Cheyenne Dictionary

 exclamations

exclamations

aa   p. ah. "Móneno'ka aa," éxhéhoo'o. "It's the first time, ah!" he said. [Floating Eyes: 029] Ques: áa ?? Category: check, exclamations.

aaa   p. oh. Category: exclamations.

áhe   p. nasty!, dirty! implies 'don't touch it!'. See: xóxéhe; hópahpa. Usage: colloq.; baby talk Category: exclamations.

ahéehe   p. oh; good; nice; wonderful. an exclamation. See: áhahéehe; šéaa; nóoo; a'áahe. Category: exclamations.

a'áahe   p. no. Usage: colloq. expression; baby talk See: ahéehe. Category: exclamations.

átsėhámóhe   p. oops; whoops; oh yes; oh dear. Usage: Some people say that this word is said by women and hóxéhe is said by men. Variant: ótsėhámóhe. See: hóxéhe. Category: exclamations.

éaa   p. oh my! male exclamation. See: náoo female exclamation. Phon: may be lengthened for greater effect Variant: šéaa. Category: exclamations.

eee   p. hey, doubt, disclaimer. This exclamation typically serves as a putdown of someone, expressing doubt in them or in what they said. See: he'ééhe; hóome-. Category: exclamations.

EMPH   infix. emphasis. Phon: Some vowels are stretched longer for emphasis. For example, compare tótseha 'long ago' and tóotseha 'very long ago': tóotseha very long ago. Category: exclamations.

háao   p. Grrr. "Háao!" éxhetaevóhoono. "Grrr!" she (the bear) said to them. [Bear Tepee.029] Category: exclamations.

hahtše   p. well! Usage: archaic might be used, for example, to mean 'well, you might steal my story'. Category: exclamations.

   p. hey, oh. Category: exclamations.

héé   p. whoops. An exclamation indicating that a speaker has caught his mistake and is going to repair it. See: héhe; ótsėhámóhe; eee; he'ééhe. Category: exclamations.

heé   p. hey. Category: exclamations.

héhe2   p. oops, oh, oops. self-corrective exclamation. See: héé; ótsėhámóhe. Category: exclamations.

he'ééhe   p. doubt. This is an expression of doubt, trying to figure out whether what you have heard is true or not. See: eee; ótsėhámóhe. Category: exclamations.

hémehe   p. oops!, whoops! can be said, for instance, if you drop something. See: héške; héhe. Category: exclamations.

héške   p. male exclamation. Héške, háe, étónėstasėstse?! Wow, what's the matter with him?! Variant: héstše. See: hémehe; šeaa; nóoo; heške. Category: exclamations.

héštše   p. oh my! Variant: héstše, héške. Category: exclamations.

-ho2   sfx. preterit suffix, narrative suffix, surprisal suffix, mirative suffix. suffixes to verbs and, sometimes, nouns, to express surprise, otherwise, it marks a verb as belonging to a legend or folktale genre, distant from the current speech situation. AI and TA forms end with -hoo'o and -hoono sequences, analyzed here as /-ho -on/. TI forms end with -noho. II forms end with -neho. Éhvóomó-hoono. He saw him/them (pret). Éxhó'tȧhevá-hoo'o. He won (pret). Éhnémené-hoo'o. Wow, he sang (surp)! Éhoo'kȯhóne-ho! It rained! Hévámóhe tsé'tóhe tsého'sóese kȧsováaheho aénȯhevóoheha-hoono. Apparently these who danced, the young men, (were) jackrabbits (surp). (1980:25:7). In appropriate contexts, subjects with any person (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) in the preterit mode are possible with a meaning of surprise: Nénėxoóhtȧhé-moho! You're cute! Nénėxoóhtȧhémané-hoono! (CONFIRM WITH OTHER SPEAKERS?? We are cute! Category: check. Nétaéšėhevéxahé'tovatsé-moho! You ARE already my son-in-law! [1987:174] See: -on PRET; -sest RPT. Etym: cf. PA *-sa(pa) preterit suffix (Proulx); Cheyenne /-ho -on) is the expected reflex.. Category: exclamations, grammar.

hohe   p. oops. said when you bump into someone; may be a shortened form of hóxéhe. See: xóxéhe; héhe. Category: exclamations.

hótȧhtse   p. unexpectedly, here (epistemic), lo and behold. Ques: (hótȧhtse?) For example, I was telling it to him but (hotȧhtse) he already knew it. Nėhē'še hótȧhtse? Then what? Hótȧhtse á'e nėhéóhe tsévésėstanovese móspe'pe'eotsėhevóhe. Here, it was just those who lived there making trouble. [1987:28] See: ótahe; hévá-móhe; ónétáhtse; ótsėhámóhe. Category: exclamations.

