The Ojibwe language is an AlgonquianNorth American indigenous language spoken throughout the Great Lakes region and westward onto the northern plains. It is one of the largest indigenous language north of Mexico in terms of number of speakers, and exhibits a large number of divergent dialects. For the most part, this article describes the Minnesota variety of the Southwestern dialect. The orthography used is the Fiero Double-Vowel System.
Like many North American languages, Ojibwe is polysynthetic, meaning it exhibits a great deal of synthesis and a very high morpheme-to-word ratio (e.g., the single word for "they are Chinese" is aniibiishaabookewininiiwiwag, which contains six morphemes: leaf-liquid-make-man-be-PLURAL, or approximately "they are leaf-drink [i.e., tea] makers"). It is agglutinating, and thus builds up words by stringing morpheme after morpheme together, rather than having several affixes which carry numerous different pieces of information.
Like most Algonquian languages, Ojibwe distinguishes two different kinds of third person, a proximate and an obviative. The proximate is a traditional third person, while the obviative (also frequently called "fourth person") marks a less important third person if more than one third person is taking part in an action. In other words, Ojibwe uses the obviative to avoid the confusion that could be created by English sentences such as "John and Bill were good friends, ever since the day he first saw him" (who saw whom?). In Ojibwe, one of the two participants would be marked as proximate (whichever one was deemed more important), and the other marked as obviative.
Gender
The gender distinction in Ojibwe is not a masculine/feminine contrast, but is rather between animate and inanimate. Animate nouns are generally living things, and inanimate ones generally nonliving things, although that is not a simple rule because of the cultural understanding as to whether a noun possesses a "spirit" or not (generally, if it can move, it possesses a "spirit"). Objects with great spiritual importance for the Ojibwe, such as rocks, are very often animate rather than inanimate, for example. Some words are distinguished purely by their noun class; for example, mitig, if it is animate (plural mitigoog), means "tree;" if it is inanimate (plural mitigoon), it means "stick."
Number
Number in Ojibwe is a simple singular/plural contrast. Nouns and pronouns can be either singular or plural, and verbs inflect for the number of their subject and object, although some nouns and verbs lack singular forms. Plural forms differ from word to word depending on the word's gender, root, and historical stress. By examining the plural form of the word, one can generally determine the word's gender and root. Animate plurals end in -g, while inanimate plural nouns (and obviative nouns) end in -n. The underlying form of a root determines the "linking vowel" — the vowel that appears before the plural suffix (-g or -n) but after the root itself.
Person
There are seven Ojibwe inflectional categories expressing person/gender combinations for each of the two numbers (singular and plural).[1] However, the singular and plural categories do not always exactly correspond. The total number of 14 "persons" arises from taking into consideration all the contrasts of animate/inanimate, proximate/obviative, and singular/plural.
0’p — third person plural, inanimate obviative[2][3][4][5]
Characteristics of the resulting 14 persons are built into Ojibwe nouns and pronouns, thus dictating which verb forms would be used in speech. In nouns and verbs, all 14 forms of persons may or may not present themselves, as words are divided as either animate or inanimate genders and very few words exist as both, but all 14 forms of persons generally do appear with pronouns.
Pronouns
Ojibwe pronouns, along with distinguishing singular and plural number and first, second, third, and fourth (obviative) persons, also carry a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first person plural. Pronouns may present themselves either as independent words or as series of prefixes and suffixes.
An inclusive first person plural indicates that the pronoun includes the addressee, i.e., "we including you" (giinawind). An exclusive first person plural indicates that the addressee is not included, i.e., "we excluding you" (niinawind).
The other personal pronouns are the first singular niin, second singular giin, third singular wiin, second plural giinawaa, and third plural wiinawaa.
Like the independent words, Ojibwe pronominal prefixes indicate first person with n-, second person with g- and third person with w-. However, the associated suffixes for these persons will be different depending on if the word is a verb or a noun.[8]
Word begins with...
