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Slavey
Definitions
- 1 A language spoken by the Slavey peoples.
"In the Northwest Territories, the languages with official status are English, French, Dëne Sųłıné (Chipewyan), Nēhiyawēwin (Cree), Dene Kǝdǝ́ (Northern Slavey), Dene Zhatıé (Southern Slavey), Dinjii Zhu’ Ginjik (Gwich’in), Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun and Tłįcho."
- 1 A male servant. colloquial, historical
- 2 A member of an Athabascan First Nations people indigenous to the region near the Great Slave Lake in western Canada
- 3 a female domestic servant who does all kinds of menial work wordnet
- 4 A female domestic servant; a maid or maidservant. colloquial, historical
"I told a man on the links yesterday that I'd been a slavey for nine months. I was trying to explain why I was a suffragette […]"
Etymology
From slave + -y.
From French Esclave, a calque of a Cree name, as the Cree called these people (and several other traditional enemies) slaves. In English, the final e came to be pronounced as if Slave were a native name; this pronunciation was first written Slavé and later Slavey. The names of the Slave River, Lesser Slave River, Great Slave Lake and Lesser Slave Lake do not necessarily derive from the people now known as Slavey in English.
From French Esclave, a calque of a Cree name, as the Cree called these people (and several other traditional enemies) slaves. In English, the final e came to be pronounced as if Slave were a native name; this pronunciation was first written Slavé and later Slavey. The names of the Slave River, Lesser Slave River, Great Slave Lake and Lesser Slave Lake do not necessarily derive from the people now known as Slavey in English.
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