hóxéhe   p. exclamation of doubt or for something out of the ordinary. for example, a doctor could say this to a patient about certain foods which the patient should not eat. See: hópahpa; hohe. Category: exclamations.

jáaa   p. wow!, my! male exclamation; simplified spelling. Phon: may be lengthened for greater effect Variant: šéaa, éaa; Feminine nóoo. See: ahéehe. Category: exclamations.

kóóhe   p. pitiful. Náohkevá'neéva=kóohe=hósepȧhévána tséhvé'hetóméto tséhvé'pėhéva'e I fixed it back up from pity because it is true, because it is good (1987:104). kóóhe éhótoanávo'oméeotse Poor thing, he's in a pitiful state (1987:268). Category: exclamations.

mā'e   p. Ouch!, it hurts! Non-contracted ma'ééhe. See: ma'e blood. Category: baby talk, exclamations.

ma'ééhe   p. Ouch!, it hurts! exclamation. Contracted mā'e. Category: exclamations.

me'-hé-   pv. would never (emphatic). The two preverbs me'- plus hé-, not necessarily contiguous, give an emphatic rhetorical effect, similar to English rhetorical questions. Móná-me'-éevéseamė-hé-tȧhoo'e ma'aataeméóne! There's no way you'll catch me riding on the train! (me'-...hé) (1987:29). Ná-me'hé-vonetāno. I would never forget (for example, how to speak Cheyenne). Né-me'hé-vonetanó'tovȧtse! I would never forget you. Ná-me'-hé-nȯhtóvetsėhetāna. I wouldn't know how to do it. Hohkȯse ná-me'-hé-tónėšéve?! Is it worth it?! Né-me'xae-hého'tahe! You can't beat me! Mó-me'évė-hé-aahtohe ka'ėškóne?! How could you listen to a child?! (1987:30). Móné-me'ó'-he-tonėšé'tovȧtse! I will not harm (lit. do anything) to you! (1987:290). See: vé'-hé-; móxho'nó-; me'-; hé-. Category: exclamations.

me'-hé-   pv. would never (emphatic). The two preverbs me'- plus hé-, not necessarily contiguous, give an emphatic rhetorical effect, similar to English rhetorical questions. Ná-me'héhoo'e mȧhvóonā'o. I will definitely not be here tomorrow. Móná-me'-éevéseamė-hé-tȧhoo'e ma'aataeméóne! There's no way you'll catch me riding on the train! (me'-...hé). [1987:29] Ná-me'hé-vonetāno. I would never forget. for example, I would never forget how to speak Cheyenne. Né-me'hé-vonetanó'tovȧtse! I would never forget you. Ná-me'-hé-nȯhtóvetsėhetāna. I wouldn't know how to do it. Hohkȯse ná-me'-hé-tónėšéve?! Is it worth it?! Né-me'xae-hého'tahe! You can't beat me! Mó-me'évė-hé-aahtohe ka'ėškóne?! How could you listen to a child?! (1987:30). Móné-me'ó'-he-tonėšé'tovȧtse! I will not harm (literally, do anything) to you! (1987:290). See: vé'-hé-; móxho'nó-; me'-; hé-. Category: exclamations.

ménoo'ėse   p. fortunately, luckily. Ménoo'ėse náhe'keameōhtse. It was a good thing (that is, 'fortunately') I was slowing down. Ménoo'ėse mónéévanȧha'enȯhéhe. Luckily, you must have caught him. [Croft Text 55] Category: exclamations.

móhe   p. really?!, maybe?, perhaps, could it be?, right?, question particle, inferential mode form. Attaches as mó= to any word being questioned. For examples of inferential mode verbs with this prefix see under the mó- entry. (another recording) Mó=néhe? You mean that one (referred to)? Mó-hetóéva? In the evening? Mó=Vé'kėséhá'e éhomōse? Did Bird Woman cook? Etym: *mya:ši. See: mó-; mó=héva; hévá=móhe; mó=hénėsehe; -he. Category: exclamations.

nanóe-   pv. go ahead, if you wish. Ques: reck with other speakers ?? Category: check. shows attitute of speaker ?? Category: check. Nanóenėhešeha! It didn't kill her to say that! / He's saying it now! (but refused to say it for a long time). Category: exclamations.

