opîtatowêw

Plains Cree

Alternative forms

• pîtâtowêw

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ˌopiːˈtatoˌweːw/

Noun

opîtatowêw anim (plural opîtatowewak, Syllabics ᐅᐲᑕᑐᐍᐤ)

1. an allophone, a non-indigenous person in Canada who speaks neither English or French as their mother tongue
2. (particularly) a Ukrainian person

Related terms

• 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

• opîtatowêw in the Online Cree Dictionary