Bernard Awasis is a fluent Cree speaker and is also an interpreter. His real job is being a traditional helper but his current day job is building stuff as a journeyman carpenter.
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Friday, June 10, 2016

Kinships – Siblings


neetisan; my sibling
keetisan; your sibling
weetisanu; his/ her sibling


nimis; my older sister
kimis; your older sister
omisu; his/her older sister


nituwaymaw; my sister (man speaking)
kituwaymaw; your sister (speaking to a man)
otuwaymawu; his sister


nitisaniskwayw; my sister (woman speaking)
kitisaniskwayw; your sister (speaking to a woman)
otisaniskwaywu; her sister


nistays; my older brother
kistays; your older brother
ostaysu; his/ her older brother


niciwam; my brother (man speaking)
kiciwam; your brother (speaking to a man)
ociwama; his brother


niseemis; my younger brother or sister
kiseemis; your younger brother or sister
oseemisu; his/ her younger brother or sister



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Kinships - Parents and Grandparents

nikawey; my mother
kikawey; your mother
okaweyu; his/her mother

nohtawey; my father
kohtawey; your father
ohtaweyu; his/her father

nohkom; my grandmother
kohkom; your grandmother
ohkomu; his/her grandmother

nimosoom; my grandfather
kimosoom; your grandfather

omosoomu; his/her grandfather
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Gender - Child

napaysis; a boy
iskwaysis; a girl

oomu; this
unu; that

niyu oomu napaysis. I am a boy.
kiyu oomu napaysis. You are a boy.
wiyu unu napaysis. He is a boy.

niyu oomu iskwaysis. I am girl.
kiyu oomu iskwaysis. You are a girl.

wiyu unu iskwaysis. She is a girl.
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Gender - Adult

napayw; a man
iskwayw; a woman

nootokayw; an old woman
kisayinew; an old man

oomu; this
unu; that

niyu oomu napayw. I am a man.
kiyu oomu napayw. You are a man.
wiyu unu napayw. He is a man.

niyu oomu iskwayw. I am a woman.
kiyu oomu iskwayw. You are a woman.

wiyu unu iskwayw. She is a woman.
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Friday, June 3, 2016

niyu; me, myself, I
kiyu; you, yourself
wiyu; he, she

niyunan; we, us excluding you
kiyunaw; we, us including you
kiyuwaw; you (plural)
wiyuwaw; they, them

neestu; me too
keestu; you too
weestu; him, her too

neestunan; us too excluding the person(s) to whom you are speaking to
keestunuw; us too including the person(s) to whom you are speaking to
keestuwaw; you too (plural)
weestuwaw; them too 
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Learning to count in Cree is similar to learning to count in other languages. The primary difference is that a number like neestunuw-payukosap (21) appears to transliterate to 2011.  When counting sequentially  in Cree between 20 and 99 one has to remember to use the numbers between 11 and 19 to represent 1 and 9 respectively.

1 payuk - one
2 neeso - two
3 nisto - three
4 naywo - four
5 niyanun - five
6 nikotwasik - six
7 taypakohp - seven
8 uyinanayw - eight
9 kayka-mitatuht - nine
10 mitatuht - ten

11 payukosap - eleven
12 neesosap -twelve
13 nistosap - thirteen
14 naywosap - fourteen
15 niyanosap - fifteen
16 nikotwasosap - sixteen
17 taypakohposap - seventeen
18 uyinanaywosap - eighteen
19 kayka-mitatuhtosap - nineteen
20 neesitunuw - twenty

21 neestunuw-payukosap - twenty-one
22 neestunuw-neesosap - twenty-two
23 neestunuw-nistosap - twenty-three
24 neestunuw-naywosap - twenty-four
25 neestunuw-niyanosap - twenty-five
26 neestunuw-nikotwasosap - twenty-six
27 neestunuw-taypakohposap - twenty-seven
28 neestunuw-uyinanaywosap - twenty-eight
29 neestunuw-kayka-mitatuhtosap - twenty-nine

30 nistomitunuw - thirty
40 naywomitunuw - forty
50 niyanunomitunuw - fifty
60 nikotwasomitunuw - sixty
70 tayakohpomitunuw - seventy
80 uyinanaywomitunuw - eighty
90 kayka-mitatuhtomitunuw - ninety
100 mitatuhtomitunuw - a hundred

200 neeswaw-mitatuhtomitunuw - two hundred
300 nistwaw-mitatuhtomitunuw - three hundred
400 naywaw-mitatuhtomitunuw - four hundred
500 niyanwaw-mitatuhtomitunuw - five hundred
600 nikotwaswaw-mitatuhtomitunuw - six hundred
700 taypakohpwaw-mitatuhtomitunuw - seven hundred
800 uyinanwaw-mitatuhtomitunuw - eight hundred
900 kayka-mitatuhtwaw-mitatuhtomitunuw - nine hundred

1000 kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - one thousand
2000 neeswaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - two thousand
3000 nistwaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - three thousand
4000 naywaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - four thousand
5000 niyanwaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - five thousand
6000 nikotwaswaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - six thousand
7000 taypakohpwaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - seven thousand
8000 uyinanwaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - eight thousand
9000 kayka-mitatuhtwaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - nine thousand
10 000 mitatuhtwaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - ten thousand

11 000 payukosapwaw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - eleven thousand

100 000 mitatuhtomitunuw-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - a hundred thousand

1 000 000 mawuci-kihci-mitatuhtomitunuw - a million
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The colors in Cree are descriptive and are related to our immediate surroundings. For example, mihko can be interpreted as 'red' but it can also be interpreted as 'blood'. Another example is wapikwuneewinakwun - 'it is pink'. The Cree word for flower is wapikwuniy and so wapikwuneewinakwun can also be interpreted as 'it looks like a flower'.

mihko - red (prefix)
mihkwaw - it is red
mihkosiw - s/he is red

osawi - orange  (prefix)
osawaw - it is orange
osawosiw - s/he is orange

kuskitay-osawi - brown  (prefix)
kuskitay-osawaw - it is brown
kuskitay-osawisiw - s/he is brown

waposawi - yellow (prefix)
waposawaw - it is yellow
waposawisiw - s/he is yellow

askihtuko - green (prefix)
askihtukwaw - it is green
askihtukosiw - s/he is green

seepihko - blue (prefix)
seepihkwaw - it is blue
seepihkosiw - s/he is blue

seepihkoni - sky blue (prefix)
seepihkonakwun - it is sky blue
seepihkonakosiw - s/he is sky blue

neepamayati - purple (prefix)
neepamayatun - it is purple
neepamayatisiw - s/he is purple

wapikwuneewi - pink (prefix)
wapikwuneewinakwun - it is pink
wapikwuneewinakosiw - s/he is  pink

wapi - white (prefix)
wapiskaw - it is white
wapikisiw - s/he is white

ceepayhtakwi - grey (prefix)
ceepayhtakwaw - it is grey
ceepayhtukosiw - s/he is grey

kuskitaywi - black (prefix)
kuskitaywaw - it is black
kuskitaysiw - s/he is black

The prefixes can be used before other words to describe the color of something. For examples: wapi-muskwa (white bear) or mihko-misatim (red horse). The difference between "it is" or "s/he is" is sometimes described as inanimate and animate respectively.
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