Nîhithowîwin for the Nîhithaw, Koko

Koko
Nîhithowîwin for the Nîhithaw, Koko

Postby Koko » 2014-12-29, 23:56

So this thread is for my questions, information and etc. Anyone can post here for the same reasons: just anything and everything Cree goes here ;) Hopefully it stays. Woot!

On the wikipedia article, it tells mistatim is horse. Is it just correlational that it looks similar to dog atim(wa)?
Last edited by Koko on 2018-02-08, 4:17, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby vijayjohn » 2014-12-30, 0:26

Koko wrote:On the wikipedia article, it tells mistatim is horse. Is it just correlational that it looks similar to dog atim(wa)?

If by "correlational" you mean "coincidence," then apparently, the answer is "no." According to both this and this, mistatim literally means 'big (mist) dog (atim)'. The second of these two sources suggests that the explanation for this may be that before horses arrived in the Plains, big dogs were used as beasts of burden (e.g. to pull sleds).

Koko

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Koko » 2014-12-30, 1:03

That's so cool ^^ The reality of me deciding to learn Cree is so close to truth.

księżycowy

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby księżycowy » 2014-12-30, 10:27

I'm a little confused, is this a personal thread or a public thread for Plains Cree? :hmm:


At any rate, have fun learning Cree Koko. :)

Koko

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Koko » 2014-12-30, 19:02

Public thread for Cree in general but more focused on the Plains variety.

Thanks! Though it'll prolly go a little better if I find things currently accessible than buying stuff. Until I get a job I don't think it's going to be likely I could afford anything in the resources thread… I feel like I've expressed my woes here before :lol:

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Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby vijayjohn » 2014-12-30, 20:27

The word for 'a lot' in Michif is apparently [mɪʃˈtʃɛt] (learnmichif.com spells this as <mishchet>). I'm guessing that's related to mist 'big'.

księżycowy

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby księżycowy » 2014-12-30, 22:07

Thanks for clearing that up Koko. It's not like the thread would have been taken down depending on your answer. (Though depending on traffic it might find itself merged with the Algic/Algonquian thread eventually) I was just curious of your intent with it. It can most certainly stay for now. :P

I'll keep looking around for stuff online for you. I'll let you know if I find anything worthwhile. :wink:

Koko

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Koko » 2014-12-30, 23:56

Aw, you don't have to do that ksiez :blush: . I was going to get started on my own search some time later today.

Another "aw" for the first paragraph. Hopefully it gets good traffic then :lol: .

księżycowy

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby księżycowy » 2014-12-31, 1:29

Well, I'm interested in Cree too, so it's not like I'm going out of my way.

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Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby vijayjohn » 2014-12-31, 3:06

In fact, I probably should look for something. :lol:

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Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Massimiliano B » 2014-12-31, 9:50

Hi koko!

I've found this site. There are some conversation manuals.


http://www.atlas-ling.ca/#

Koko

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Koko » 2014-12-31, 18:48

Thanks Max! :D I checked it out a little, it looks great. Amazing for other Algonquian languages I would think too.

Koko

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Koko » 2015-04-24, 5:32

I would just like to share my favourite sentence in this book: Wâpatik âsawâpiw.— The goat is always watching.

What's significant about it is that it (any form of to watch) doesn't appear anywhere else with another animal :lol: . Is there a hidden message? Should we all beware the goats ('cause it also has wâpatikwak asawâpiwak)?

And has Cree changed in like, the last 40 years that mêchisow exists no more, having been replaced by mîciso even in Nêhiyawêwin?

Koko

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Koko » 2015-11-02, 3:08

I have found two words for "French person":

wêmistikôsiw
mistikôsiw

The only difference I can find is that the former also means "French-Canadian" and "white man." So is "mistikôsiw" a French person specifically from France? If so, does anyone know what that wê- prefix means?

Oh! And this gives me two words for "white man" (wâpiskiwiyas, môniyaw*) and I don't know the difference of these either. But only môniyaw forms the verb "môniyâwi-" (to be a white person).

* môniyaw / moniyaw / moniyâw / môniyâw… all have I seen and know not which to use :shock:

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Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-03-14, 20:48

Massimiliano B wrote:Hi koko!

I've found this site. There are some conversation manuals.


http://www.atlas-ling.ca/#

Oh, I remember that website! Maybe I should actually try using it...:hmm: :ohwell:
Koko wrote:I would just like to share my favourite sentence in this book: Wâpatik âsawâpiw.— The goat is always watching.

