ᓂᒑᐦᑳᐣ
Nicaahkan
The Cree word for sweetheart is ᓂᒑᐦᑳᐣ (Nicaahkan).
ᓂᒑᐦᑳᐣ is a noun used to refer to a person who is very much liked or loved by someone, similar to the English terms darling or cutie.
Meaning: a person very much liked or loved by someone (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
Nicaahkan
Did you know?
- The Cree Syllabics writing system used to write ᓂᒑᐦᑳᐣ was developed in the 19th century to allow faster literacy than the Roman alphabet.
- Cree uses 'evidentiality', meaning speakers sometimes indicate how they know the person is a ᓂᒑᐦᑳᐣ based on whether they witnessed the love or heard about it.
- The Cree language has a complex system of 'animacy' where words are categorized as either animate or inanimate. ᓂᒑᐦᑳᐣ is an animate noun because it refers to a living person.
Example conversation
A couple is greeting each other at home.
- Aᑕᓂᐣ ᓂᒑᐦᑳᐣ ᓂᐣᐤ ᓂᐣᐤ!Tanin nichoohkaan nin o nin o!Hello, my sweetheart!
- Bᑭᐣᐄᐣᐤ ᓂᐣᐤ ᓂᐣᐤ.kinin o nin o nin o.You are very sweet.
- Aᓂᐣᐤ ᓂᐣᐤ ᐣᐄᐣᐤ.nin o nin o naan o.I love you.
- Bᓂᐣᐤ ᓂᐣᐤ ᐣᐄᐣᐤ ᑭᐣᐄᐣᐤ.nin o nin o naan o kinin o.I love you too.