1 or "n-"
2 or "g-"
3 or "w-"
o
((n)i)ndo-
gido-
odo-
a aa e i
((n)i)nd-
gid-
od-
aa (by some Red Lake speakers)
niy-
giy-
ow-\oy-
oo
n-
g-
od-
ii
n-
g-
w-
b
(n)im-
gi-
(o)-
d g ' j z zh
(n)in-
gi-
(o)-
p t k h ch m n s sh w y
ni-
gi-
(o)-
In many Ojibwe-speaking communities, the first person prefix is used without the initial n. Due to vowel syncope in some communities, those prefixes are further reduced without the initial i. However, among Saulteaux communities, the first person prefix nim- and nin- are instead reduced to ni-, nind- to nid- and nindo- to nido-.
Ojibwe also has a set of demonstrative pronouns, distinguishing animate/inanimate, here/there/yonder/over here, singular/plural, and proximate/obviative. The demonstratives differ in their phonetic forms very significantly across Ojibwe dialects and communities, so this table, based on the Minnesota dialect of Southwestern Ojibwe, will not be entirely correct for many speakers:
Animate
Inanimate
Singular
Plural
Obviative
Singular
Plural
Demonstrative
Proximal (Nearest)
Here
(wa')aw
o(n)gow
onow
(o')ow
onow
Mesioproximal
Over here
(wa')awedi
o(n)gowedi(g)
onowedi(n)
o'owedi
onowedi(n)
Mesiodistal
There
(a')aw
i(n)giw
iniw
(i')iw
iniw
Distal (Farthest)
Over there/Yonder
(a')awedi
i(n)giwedi(g)
iniwedi(n)
(i')iwedi
iniwedi(n)
Dubitative
awegwen
awegwenag
awegwenan
wegodogwen
wegodogwenan
Interrogative
awenen
awenenag
awenenan
awegonen
awegonenan
Ojibwe also has a set of "indefinite" pronouns (awiiya, "someone", gegoo, "something," both of which can be preceded by gaawiin or akina to mean "no one, nothing" and "everyone, everything," respectively).
In contrast to the Southwestern Ojibwe's demonstrative pronouns, Central Ojibwe, Northwestern Ojibwe and Western Ojibwe—which includes a larger set of obviatives—have a larger set of demonstratives:
Animate
Inanimate
Singular
Plural
Singular Obviative
Plural Obviative
Singular
Plural
Singular Obviative
Plural Obviative
Demonstrative
Nearest . . . . . Farthest
Here
wa'a(we)
ogo(we)/ ogoweniwag
ono(we)/ onoweniwan
ono(we)/ onoweniwa'
o'o(we)/ owe
ono(we)/ onoweniwan
o'oweni
ono(we)/ onoweniwan
Over here
wa'a(we)di
ogo(we)di(g)/ ogowediniwag
ono(we)di(n)/ onowediniwan
ono(we)di(')/ onowediniwa'
o'o(we)di/ owedi
ono(we)di(n)/ onowediniwan
o'owedini
ono(we)din/ onowediniwan
There
a'a(we)/ awe
igi(we)/ igiweniwag
ini(we)/ iniweniwan
ini(we)/ iniweniwa'
i'i(we)/ iwe
ini(we)/ iniweniwan
i'iweni
ini(we)/ iniweniwan
Over there/Yonder
a'a(we)di/ awedi
igi(we)di(g)/ igiwediniwag
ini(we)di(n)/ iniwediniwan
ini(we)di(')/ iniwediniwa'
i'i(we)di/ iwedi
ini(we)di(n)/ iniwediniwan
i'iwedini
ini(we)din/ iniwediniwan
Verbs
Ojibwe verbs mark information not only on the subject (their animacy, person, and plurality) but also on the object. There are several different classes of verbs in the language, which differ based on whether they are transitive or intransitive and whether they take animate or inanimate subjects. These are the main classes:
Verbs mark tenses with prefixes (a'-, aorist past, gii'-, simple past, ga(d)- and da-, future, and wii'-, desiderative future), but also can take a myriad of affixes known as "preverbs", which convey a great amount of additional information about an action. For example, the preverb izhi- means "in such a way," and so its addition to the verb root -ayaa-, "to be," makes the verb izhi-ayaa, "to be a certain way." The preverb bimi-, "along," combines with the verb root -batoo-, "to run," to form bimibatoo, "to run along, run by." The preferred order of these prefixes are personal prefix, tense prefix, directional prefix, relative prefix, any number of preverbs, and finally the verb.[12] In addition, the initial syllable may be modified by an initial vowel change or by an initial syllable reduplication.[13][14][15]
