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)

an allophone, a non-indigenous person in Canada who speaks neither English or French as their mother tongue
(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