Apsáalooke

Crow

Siouan

FamilySiouan Speakers~3–4K L1 (plus semi-speakers) ScriptLatin alphabet with diacritics (acute accents for stress/tone, plus digraphs) CountriesUnited States Official inNot official at Montana state level; recognized and taught within Crow tribal education programs and Crow Indian Reservation

Crow (Apsáalooke) is a Siouan language spoken by roughly 3,000–4,000 people, chiefly on and around the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, United States. It belongs to the Missouri Valley branch of Siouan and is most closely related to Hidatsa, although the two are distinct languages. Crow has complex verbal morphology, active–stative person marking, predominantly SOV word order, and a pitch-accent system. A Latin-based practical orthography marks vowel length and accent and is used in dictionaries, schools, and tribal language programs. Crow remains one of the more widely spoken Indigenous languages of the northern Plains, but transmission to children has declined, so Glottolog classifies it as threatened and shifting.

Where it is spoken

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87 core words in Crow

Water

bilé

bilé

Fire

bilée

biléː

Sun

áxxaashe

áχːaːʃe

Moon

bilítaache

bilítaːtʃe

Star

ihké

ihké

Night

óotchia

óːttʃia

Rain

xaleé

χaleé

Snow

bíia

bíːa

Wind

huché

hutʃé

Earth

awé

awé

Stone

biiá

biːá

Mountain

awaxaawé

awaχaːwé

Sea

bilisée

biliséː

Mother

isahké

isahké

Father

iilápxe

iːlápχe

Daughter

dáakbia

dáːkbia

I

bíi

bíː

You

díi

díː

We

balee

baleː

Name

dáashe

dáːʃe

Person

bilaxpáake

bilaχpáːke

Head

aashúua

aːʃúːa

Eye

ishté

iʃté

Ear

ahpé

ahpé

Nose

apé

apé

Mouth

íia

íːa

Tooth

iiá

iːá

Tongue

déeshe

déːʃe

Hand

isché

istʃé

Foot

iché

itʃé

Heart

daasé

daːsé

Bone

hulé

hulé

Blood

íile

íːle

Poop

peelé

peːlé

Love

íchisshe

ítʃiʃːe

Tree

balapáale

balapáːle

Dog

bishké

biʃké

Cat

iishpíiwishke

iːʃpíːwiʃke

Fish

buá

buá

Bird

dakáake

dakáːke

Butterfly

bilítaashisshe

bilítaːʃiʃːe

Horse

iichíile

iːtʃíːle

House

ashé

aʃé

Milk

áachiwile

áːtʃiwile

Salt

awaxóose

awaχóːse

Rice

bisheetchichée

biʃeːttʃitʃéː

Iron

úuwate

úːwate

Wheel

baaiihulé

baːiːhulé

Book

baawaalaáche

baːwaːláːtʃe

Eat

duushé

duːʃé

Drink

isshíia

iʃːíːa

Sleep

hiláwe

hiláwe

One

hawáte

hawáːte

Two

dúupe

dúːpe

Three

dáawiia

dáːwiːa

Four

shoopé

ʃoːpé

Five

chiaxxó

tʃiaχːó

Hundred

pilakisée

pilakiséː

Hello

kahée

kahéː

Thank you

ahóoh

ahóːh

Good

ítche

íttʃe

New

hilaaké

hilaːké

Red

hísshe

híʃːe

White

chía

tʃía

Black

shipíte

ʃipíte

Green

shúa

ʃúa

Blue

shúa

ʃúa

Sources

Words compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: Siouan

Meaning CrowArapahoNez PerceOsageHo-ChunkAngikaDogri
Water bilé /bilé/ nec /netʃ/ kúus /kúːs/ ni /ni/ nįį /nĩː/ पानी /paːniː/ पानी /paːniː/
Fire bilée /biléː/ hisítee /hisíteː/ ʼáala /ʔáːla/ péje /péʒe/ peec /peːtʃ/ आग /aːɡ/ अग्ग /aɡː/
Sun áxxaashe /áχːaːʃe/ hiisíis /hiːsíis/ híisemtuks /híːsemtuks/ mį́ /mĩ́/ wira /ˈwiɾa/ सूरज /suːrədʒ/ सूरज /suːraj/
Moon bilítaache /bilítaːtʃe/ biikóusíis /biːkóusíis/ cikʼetpemeyéeye híisemtuks /tsikʼetpemejéːje híːsemtuks/ mį́ hǫ́bre /mĩ́ hṍbɾe/ hąąhewira /hãːhewiɾa/ चान /tʃaːn/ चन्न /tʃanː/
Star ihké /ihké/ hó3oʼ /hóθoʔ/ x̣icíyu /χitsíju/ mikákʼe /mikákʔe/ wiragošge /wiɾaɡoʃɡe/ तारा /taːraː/ तारा /taːraː/
Night óotchia /óːttʃia/ téceʼ /tétʃeʔ/ cikʼéetin /tsikʼéːtin/ hą́ /hã́/ hąąhe /hãːhe/ रात /raːt/ रात /raːt/
Rain xaleé /χaleé/ hoosóo /hoːsóː/ — — nįžú /nĩʒu/ बरखा /bərkʰaː/ मींह /mĩːh/
Snow bíia /bíːa/ híií /híːi/ méeqeʼ /méːqeʔ/ pá /pá/ waa /waː/ बरफ /bərəf/ बरफ /bəɾəf/
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