Furthermore, there are three so-called "orders" of Ojibwe verbs. The basic one is called Independent Order, and is simply the indicative mood. There is also a Conjunct Order, which is most often used with verbs in subordinate clauses, in questions (other than simple yes–no questions), and with participles (participles in Ojibwe are verbal nouns, whose meaning is roughly equivalent to "someone who is (VERB), does (VERB)," for example, the word for "traveler," bebaamaadizid, is the third singular conjunct of babaamaadizi, "to travel about," and literally means "someone who travels about"). The final order is the Imperative Order, used with commands and corresponding to the imperative mood.
Negatives are generally introduced by the leading word gaawiin, which is usually translated as "no," before introducing the actual words in their negative form. Negatives are generally formed by adding sii (or zii) for independent order and si (or zi) for conjunct order, both adding the negative element immediately after the root but before other suffixes. The sii/si are found after vowels while the zii/zi are found after n. In some words, the final consonant is dropped and the sii/si are added to the remaining vowel, in other words the final m is converted to n before adding zii/zi, yet in other words a linking vowel i (or aa) is added after the final consonant and then the sii/si added. Imperatives do not follow the sii (zii)/si (zi) pattern.
There are three imperatives in Ojibwe: the immediate imperative, used to indicate that the action must be completely right away (nibaan!, "Sleep (right now)!"), the delayed imperative, used to indicate that the action should be completely eventually, but not immediately (nibaakan!, "Sleep (in a little bit)!"), and the prohibitive imperative, used to indicate that the action is prohibited ((gego) nibaaken!, "Don't sleep!"). Like the negatives, the "k" in -k, -ken, -keg and -kegon take on the lenis form and become "g" after n. Also like the negatives, the general the connector vowel between the imperative suffix and the terminal consonant here is i; however, for k/g, the connector vowel instead is o.
All verbs can also be marked for four "modes:" indicative (neutral), dubitative (the speaker is unsure about the validity of what they are saying, for example: bakade, "he is hungry," but bakadedog, "he must be hungry; he could be hungry"), preterit (which emphasizes that the action occurred in the past, and is also used to refer to attempted or intended but uncompleted actions, for example: imaa ninamadab, "I'm sitting there," but imaa ninamadabiban, "I was sitting there; I meant to sit there"), or preterit-dubitative (which expresses doubt about a past action: imaa namadabigoban, "she must have sat there; she could have sat there").
Intransitives
As an example of some of the Ojibwe verbal distinctions at work, consider the conjugation of positive and negative indicative long-vowel-final VAI verbs (using the example nibaa, "to sleep"):
6 Instead of daa, daan is used by some Algonquin speakers, daag is used by some Saulteaux speakers, and ga-__min is used by some Severn Ojibwe and Saulteaux speakers.
