Plains Cree is a Central Algonquian language spoken by about 34,000 people, mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada. There are also about 100 speakers of Plains Cree in Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana in the USA, all of whom are older adults. Younger people are shifting to English.
Plains Cree is also known as Western Cree, Cri des plains or Nehiyaw. Dialects include Plains Cree, Western York Cree and Northern Alberta Cree. It is an officially recognised language in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
There are two ways to write Plains Cree: the Latin alphabet, and Canadian Aboringinal Syllabics, although few people are literate in the language. There is some literature in Plains Cree, including a dictionary, grammar and a translation of the Bible.
The long vowels can alternatively marked with a circumflex accent (ê) or by doubling the letter (ee).
Download script charts for Cree (Excel) - includes several varieties of Cree not shown here
ᐁᑯᓯ ᒫᑲ ᐁᑎᑵ ᐊᓂᒪ ᑳᐃᑘᐟ ᐊᐘ ᐅᐢᑭᓃᑭᐤ, ᒥᔼᓯᐣ, ᑮᐢᐱᐣ ᑕᑲᑵᓂᓯᑐᐦᑕᒣᐠ ᐁᑿ ᒦᓇ ᑕᑲᑵᒥᑐᓂᐑᒋᐦᐃᓱᔦᐠ ᐊᓂᒪ, ᐆᒪ ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ ᑭᐢᐱᐣ ᑭᓅᐦᑌᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑌᓈᐚᐤ᙮ ᐆᒪ ᐆᑌ ᑳᐃᑕᐱᔮᕽ ᓵᐢᑿᑑᐣ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐆᒪ ᓂᑲᑵᒋᒥᑲᐏᓈᐣ ᑮᑿᕀ ᐁᓅᐦᑌᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᐦᑭᐠ ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐆᒪ, ᐹᐦᐯᔭᐠ ᐆᒥᓯ ᐃᓯ ᓂᑮᑭᑐᑎᑯᓈᓇᐠ, “ᑮᒁᕀ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᐘᑯ᙮ ᑖᓂᓯ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᐘᑯ ᐁᐃᑘᒪᑲᕽ ᐲᑭᐢᑵᐏᐣ᙮” ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᑘᐘᐠ, ᐁᐘᑯ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᑲᑵᒋᒥᑯᔮᐦᑯᐠ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᐏᔭ ᐁᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᒫᕽ ᐊᓂᒪ, ᑮᒁᕀ ᑳᓅᐦᑌᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᐦᑭᐠ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᓂᑕᑎ ᐑᐦᑕᒪᐚᓈᓇᐠ, ᐁᑯᓯ ᐁᐃᓰᐦᒋᑫᔮᕽ ᐆᑌ ᓵᐢᑿᑑᐣ, ᐁᑿ ᐯᔭᑿᔭᐠ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐁᑯᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐆᒪ ᐁᐊᐱᔮᕽ, ᐁᑿ ᐯᔭᑿᔭᐠ ᒦᓇ ᐃᐦᑕᑯᐣ = ᑭᐢᑫᔨᐦᑕᒼ ᐊᐘ ᐊᓂᒪ ᐃᑕ ᒦᓇ ᐁᐊᐱᔮᕽ = ᐁᑯᑕ ᐱᓯᓯᐠ ᑫᐦᑌ ᐊᔭᐠ᙮ ᐁᑯᑕ ᐁᑿ ᐁᑯᓂᐠ ᑳᓂᑕᐍᔨᐦᑕᐦᑭᐠ, ᒣᒁᐨ ᐆᒪ ᐁᐘᑯ ᐆᒪ ᐁᑿ ᑳᓅᒋᐦᑖᒋᐠ, ᐁᑯᑕ ᐊᓂᒪ ᓂᐑᒋᐦᐃᐚᐣ᙮
Ēkosi māka ētikwē anima kā-itwēt awa oskinīkiw miywāsin, kīspin ta-kakwē-nisitohtamēk ēkwa mīna ta-kakwē-mitoni-wīcihisoyēk anima, ōma nēhiyawēwin kīspin kinōhtē-kiskēyihtēnāwāw. Ōma ōtē kā-itapiyāhk Sāskwatōn, ēkosi isi ōma nikakwēcimikawinān kīkway, kīkway ē-nōhtē-kiskēyihtahkik ēkosi isi ōma, pāh-pēyak ōmisi isi nikī-kitotikonānak, “Kīkwāy anima ēwako? Tānisi anima ēwako ē-itwēmakahk pīkiskwēwin?” Ēkosi itwēwak, ēwako anima ē-kakwēcimikoyāhkok, ēkosi wiya ē-kiskēyihtamāhk anima kīkwāy ka-nōhtē-kiskēyihtahkik, ēkosi nitati-wīhtamawānānak, ēkosi ē-isīhcikēyāhk ōtē Sāskwatōn; ēkwa pēyakwayak anima ēkosi isi ōma ē-apiyāhk, ēkwa pēyakwayak mīna ihtakon (kiskēyihtam awa anima ita māna ē-apiyāhk), ēkota pisisik kēhtē-ayak. Ēkota ēkwa ēkonik kā-nitawēyihtahkik, mēkwāc ōma ēwako ōma ēkwa kā-nōcihtācik, ēkota anima niwīcihiwān.
Source: http://www.languagegeek.com/algon/cree/ycr_example.html
Information about Plains Cree | Phrases | Numbers
Information about Plains Cree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_Cree_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/crk
http://www.languagegeek.com/algon/cree/nehiyawewin.html
https://plainscree.algonquianlanguages.ca/
https://www.syllabics.net/convert/plainscree
Abenaki, Algonquin, Arapaho, Atikamekw, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Chippewa, Cree (East), Cree (Moose), Cree (Plains), Cree (Swampy), Cree (Woods), Fox, Innu (Montagnais), Kickapoo, Malecite-Passamaquoddy, Loup, Massachusett (Wampanoag), Menominee, Miami, Míkmaq, Mohegan, Mohican, Munsee, Narragansett, Naskapi, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree, Ottawa, Penobscot, Powhatan, Potawatomi, Quiripi, Sauk, Shawnee, Unami (Lenape)
Blackfoot, Carrier, Chipewyan, Cree (East), Cree (Moose), Cree (Plains), Cree (Woods), Inuktitut, Naskapi, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page created: 23.05.22. Last modified: 17.10.24
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