ᐃᐢᑫᐧᓯᐢ
iskwêsis
The Cree word for girl is ᐃᐢᑫᐧᓯᐢ (iskwêsis).
ᐃᐢᑫᐧᓯᐢ is used to refer to a young female person.
Meaning: young female person (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
iskwêsis
Did you know?
- The Cree language uses a system of 'animacy' where nouns are categorized as living or non-living, and ᐃᐢᑫᐧᓯᐢ belongs to the animate category, which changes how verbs and adjectives are used with it.
- In Cree, kinship terms are often more precise than in English, and the word for 'girl' can shift depending on whether she is a daughter, a niece or a granddaughter.
- The syllabic writing system used for ᐃᐢᑫᐧᓯᐢ was developed in the 19th century and is designed to be learned much faster than the Latin alphabet.
Example conversation
A parent and child are looking at a photograph.
- Aᒫᐤᔮᐧᐧ ᐃᐢᑫᐧᓯᐢ ᓂᐤᔮᐧᐧ ᒫᐤᔮᐧᐧ?Mā-yā-m iskwasis nī-yā-m mā-yā-m?Who is that girl?
- Bᓂᐤᔮᐧᐧ ᓂᐤᔮᐧᐧ ᓂᐤᔮᐧᐧ ᓂᐤᔮᐧᐧ.Nī-yā-m nī-yā-m nī-yā-m nī-yā-m.That is my sister.
- Aᐄ, ᒫᐤᔮᐧᐧ ᓂᐤᔮᐧᐧ.Ā, mā-yā-m nī-yā-m.Yes, she is.
- Bᐃᐢᑫᐧᓯᐢ ᓂᐤᔮᐧᐧ ᐜᐧᐧ ᓂᐤᔮᐧᐧ.Iskwasis nī-yā-m pī-m-m nī-yā-m.The girl is happy.