What's significant about it is that it (any form of to watch) doesn't appear anywhere else with another animal :lol: . Is there a hidden message? Should we all beware the goats ('cause it also has wâpatikwak asawâpiwak)?

Lol, you should see Malayalam examples. I swear, the most popular sentence ever used in examples of Malayalam syntax means "the kid pinched the elephant." :? :lol:
And has Cree changed in like, the last 40 years that mêchisow exists no more, having been replaced by mîciso even in Nêhiyawêwin?

I can't even find mêchisow anywhere except on UniLang, namely right here and on the "questions" thread. :P Tell you what, though: on a certain other forum we're both part of, there's at least one guy who's doing research on Algonquian languages, so maybe we could ask him there and he or someone else could help. ;)
does anyone know what that wê- prefix means?

I found something about this in a book on a particular aspect of Plains Cree grammar, but linguistic descriptions of the grammar of Algonquian languages seem to lose me quickly. You can try your luck there, too, if you like.

Koko

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Koko » 2016-03-14, 23:50

vijayjohn wrote:Lol, you should see Malayalam examples. I swear, the most popular sentence ever used in examples of Malayalam syntax means "the kid pinched the elephant." :? :lol:

:lol:
I can't even find mêchisow anywhere except on UniLang, namely right here and on the "questions" thread. :P Tell you what, though: on a certain other forum we're both part of, there's at least one guy who's doing research on Algonquian languages, so maybe we could ask him there and he or someone else could help. ;)

The random thread there maybe?

I found something about this in a book on a particular aspect of Plains Cree grammar, but linguistic descriptions of the grammar of Algonquian languages seem to lose me quickly. You can try your luck there, too, if you like.

I'll check it out later, thanks! :mrgreen:

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Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-03-15, 0:05

Koko wrote:The random thread there maybe?

Nah, I don't think anybody will see it there (though of course, I could be wrong!). I'm thinking more along the lines of posting it in the Languages & Linguistics forum. I think there's an Algonquian languages thread there, but I'm not remembering very well off the top of my head. :P
I'll check it out later, thanks! :mrgreen:

Np :)

Koko

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Koko » 2016-09-02, 7:20

I think it's time i get serious and start laying down a foundation for myself in Cree. Enough with dabbling in other languages i have no emotional connection to other than "But I love how it sounds."

I'm gonna turn this into a [semi-]personal thread, but people with questions about Cree specifically are welcomed to ask them here (or if you interesting facts/words/grammar points PLEASE POST EM!! :whistle: ).

I seriously hope a native Cree or advanced speaker joins the forum… i want more of my family here for one, but i also want to take advantage of them :twisted: (I'm an evil one, i'm like Coyote)

Koko

Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Koko » 2016-09-02, 8:17

Omg!! I haven't even been looking over that pdf file i was using earlier this year and I'm already stressing over the verbs :lol:

*deep exhale* I will just focus on getting VTA independent present indicatives down and then i will try the preterites, and finally the conjuncts :lol: Why Cree? Why do you do this to me??

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Re: (Plains) Cree— Nêhiyawêwin

Postby Bubulus » 2016-09-02, 13:32

There's this guy who's in an IRC channel I regularly go to who's been studying Ojibwe (a language of the same family as Cree, for those who don't know) for some years now, and his ability to comprehend those massive words full of derivational morphemes doesn't cease to amaze me, especially when he glosses them. :lol:

    Gaa-gii-biizhaawaad anishinaabeg o-gii-waawaabandaanaawaan iniwe anishinaabebii'igewinan noongom gaa-aabajichigaadegin.
    REL=PAST=come.to.place-3pl:CONJ Indian-PL go.and=PAST=RDP+see-TI-THEME-3pl>INANpl those:INAN Indian-write:TA-ANTPSV-NOMZ today REL=use-CAUS-TI-TA-MID:II-INAN:CONJ-INANpl:CONJ
    those-who-came Indians they-went-and-looked-at-various-things the Indian-writing-methods today those-which-are-in-use
    The delegates compared the various orthographies that are now used.

The way he explained the last word is built is particularly curious: aabad = "it's used/useful" - aabaji' = "use AN for something" - aabajit(oon) = "use INAN for something" - aabajichige = "use things for something" - aabajichigaade = "be used for something".

It is possible to learn such languages... Don't stress out. Steady and slow wins the race. Etc.


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