Plains Cree (ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ / nēhiyawēwin)

Plains Cree is a Central Algonquian language spoken by about 34,000 people, mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada. There are also about 100 speakers of Plains Cree in Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana in the USA, all of whom are older adults. Younger people are shifting to English.

Plains Cree is also known as Western Cree, Cri des plains or Nehiyaw. Dialects include Plains Cree, Western York Cree and Northern Alberta Cree. It is an officially recognised language in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

There are two ways to write Plains Cree: the Latin alphabet, and Canadian Aboringinal Syllabics, although few people are literate in the language. There is some literature in Plains Cree, including a dictionary, grammar and a translation of the Bible.

Plains Cree (Syllabics - ᒐᐦᑭᐯᐦᐃᑲᓇ / cahkipēhikana)

Plains Cree (Syllabics)

Plains Cree (Latin alphabet)

Plains Cree (Latin alphabet)

Notes

The long vowels can alternatively marked with a circumflex accent (ê) or by doubling the letter (ee).

Download script charts for Cree (Excel) - includes several varieties of Cree not shown here

Sample text (Syllabics)

ᐁᑯᓯ ᒫᑲ ᐁᑎᑵ ᐊᓂᒪ ᑳᐃᑘᐟ ᐊᐘ ᐅᐢᑭᓃᑭᐤ, ᒥᔼᓯᐣ, ᑮᐢᐱᐣ ᑕᑲᑵᓂᓯᑐᐦᑕᒣᐠ ᐁᑿ ᒦᓇ ᑕᑲᑵᒥᑐᓂᐑᒋᐦᐃᓱᔦᐠ ᐊᓂᒪ, ᐆᒪ ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ ᑭᐢᐱᐣ ᑭᓅᐦᑌᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑌᓈᐚᐤ᙮ ᐆᒪ ᐆᑌ ᑳᐃᑕᐱᔮᕽ ᓵᐢᑿᑑᐣ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐆᒪ ᓂᑲᑵᒋᒥᑲᐏᓈᐣ ᑮᑿᕀ ᐁᓅᐦᑌᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᐦᑭᐠ ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐆᒪ, ᐹᐦᐯᔭᐠ ᐆᒥᓯ ᐃᓯ ᓂᑮᑭᑐᑎᑯᓈᓇᐠ, “ᑮᒁᕀ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᐘᑯ᙮ ᑖᓂᓯ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᐘᑯ ᐁᐃᑘᒪᑲᕽ ᐲᑭᐢᑵᐏᐣ᙮” ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᑘᐘᐠ, ᐁᐘᑯ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᑲᑵᒋᒥᑯᔮᐦᑯᐠ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᐏᔭ ᐁᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᒫᕽ ᐊᓂᒪ, ᑮᒁᕀ ᑳᓅᐦᑌᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᐦᑭᐠ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᓂᑕᑎ ᐑᐦᑕᒪᐚᓈᓇᐠ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᐁᐃᓰᐦᒋᑫᔮᕽ ᐆᑌ ᓵᐢᑿᑑᐣ, ᐁᑿ ᐯᔭᑿᔭᐠ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐆᒪ ᐁᐊᐱᔮᕽ, ᐁᑿ ᐯᔭᑿᔭᐠ ᒦᓇ ᐃᐦᑕᑯᐣ = ᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᒼ ᐊᐘ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐃᑕ ᒦᓇ ᐁᐊᐱᔮᕽ = ᐁᑯᑕ ᐱᓯᓯᐠ ᑫᐦᑌ ᐊᔭᐠ᙮ ᐁᑯᑕ ᐁᑿ ᐁᑯᓂᐠ ᑳᓂᑕᐍᔨᐦᑕᐦᑭᐠ, ᒣᒁᐨ ᐆᒪ ᐁᐘᑯ ᐆᒪ ᐁᑿ ᑳᓅᒋᐦᑖᒋᐠ, ᐁᑯᑕ ᐊᓂᒪ ᓂᐑᒋᐦᐃᐚᐣ᙮ 

Sample text (Latin alphabet)

Ēkosi māka ētikwē anima kā-itwēt awa oskinīkiw miywāsin, kīspin ta-kakwē-nisitohtamēk ēkwa mīna ta-kakwē-mitoni-wīcihisoyēk anima, ōma nēhiyawēwin kīspin kinōhtē-kiskēyihtēnāwāw. Ōma ōtē kā-itapiyāhk Sāskwatōn, ēkosi isi ōma nikakwēcimikawinān kīkway, kīkway ē-nōhtē-kiskēyihtahkik ēkosi isi ōma, pāh-pēyak ōmisi isi nikī-kitotikonānak, “Kīkwāy anima ēwako? Tānisi anima ēwako ē-itwēmakahk pīkiskwēwin?” Ēkosi itwēwak, ēwako anima ē-kakwēcimikoyāhkok, ēkosi wiya ē-kiskēyihtamāhk anima kīkwāy ka-nōhtē-kiskēyihtahkik, ēkosi nitati-wīhtamawānānak, ēkosi ē-isīhcikēyāhk ōtē Sāskwatōn; ēkwa pēyakwayak anima ēkosi isi ōma ē-apiyāhk, ēkwa pēyakwayak mīna ihtakon (kiskēyihtam awa anima ita māna ē-apiyāhk), ēkota pisisik kēhtē-ayak. Ēkota ēkwa ēkonik kā-nitawēyihtahkik, mēkwāc ōma ēwako ōma ēkwa kā-nōcihtācik, ēkota anima niwīcihiwān.

Source: http://www.languagegeek.com/algon/cree/ycr_example.html

Sample videos in and about Plains Cree

Information about Plains Cree | Phrases | Numbers

Links

Information about Plains Cree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_Cree_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/crk
http://www.languagegeek.com/algon/cree/nehiyawewin.html
https://plainscree.algonquianlanguages.ca/
https://www.syllabics.net/convert/plainscree

Algonquian languages

Abenaki, Algonquin, Arapaho, Atikamekw, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Chippewa, Cree (East), Cree (Moose), Cree (Plains), Cree (Swampy), Cree (Woods), Fox, Innu (Montagnais), Kickapoo, Malecite-Passamaquoddy, Loup, Massachusett (Wampanoag), Menominee, Miami, Míkmaq, Mohegan, Mohican, Munsee, Narragansett, Naskapi, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree, Ottawa, Penobscot, Powhatan, Potawatomi, Quiripi, Sauk, Shawnee, Unami (Lenape)

Languages written with Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics

Blackfoot, Carrier, Chipewyan, Cree (East), Cree (Moose), Cree (Plains), Cree (Woods), Inuktitut, Naskapi, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 23.05.22. Last modified: 17.10.24

[top]


Green Web Hosting - Kualo

You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.

 

iVisa.com

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

 

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

[top]

iVisa.com