Phone Calls in Arapaho

woteikuu3oonoh'o

Answering

When you answer the phone, the easiest thing to say is heeyó, meaning 'what?' or 'what is it?' Or you can just say hee if you're a boy or man, meaning 'yes (I'm here, I hear you).'

If the person you're calling doesn't recognize you or doesn't know you, you can say huut nenééninoo (+ your name), meaning 'here I am (your name).'

Leaving a Message

If you're leaving a message and you want someone to call you back, say hetcihwóteikuuton 'you must call me.' If you want to say 'us' rather than 'me', it's hetcihwóteikuuton-éi'ee.

Recording an Answer Message

If you're recording a message to put on your phone and you want to say 'I'm not here,' you say néíhoowéentoo or for 'we,' néíhoowéentóó-be.

If you want to say 'leave a message' or 'leave me a message,' you say cih'éí'towuun-í or for 'us,' cih'éí'towuun-éi'ee.

To say 'I will call you back' you say heetce'wóteikuuton-é3en. We will call you back is heetce'wóteikuutón-een.

(Notice how close this is to 'I will see you again' - heetce'noohob-e3en or 'we will see you again' - heetce'noohob-een. Noohob- means 'see' while woteikuuton- means 'call on the phone', heet- indicates future time, and ce'- means 'again, back.')

Hanging up

When the conversation is over, men say wohei 'okay' and hang up, or sometimes wohei tous, 'okay then.' Women say 'ine.

Vocabulary

Wóteikuuton- = call on the phone

Wóteikuu3oo = phone

No-wóteikuu3oo = my phone

Ho-wóteikuu3oo = your phone

Hi-wóteikuu3oo = his, her phone

Wóteikuu3oonéhe' = cell phone, smart phone, or iPhone ('little phone')

Ce'wóteikuuton- = call back

Hoowéentoo = no answer ('he/she is not there') or hoowéentootiin ('no one is there')

Hoowuusiitéyoon = no signal, out of range ('it's not catching, not receiving')

hoowce'éis = no money left, no minutes left on the phone ('there's nothing in there')

Benéetookóóyei-noo = I have used up all my money, minutes ('I drank it up to the end, finished it off') or just beneeto'oo-' ('it has run out')