseu	s/he works
auass	child	auassiss	baby
auat	not even	auen	someone
auetiss	young beaver	ikutakashi	Labrador tea
inipenamu	s/he makes something lean over	innasht	fir
ishikamu	s/he has a certain chubbiness	ishkanitipishkua	all night
ishkanuepu	s/he is impatient to leave	ishkuatem	door
ishkueu	woman	ishkupańu	something rises
ishkuteu	fire	ishpimit	above
issishiteu	his/her feet are tired	issishueu	s/he says
itakushu	s/he has a certain illness

Tool

The Innu Dictionary is the best tool for checking whether a word is spelled with an initial short vowel. A word can be searched without the initial short vowel and the dictionary will suggest the correct spelling.

Learning Strategy for Short Vowels

It is reasonable to consider the idea that in the western dialects, there is a phonetic rule causing initial short vowels to be systematically deleted, while in other dialects, a different phonetic rule causes those initial short vowels to be transformed into a [ǝ].

To check whether a noun or verb begins with a deleted short vowel:

• add a personal prefix, either by making a noun into a possessive or by conjugating the verb;
  • if the personal prefix takes a -t-PERSONAL PREFIXES:
    The form of personal prefixes varies:
    – before a word beginning with a consonant, we have the base form: ni, tshi, u;
    – before a word beginning with the vowels a or i (short or long), we add a -t- as a liaison between the prefix and the word radical: nit, tshit, ut;
    – before a word beginning with u (pronounced [u] or [w]), the i is deleted from the prefix: n-, tsh-; in the 3^rd person, the prefix u- is deleted before the u of the radical, it means that the word has an initial vowelThere are exceptions to this rule in the form of the personal prefix: akashk^u arrow, where we find variety in the possessive, nakashk^u/nitakashk^u my arrow, tshakashk^u/tshitakashk^u your arrow, uakashkua/utakashkua his/her arrow; it’s the same thing for apui oar, with napui/nitapui, tshapui/tshitapui, uapui/utapui., a or i, because we must always add this liaising -t- between a personal prefix and a radical (no matter if it’s a noun or a verb) beginning with an a or an i (short or long): nitatussen I work, tshitatshimauat you count them, nitashamat my rackets, utauassima his/her child, nitapin I am seated, uapuia his/her oar, nitikain I’m taking away the water, tshitissishiten your feet are tired.
• Caution : Avoid reanalyzing words written with an initial short vowel: speakers might incorrectly assume that certain words begin with a consonant rather than a vowel and use an incorrect form for the personal prefix. For example,  *nishamForms preceded by * are inexact.  The symbol * is a linguistic convention that indicates that the word it precedes is ungrammatical. my snowshoe, *tshitussen you work.

In the case of VIIs (which cannot be conjugated to the 1^st or 2^nd person) and words which are neither nouns or verbs, there is no practical way to verify the presence of an initial short vowel. In cases of doubt, the dictionnary must be consulted.

Another way to learn the spelling of initial short vowels is to identify the roots of particular words; this way, it is possible to learn the spelling of several related words, as in the following examples.

ishkan-	all (duration)	ishkaninipina	all summer
		ishkanipipuna	all winter
		ishkanishikuana	all spring
		ishkanitipishkua	all night
		ishkanitshishikua	all day
		ishkanitshishikuepu	s/he stays seated all day
		ishkanitshishikuekuamu	s/he sleeps all day
atam-Il faut porter attention à cette racine, car même dans les dialectes de l’est la voyelle initiale est effacée.	in the bottom, under, inside	atamit	in the bottom of
		atamitat	in the bottom of the canoe
		atamipekut	at the bottom of the water
		atamakunat	under the snow
		ataminu	in the stomach, the body
		atamauat	under the sand
		atamauat	something has a cave
aiami-	to pray	aiamiau	s/he prays
		aiamieun	prayer
		aiamieunat	rosary
		aiamianu	there is a mass
		aiamiteu	s/he prays for someone
atusse-	word	atussemeu	s/he gives someone work
		atusseu	s/he works
		atussepańu	s/he works quickly
		atusseshtamu	s/he works on something
akashku-	arrow	akashku	arrow
		akashkukueu	s/he makes him an arrow
		akashkutsheu	s/he makes an arrow

Pedagogy

It may be useful to create lists of words beginning with a short a or i, especially to learn the spelling of words that cannot take personal prefixes.

Suggestion

It is important to learn the spelling of initial vowels and how to choose the correct vowel. However, pronunciation should still be natural: in dialects where an initial vowel is not pronounced, it is included in the word’s spelling, but not in the pronunciation. For example:

• we write auass but we pronounce it [wa:ss];
• we write atusseu but we pronounce it [tǝsse:w] or [ǝtusse:w] or [atusse:w] depending on the dialect;
• we write ishkuteu but we pronounce it [i∫kute:w] or [ihkute:w] or [∫kute:w] depending on the dialect.