ᑮᑿᕀ
kîkway
The word ᑮᑿᕀ (kîkway) is the Cree way to say "what".
ᑮᑿᕀ is an interrogative pronoun.
Meaning: what? (interrogative pronoun) (pron)
How do you pronounce it?
kîkway
Did you know?
- Because Cree is a polysynthetic language, the concept of 'what' can expand to describe an entire complex thought within a single long word. One 'word' in Cree might function as an entire English sentence asking 'what is happening to the thing'?
- The syllabics used to write ᑮᑿᕀ were adapted from a system created for the Ojibwe language in the 19th century. It was designed specifically to help Indigenous people achieve literacy in their own tongues.
- The Cree writing system used for ᑮᑿᕀ is a syllabary. Unlike the English alphabet where letters represent sounds, each character in a syllabic block represents a full consonant-vowel combination.
Example conversation
Two people are talking about a gift.
- Aᑮᑿᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ?kîkwâ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ?What is in the box?
- Bᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ.mîna ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ ᑫᐜᕀ.It is a book.