náoo   p. oh my! female exclamation. Phon: may be lengthened for greater effect Variant: nóoóo. See: éaa male exclamation. Category: exclamations.

nee   p. naw! Ques: née?? Nee mónévésėhetonėheto'omenėhehéhe. "Naw! You must be alright. [The Nighthawk.031] See: 4; . Category: exclamations, check.

ne'še-   pv. strong denial. This preverb, in conjunction with preverb hé-, forms powerful denials of accusations. The words in this entry are morphologically questions, but they function as strong statements, that is, these are Cheyenne rhetorical questions. Ná-ne'šėhéene'enahe! I don't know anything about it at all! Ná-ne'šėhétonėšé'tovóhe! I didn't do ANYTHING to him! Ná-ne'šėhéoxȯhehe! I DIDN'T say ANYTHING! Ná-ne'šėhéheve! I did NOT say that! Ná-ne'šėhénaóotsehe! I WASN'T asleep! Ná-ne'šėhéoomohe No way I hit him! Ná-ne'šėhétonėševehe I didn't do ANYTHING! (cf. néhétonėšéve What did you do?!) Tósa'e náto'se-ne'šėhétone'ȯhtsehe. I'm not going ANYWHERE! This preverb cannot be used with VII stems (nor with any person other than first person??), so the following is ungrammatical: *É-ne'šėhéhoo'kȯhohe. No way it rained! Instead, one would have to say something like the following: Ésáatšėhe'šėhoo'kȯhóhane. It has never rained. See: hé-; me'hé-. Category: check, exclamations.

nónȧxemátȧhá'o   p. luckily! expression used when something lucky is happening. See: nónȧxeto. Category: exclamations.

nóomȯheto   p. let's go-EMPH. This is an emphasized variant of nómȯheto. See: nómȯheto. Category: exclamations.

nóonėhē'še   p. Let's go!, All right, let's go ahead and do it!, All right, go ahead and do it! a functional command. See: nóheto; nómȯheto; nėhē'še; nómó'ke. Variant: nóohe'še, nómonėhe'še. Category: exclamations.

nóoohe   p. oh my! female exclamation. Variant: nóoooo. Some speakers include the "he" on the end of this word. Category: exclamations.

nóoóo   p. oh my (emphasized). Variant: nóoohe. Category: exclamations.

nóoooo   p. oh my! female exclamation. (another recording) Some speakers include "he" at the end, nóoohe. Masculine šéaa. may be lengthened for greater effect, as in this recording: Variant: náoo, nóoohe. Category: exclamations.

ó'ȯséé'ėše   p. wish. used in cultural expressions in wishing or craving, especially said humorously when hiccupping. Variant: ó'ȯšéé'ėše. Ó'ȯséé'ėše véno'hohkȯtse! "I'm going to get (some) tripe" (that is, tripe is going to come my way; said when someone hiccups). Category: exclamations.

ó'ȯšéé'ėše   p. wish. used in cultural expressions in wishing or craving, especially said humorously when hiccupping. Variant: ó'ȯséé'ėše. Ó'ȯšéé'ėše ho'évohkȯhtse! I wish for some meat! Ó'ȯšéé'ėše véno'hohkȯtse! I wish for some meat! Category: exclamations.

ótsėhámóhe   p. oops, whoops, oh yes, oh dear. typically used in contexts where the speaker recalls what he is supposed to do, or what should have been said, with the flavor of English expressions such as 'I'm supposed to '/'Oh dear!'/'Ohyeh! (for example, now I remember what I was supposed to do)'/'Oh, yes, I also remember this ...'. Variant: atsėhamóhe. This pronunciation is much more common than atsėhamóhe. "Éaa, ótsėhámóhe," móxhehevóhe. "Oh yes, that's right," they said. Nėhē'še móstamé'etanóotsėhéhe, "Ótsėhámóhe," éxhesėstse, mo'ēško móxhone'ȯhéhe. Then he remembered, "Oh, yes," he said, he was wearing a ring.(1987:184). Ques: Is this an attached form, ending with móhe, as does hévá=móhe? Variant: atsėhamóhe. See: ; héé. Category: exclamations.

šáaa   p. oh my! male exclamation. (another recording) Phon: may be lengthened for greater effect Simplified Spelling shaa; Variant: jáaa, éaa; Feminine nóoo. See: ahéehe. Category: exclamations.

vóvóxe   p. sarcastic exclamation: it's his own fault. vóvóxe háevenėhešenoneha éme'ȯhkėhóseameehe Good for him and his songs! He should be traveling some more! [My Grandmother Mene'a'e.122] Category: exclamations.