ᒪᐦᐃᐦᑲᐣ
mahihkan
The Cree word for wolf is ᒪᐦᐃᐦᑲᐣ (mahihkan).
The word ᒪᐦᐃᐦᑲᐣ is used to refer to the animal known as a wolf.
Meaning: animal (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
mahihkan
Did you know?
- Because wolves are seen as significant figures in many Indigenous oral histories, certain names for the animal might be avoided in specific contexts to show respect.
- In certain traditional stories the ᒪᐦᐃᐦᑲᐣ possesses the ability to transform into a human form to communicate with people.
- The orthography used for ᒪᐦᐃᐦᑲᐣ relies on a syllabic system where a single character can represent a consonant plus a vowel, changing meaning based on small marks.
Example conversation
Two people are walking in the woods.
- Aᑭᐣᐣ ᐣᐣᐣ ᒪᐦᐃᐦᑲᐣ!kinn nnn mahihkan!Look, a wolf!
- Bᐣᐣᐣ ᐣᐣᐣ ᐣᐣᐣ?nnn nnn nnn?Where is it?
- Aᒪᐦᐃᐦᑲᐣ ᐣᐣᐣ ᐣᐣᐣ ᐣᐣᐣ.mahihkan nnn nnn nnn.The wolf is over there.
- Bᐣᐣᐣ ᐣᐣᐣ ᐣᐣᐣ.nnn nnn nnn.It is very big.