7 Short vowels are lengthened before adding the suffix.
Also as an example of some of the Ojibwe verbal distinctions at work, consider the conjugation of positive and negative indicative long-vowel-final VII verbs (using the example ozhaawashkwaa, "to blue"). Note that unlike VAI verbs, VII do not have imperatives:
Passives in intransitives can be expressed by using the INVERSE marker igw, which may undergo a minor structural modification. Some examples of verb final containing the INVERSE marker igw are:
active
passive
VAI
VII
gloss
VAI
VII
gloss
endam
N/A
thinks X
endaagozi
endaagwad
thought of X
imaaso
imaate
smells X
imaagozi
imaagwad
smelled of X
Transitives
Ojibwe, as with other Algonquian languages, also exhibits a direct–inverse system, in which transitive verbs are marked for whether or not the direction of the action follows a "topicality hierarchy" of the language. The topicality hierarchy in Ojibwe is 2 > 1 > X > 3 > 3’ > 0, determined by 1) person, 2) gender, and 3) obviation.[16] Ojibwe has no case distinctions among agent, patient and experiencer theta roles, so in a transitive verb with two participants, the only way to distinguish subject from object is through direct/inverse/goal suffixes.
Note: C, N, nN, S and Y are used in some of the tables below to indicate a generic consonant, n\zh varying consonant, n\nzh varying consonant, s\sh varying consonant, and Ø\i varying palatializer, respectively.
Direction Type
ACTOR
DIRECTION
GOAL
Theme
local
1-GOAL
(2)
→
1
-Y-
2-GOAL
2
←
(1)
-iN-
non-local
DIRECT
→
3
-aa-
INVERSE
←
3
-igw-
The local goals, non-local goals and reflective cause the stem to undergo minor adjustments:
Transitive verbs can become VAI class of verbs by adding the actor-focused DETRANSITIVE marker ige, which modifies the stem in a similar fashion as the INVERSE marker igw. However, due to differences in dialects, how the actor-focused DETRANSITIVE marker ige may show up differently.
Dialect
VTA
VAI (RECIPROCATIVE with plural ending)
VAI (REFLEXIVE)
VAI
VTI
VAI (actor-focused DETRANSITIVE)
Oji-Cree
enim
enimidowag
enimidizo
enindam
enindan
eninjige
Algonquin
enim
enindiwag
enindizo
enindam
enindan
eninge
Southwestern Ojibwe
enim
enindiwag
endizo
endam
endan
enjige
Odaawaa and Eastern Ojibwe
enim
endiwag
endizo
endam
endan
enge
gloss
think X about S.O.
think X about each other
think X about oneself
think X
think X about S.T.
think X about things
For the first person and second person GOALs, their ACTORs are specified if the words are in their Independent Order, and can also be known as local direct (first person GOAL) and local inverse (second person GOAL). A DIRECT suffix indicates that the action is performed by someone higher on the person hierarchy on someone lower on the person hierarchy (e.g., by the addressee on the speaker, or by a proximate third person on an obviative):
obizindawaan
o-
3-
bizindaw
listen.to
-aa
-DIRECT
-n
-3OBVIATIVE
o- bizindaw -aa -n
3- listen.to -DIRECT -3OBVIATIVE
"He listens to the other one."
An inverse suffix indicates that the action is performed by someone lower on the person hierarchy on someone higher on the person hierarchy (e.g., by the speaker on the addressee, or by an obviative third person on a proximate):
obizindaagoon
o-
3-
bizindaw
listen.to
-igoo
-INVERSE
-n
-3OBVIATIVE
o- bizindaw -igoo -n
3- listen.to -INVERSE -3OBVIATIVE
"The other one listens to him."
As can be seen, the only difference between these two verbs is the direct–inverse opposition, rather than case markers (or word order, when distinct nominals are used). An inverse verb is not equivalent to a passive verb. There is a separate passivity marker, denoted in literature as "indefinite person (X)", ranked in topicality hierarchy below first and second persons, but higher than animate and inanimate third persons:
bizindawaa
X-
bizindaw
listen.to
-aa
-DIRECT
{} bizindaw -aa
X- listen.to -DIRECT
"He is listened to."
To illustrate this, a generic VTA and VTI paradigm table, arranged by person hierarchy, is shown below. Note that the reflexive forms shown in a darker background with the reflexive theme /-idizo/ happen to be VAI. The table depicts only the paradigm for Independent Order, Positive Voice, Neutral Mode. Letters omitted in a particular form are indicated with that letter struck-through.
