ᐊᐧᔨᐢ
awāyis
The Cree word for 'animal' is ᐊᐧᔨᐢ (awāyis).
ᐊᐧᔨᐢ is used to refer to any organism that is not a human being.
Meaning: organism other than human (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is awāyis.
Did you know?
- The Cree language employs an animate and inanimate grammatical gender system, meaning ᐊᐧᔨᐢ is grammatically animate, which affects how verbs and adjectives are used around it.
- In certain oral traditions, referring to an 'animal' requires a specific level of respect to acknowledge its spirit.
- Because Cree is a verb-based language, one might often use a verb to describe what an 'animal' is doing, rather than just using the noun ᐊᐧᔨᐢ alone.
Example conversation
Two people are walking in the woods.
- Aᑭᐣᐨᐣᐣ ᐊᐧᔨᐢ ᒫᑲ!kinnin ayis maka!Look at that animal!
- Bᑭᐣᐨᐣᐣ ᐣᐨᐣᐨ?kinnin ninnin?Where is it?
- Aᒫᑲ ᓂᐣᐨᐣᐨ ᐊᐧᔨᐢ!maka ninin ayis!The animal is over there!
- Bᐣᐨᐣᐨ ᐱᐣᐨᐣᐨᐣ.ninnin pininnin.I see it now.
