Cheyenne translation examples

Loan translation

• Pevevoona'o Good morning
• Pevee�eeva Good day
• Pev�hetoeva Good evening
• N�staev�hosevoom�tse I'll see you again.
• N�n�ha'enahe Did you catch it? (used today, as in English, for understanding something)

Sound translation

• Heavohe Devil (Cheyenne is from Spanish Diablo)
• He'konem�hoeve'ho'eno Hardin (literally, hard-whiteman-place; partial sound translation from English Hardin)
• s�okaeve-�stse'he dress shirt (partial sound adaptation from English "silk")

Idioms

• M�n�s�'t�hoen�tse k�sa? Are you still riding a goat? (=separated from spouse; idiom developed since men who left their wives would sometimes hop a Burlington Northern Railroad car; these cars had a goat painted on the side)
• O�n�h�'e m�xhev�esev�tse When frogs have teeth (=never).
• M���to's�hestsev�v��h�he He's about to grow horns (=he's "crazy").
• N�no'ee'�ha'on�tse v��he I put on my shoes with the morning star (=I got up really early).
• �ho'n�hev�hohtse She has wolf footprints (=she is very smart, she can outsmart men).
• �n�hpoese ma'eno Turtle is hanging shrouded (=It's foggy).
  

Metaphors

• �'k�h�me coyote (=sly, conniving person)
  
• �maa'e He's barking (=courting).
  
• N�m�v��'e They ate me (= They gossiped about me).
  

One word in English = multiple words in Cheyenne

• drink: �mane 'he's drinking; �nomene 'he's drinking heated liquid (e.g. coffee, tea, soup)'
• ask: �n�hts�stov�ho 'he asked him'; �v�estomev�ho 'he asked him for it'
• hunt: ��m�h�ne 'he's hunting; �n�se'neva 'he's hunting (small game, e.g. birds, rabbits)
• live: �vo'�stan�heve 'he's living (socially)'; �ametan�ne 'he's living (biologically)'
• forgive: no straightforward translation in Cheyenne, but the following words can refer to aspects of forgiveness:
  • ��vaa'xaoto 'he shook hands with him again'
  • ��vanan�v�htseo'o 'they recognized each other again'
  • n�vonetan�'ta 'I have forgotten it'

One word in Cheyenne = multiple words in English

• ��ahtov�ho 'He listened to him; He obeyed him.'
• men�tse 'berries; fruit'
• �hoht�va 'He bought, sold (i.e. bartered).'

Monomials vs. polynomials

• ma'h�hk�so old man
• m�htam�h�ahe old woman
• k�se'��he young woman
• k�sov��he young man
• boy hetan�-ka'�k�ne (lit. man-child)
• girl he'�-ka'�k�ne (lit. woman-child)

English mistranslations of some Cheyenne names

• V�'��'�hn�hne'aestse Lame Deer (literally, lame antelope)
• He'n�too'o Dahle (lit. door)
• �votseta Russell (lit. rustle for food)
• Nom�'h�k�so Fisher (lit. minnow/little fish)
• O'k�h�m�xh�ahketa Littlewolf (lit. little coyote)
• V�h��so King (lit. little chief)

Contrastive syntactic roles

• This shirt fits me; N�taa'ovo �stse'he (lit. I fit to the shirt)
• I'm lonesome for him; N�h�on�s�'ota (lit. he "lonesomes" me)