Ojibwe language is rich in its use of preverbs, which is a prefix that comes before verbs, nouns, and particles, to provide an additional layer of meaning. In Ojibwe, there are four classes of preverbs ranked in importance by six degrees:
class 1—tense, aspect, mode, or syntactic prefix appearing on verbs
mode-subordinator:
subordinator: e-, gaa-, waa-
modal: ga[d]-, da-, daa-, ji-, ge[d]-.
tense-negativity
tense: a'- [e'-], gii'- [gaa'-], wii'- [waa'-].
negativity: aano-, bwaa-.
class 2—directional prefix occurring on verbs
class 3—relational prefix occurring on verbs (and on some nouns and particles): ako- [eko-], onji- [wenji-], izhi- [ezhi-], apiichi- [epiichi-], dazhi- [endazhi-], daso- [endaso-].
class 4—lexical prefix occurring on verbs, nouns, or particles.
Preverbs, when they occur before a noun, are called a prenoun. Preverb class units when written are separated with a hyphen, with the exception of the class 4 preverb indicating manner, degree, quality/evaluative, or quantitative/numeric, which can also serve as functional part of a word stem as an initial. If several preverbs of the same class occur, they are written as a single block in order of rank of importance, with the most important preverb located closest to the word. Pronominal prefixes are written directly onto the head of the word group, so it may be found attached directly to the preverb if a preverb is present. When constructed, an Ojibwe word (in the example below, a verb) may have some or all of the pieces in the following form:
prefix
word stem
suffix
pronominal prefix
preverb- (class 1)
preverb- (class 2)
preverb- (class 3)
preverb- (class 4)
verb (initial)
verb (medial)
verb (concrete final)
verb (abstract final)
negativity
pronominal suffix
mode
Example, using nibaa, "to sleep"
Ojibwe
English
Comment
nibaa
he/she sleeps
has no preverb
ninibaamin
we sleep
likewise, with pronominal prefix and pronominal suffix
gii'-nibaa
he/she slept
has past tense preverb (class 1)
ningii'-nibaamin
we slept
likewise, with pronominal affixes
gii'-maajii-nibaa
he/she started to sleep
has past tense preverb (class 1), and a lexical preverb (class 4)
ningii'-maajii-nibaamin
we started to sleep
likewise, with pronominal affixes
Nouns
Nouns distinguish plurality, animacy, obviation, and case with suffixes. Animacy is only overtly marked on plural nouns. There are no core cases to distinguish categories such as "subject" or "object", but rather various oblique cases, including a locative (e.g., wiisiniwigamig, "restaurant", wiisiniwigamigong, "in the restaurant") and a vocative plural (e.g., Ojibwedog, "(you) Ojibwes!"). Other suffixes are: pejorative (e.g., jiimaan, "canoe", jiimaanish, "worthless canoe"), diminutive (e.g., zhooniyaa, "money", zhooniyaans, "coin"), contemptive (e.g., odaabaan, "car", odaabaanenh, "just some old car"), preterit (which marks a deceased or no-longer existent person or object, e.g. nookomis, "my grandmother", nookomisiban, "my late grandmother"), and preterit-dubitative (which marks a deceased or no-longer existent person or object which was never known by the speaker, e.g. a'aw mindimooyenh, "that old woman", a'aw mindimooyenyigoban, "that late old woman I never knew").
Some nouns are considered "dependent" and cannot be presented by themselves. Instead, these dependent nouns are presented with pronoun prefixes/suffixes attached to them. An example of a dependent noun is nookomis ("my grandmother") where the dependent root -ookomis- ("grandmother") must be presented with a pronoun affix, which in this case is n-.
Verb to noun transforms
Other nouns are derived from verbs by transforming them to their participle form. Of the choices, third person (and thus third person plural) is the most common form. Though each class of verbs may have their own participle-forming patterns, for simplicity, only the VAI neutral mode, positive participles are shown in the example, again, using nibaa ("sleep").
