opîtatowêw
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Plains Cree[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From o- (“his/hers [possessive]”) + pîtos (“different”) + -towêw (“he/she speaks”). Compare piskihtowêw (“he/she speaks a different language”), patowêw (“he/she says the wrong thing”), onatowêw (“Iroquois”), pwâtowêw (“Sioux”), compare also Swampy Cree omiyakwes, with the same meaning.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
opîtatowêw anim (plural opîtatowewak, Syllabics ᐅᐲᑕᑐᐍᐤ)
- an allophone, a non-indigenous person in Canada who speaks neither English or French as their mother tongue
- (particularly) a Ukrainian person
Related terms[edit]
- okistapowak (“squaters”), also used to refer to Ukrainians and continental Europeans in Canada.
- apotasâkwak (“inside out coats”), referring to the кожушанка (kožušanka) or sheepskin coats worn by newly-arrived Ukrainian immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century.
References[edit]
- opîtatowêw in the Online Cree Dictionary