Editing Michif (section)

===Elision in Michif===

Rosen (2007) states that since all French-derived vowel-initial nouns in Michif have been lexicalized as consonant-initial, the French rule of elision, which deletes certain vowels (particularly schwa) before vowel-initial words, for ex., {{Lang|fr|le copain}} 'the friend' but {{Lang|fr|l'ami}} 'the friend'), cannot apply in Michif. Curiously, she admits that elision is potentially still active since vowel-initial English loanwords allow elision, as in {{Lang|crg|un bol d'oatmeal}} 'a bowl of oatmeal'. Papen (2014) has countered that elision is, in fact, just as active in French-derived words as is liaison. For example, he examines Noun + di + Noun constructions (as in {{Lang|crg|mwaa di zhanvjii}} vs. {{Lang|crg|mwaa d'oktob}} 'month of January' vs. 'month of October') and finds that 100% of {{IPA|/i/}} (from French schwa) are deleted before French-derived vowel-initial nouns. However, elision does not occur before Cree vowel-initial nouns. This strongly suggests that French phonological rules, such as liaison and elision still function in Michif, but that they apply only to French-derived words and not to Cree-derived ones, implying that Michif phonology is at least partially stratified, contrary to what Rosen (2007) proposes.