Note: C, V, and VV are used in some of the tables below to indicate a generic consonant, a generic short vowel, and a generic long vowel, respectively.
Subject
VAI (ending in -V or -VV) Neutral Mode, Positive Participles
VAI2 (ending in -am) Neutral Mode, Positive Participles
Verbs additionally can be transformed into nouns representing concepts by adding -win, or into nouns representing an object by adding -gan or -n, or if a VAI into a gerund by dropping the final vowel or if VAI2 by adding -o.
Plurals and obviative
Plurals and obviative suffixes are the easiest to add to Ojibwe words. By examining the plural, one can generally determine the underlying root of the word. Generally, animate plurals end with -g, while inanimate plurals and obviatives end with -n. Often, a linking vowel is required to join the root to one of these endings. Underlying -w or -y or an augment may affect the choice of linking vowels. A few plurals do not follow this rule, for example, mishi, misan "piece(s) of firewood".
Diminutives in Ojibwe express an idea of something that is smaller or younger version of the noun. All diminutives are treated as a Consonant Stem when made into one of the plural forms or into the obviative form, thus taking on the linking vowel -a-. Contemptives are formed in a similar fashion as diminutives and are used to express negative or depreciative attitude the speaker may have of the noun. Contemptive plurals and obviatives remain as contemptives, but can take on the linking vowel -i- to add a possible pejorative. Many words to express fauna are often in contemptive forms. In the Ojibwemowin spoken in Wisconsin and certain areas of northwestern Ontario, often contemptives are reduced from -nh/-ny- forms to -ø/-y-; in Algonquin and in most Northwestern Ojibwe, the contemptives instead is reflected by -nzh. In Odaawaa, the frequency of contemptives in fauna are higher than in other Anishinaabemowin dialects. For example, it is from the Daawaamwin word jidmoonh ("red squirrel") where the English word "chipmunk" has its origins, while the same word in Ojibwemowin is ajidamoo. When contemptive suffix is added for terms of endearment, any other d, t, z and s in the word are changed to j, ch, zh and sh respectively.
Singular
Diminutive
Contemptive
Singular Example
Diminutive Example
Gloss
Consonant Stem
C
Cens
Cenh
miin
miinens
"little blueberry"
Long-vowel Stem
CVV
CVVns
CVVnh
ajidamoo
ajidamoons
"little squirrel"
CVV
CVVns
CVVnh
bine
binens
"little partridge"
CVw
CVns
CVnh
wadow
wadons
"little bloodclot"
CVVw
CVVns
CVVnh
niwiiw
niwiins
"my little wife"
CVV
CVVns
CVVnh
nimaamaa
nimaamaans
"my little mama"
CVVnh
CVVns
CVVnh
giigoonh
giigoons
"little fish"
Short-vowel Stem
CV
CVVns
CVVnh
inini
ininiins
"little man"
CVw
CVVns
CVVnh
bigiw
bigiins
"little gum"
W Stem
C
Coons
Coonh
mitig
mitigoons
"twig"
C
Coons
Coonh
nigig
nigigoons
"little otter"
Cwa
Coons
Coonh
makwa
makoons
"bear cub"
Cwa
Coons
Coonh
ikwa
ikoons
"little louse"
Y Stem
C
Ciins
Ciinh
aniib
aniibiins
"young elm"
Ci
Ciins
Ciinh
anwi
anwiins
"little bullet"
C
Cwiins
Cwiinh
nining
niningwiins
"my little armpit"
Augment Stem
C
Cens
Cenh
ninow
ninowens
"my little cheek"
C
Cwens
Cwenh
nikatig
nikatigwens
"my little forehead"
Ca
Cawens
Cawenh
oodena
oodenawens
"hamlet"
Cay
Cayens
Cayenh
omooday
omoodayens
"vial"
C
Caans
Caanh
nindengway
nindengwayaans
"my little face"
Can
Caans
Caanh
ma'iingan
ma'iingaans
"little wolf"
Can
Caans
Caanh
nindooskwan
nindooskwaans
"my little elbow"
Cana
Caans
Caanh
mikana
mikaans
"trail"
Participle Stem
C
Coons
Coonh
maaniwang
maaniwangoons
"little fruit"
d
doons
doonh
naawogaaded
naawogaadedoons
"little quadruped"
Locatives, possessives and obviation possessor theme
Locatives indicate a location, and are indicated with -ng. Locatives do not take on any plurals or obviative suffixes, but obviation possessor or the number can be added before the locative suffix. Another set of affixes in the Anishinaabe language is indicated by the possessive theme -m or the obviative possessor theme -ni. Generally, dependent nouns and nouns ending with either -m or -n do not take the possessive theme -m. A small group of nouns also do not ever take the possessive theme suffix.
