ᒥᔪ ᑎᐱᐢᑳᐤ
miyo-tipiskâw
The Cree phrase for "goodnight" is ᒥᔪ ᑎᐱᐢᑳᐤ (miyo-tipiskâw).
ᒥᔪ ᑎᐱᐢᑳᐤ is a greeting used to wish someone a good night's sleep or to say goodbye during the night.
How do you pronounce it?
miyo-tipiskâw
Did you know?
- The Cree writing system seen in ᒥᔪ ᑎᐱᐢᑳᐤ is a syllabary, where each character represents a consonant and a vowel together rather than a single letter.
- Cree is a polysynthetic language, meaning a single word like ᑎᐱᐢᑳᐤ can contain as much information as an entire English sentence.
- In many Cree communities, the concept of a 'good night' is deeply tied to the idea of 'wellness' because ᒥᔪ is the same root used to describe 'good health'.
Example conversation
A parent is tucking a child into bed.
- Aᒥᔪ ᑎᐱᐢᑳᐤ.Miyo tipiskào.Goodnight.
- Bᒥᔪ ᑎᐱᐢᑳᐤ, ᓂᐅᐤᐤ.Miyo tipiskào, nìòwò.Goodnight, mommy.
- Aᐅᐤᐤ ᐎᐤᐤ.Òwò pȊ.Sleep well.
- Bᒪᐅᐤ.Mào.Okay.
