ᐊᐢᑕᒼ
astam
The phrase "come here" in Cree is expressed as ᐊᐢᑕᒼ (astam).
ᐊᐢᑕᒼ is a command used to instruct someone to move toward the location of the speaker.
How do you pronounce it?
astam
Did you know?
- The syllabics used to write ᐊᐢᑕᒼ are often tilted or rotated to change the vowel sound, a concept foreign to the English alphabet.
- The Cree syllabics used to write ᐊᐢᑕᒼ were originally developed by James Evans in the 1840s to facilitate literacy among Cree-speaking populations.
- While English uses a separate word for 'here', the Cree word ᐊᐢᑕᒼ inherently encodes the direction of the action toward the speaker within its structure.
Example conversation
A parent is calling their child to dinner.
- Aᐊᐢᑕᒼ!astâ!Come here!
- Bᐁ, ᓂᓅᐣ.ê, ninûn.Yes, I'm listening.
- Aᒥᓂᐣ ᓂᐣᐊᐣ.mîwîn ninîn.Dinner is ready.
- Bᓂᓅᐣ ᒫᑲᔅᐘ.ninûn mâkasô.I'm coming quickly.