Singular
Locative
Possessive Theme
Obviative Possessor Theme
Singular Example
Locative Example
Gloss
Consonant Stem
C
Cing
Cim
Cini
miin
miining
"by/on the blueberry"
Long-vowel Stem
CVV
CVVng
CVVm
CVVni / CVVnini
ajidamoo
ajidamoong
"by/on the squirrel"
CVV
CVVng
CVVm
CVVni / CVVwini
bine
bineng
"by/on the partridge"
CVw
CVng
CVm
CVni / CVVnini
wadow
wadong
"by/on the bloodclot"
CVVw
CVVng
CVVm
CVVni / CVVwini
niwiiw
niwiing
"by/on my wife"
CVV
CVVying
CVVm
CVVyini
nimaamaa
nimaamaaying
"by/on my mama"
CVVnh
CVVnying
CVVm
CVVnyini
giigoonh
giigoonying
"by/on the fish"
Short-vowel Stem
CV
CVVng
CVVm
CVVni / CVVnini
inini
ininiing
"by/on the man"
CVw
CVVng
CVVm
CVVni / CVVnini
bigiw
bigiing
"by/on the gum"
W Stem
C
Cong
Com
Coni / Coonini
mitig
mitigong
"by/on the tree"
C
Cong
Com
Coni / Coonini
nigig
nigigong
"by/on the otter"
Cwa
Coong
Coom
Cooni / Coonini
makwa
makoong
"by/on the bear"
Cwa
Cong
Com
Coni / Coonini
ikwa
ikong
"by/on the louse"
Y Stem
C
Ciing
Ciim
Ciini / Ciinini
aniib
aniibiing
"by/on the elm"
Ci
Ciing
Ciim
Ciini / Ciinini
anwi
anwiing
"by/on the bullet"
C
Cwiing
Cwiim
Cwiini / Cwiinini
nining
niningwiing
"by/on my armpit"
Augment Stem
C
Caang
Caam
Caani
ninow
ninowaang
"by/on my cheek"
C
Cwaang
Cwaam
Cwaani
nikatig
nikatigwaang
"by/on my forehead"
Ca
Caang
Caam
Caani
oodena
oodenawaang
"by the village"
Cay
Caang
Caam
Caani
omooday
omoodaang
"by/on the bottle"
C
Caang
Caam
Caani
nindengway
nindengwayaang
"by/on my face"
Can
Caning
Canim
Canini
ma'iingan
ma'iinganing
"by/on the wolf"
Can
Canaang
Canaam
Canaani
nindooskwan
nindooskwanaang
"by/on my elbow"
Cana
Canaang
Canaam
Canaani
mikana
mikanaang
"by/on the road"
Participle Stem
C
Cong
Com
Coni/Coyani
maaniwang
maaniwangong
"by/on the fruit"
d
dong
dom
doni/doyani
naawogaaded
naawogaadedong
"by/on the quadruped"
Rarely do either the possessive theme -m or the obviative possessor theme -ni stand by themselves. The above examples for the possessive theme -m were for the first person singular. For other persons or number, again using the possessive theme -m as an example, the word is conjugated as following:
Subject
Possessive
Conjugation
3s Example
Gloss
3s Possessum
3p Possessum
3' Possessum
3" Possessum4
0s Possessum
0p Possessum
Locative Possessum
Giin (2s)
g
_
m
g
_
mag
g
_
man
g
_
manan
g
_
m
g
_
man
g
_
ming
gizhiishiibim
"your (sg.) duck"
Giinawaa (2p)
g
_
miwaa
g
_
miwaag
g
_
miwaan
g
_
miwaanan
g
_
miwaa
g
_
miwaa(n)2
g
_
miwaang
gizhiishiibimiwaa
"your (pl.) duck"
Giinawind (21)
g
_
minaan
g
_
minaanig1
g
_
minaanin
g
_
minaaninan
g
_
minaan
g
_
minaanin1
g
_
minaaning
gizhiishiibiminaan
"our (inclusive) duck"
Niinawind (1p)
n
_
minaan
n
_
minaanig1
n
_
minaanin
n
_
minaaninan
n
_
minaan
n
_
minaanin1
n
_
minaaning
nizhiishiibiminaan
"our (exclusive) duck"
Niin (1s)
n
_
m
n
_
mag
n
_
man
n
_
manan
n
_
m
n
_
man
n
_
ming
nizhiishiibim
"my duck"
Wiin (3s)
w
_
man
w
_
manan
w
_
m
w
_
man
w
_
ming
ozhiishiibiman
"his/her/its duck"
Wiinawaa (3p)
w
_
miwaan
w
_
miwaanan
w
_
miwaa(n)2,3
w
_
miwaa(n)2
w
_
miwaang
ozhiishiibimiwaan
"their duck"
Obviative (3'(s/p))
w
_
mini(in)5
w
_
mini(in)5,6
w
_
miniwan7
1 In the Algonquin, the plural suffix remains as -an/-ag, rather than becoming -in/-ig. 2 Terminal -n is not found in Algonquin language. 3 Terminal -n is not found in Potawatomi, Eastern Ojibwe and Ottawa languages. 4 In the Potawatomi language 5-in is used in Algonquin and Oji-Cree (Severn Ojibwe) languages 6 Only in Algonquin and in OjiCree is the inanimate possessed by an obviate marked. 7 Historically
Pejoratives and vocative plurals
Pejoratives, marked with the -sh suffix, generally indicates a stronger negative feelings a speaker may have than that of the contemptive. However, pejorative may also indicate a term of affection. Some words take on different meaning in the pejorative, such as aniibiish, which means "no good elm" but also means "leaf". In some dialects, some words are always shown in their pejorative forms, such as animosh for "dog".
Vocative plurals mimic pejorative conjugation patterns. It is identified with the -dog suffix, which in the Ottawa dialect shows up instead as -dig suffix.
Singular
Affective
Pejorative
Vocative Plural
Singular Example
Pejorative Example
Gloss
Consonant Stem
C
Cis
Cish
Cidog
miin
miinish
"no good blueberry"
Long-vowel Stem
CVV
CVVs
CVVsh
CVVdog
ajidamoo
ajidamoosh
"no good squirrel"
CVV
CVVs
CVVsh
CVVdog
bine
binesh
"no good partridge"
CVw
CVs
CVsh
CVdog
wadow
wadosh
"no good bloodclot"
CVVw
CVVs
CVVsh
CVVdog
niwiiw
niwiish
"my no good wife"
CVV
CVVs
CVVsh
CVVdog
nimaamaa
nimaamaash
"my no good mama"
CVVnh
CVVs
CVVsh
CVVdog
giigoonh
giigoosh
"no good fish"
Short-vowel Stem
CV
CVwis
CVwish
CVwidog
inini
ininiwish
"no good man"
CVw
CVwis
CVwish
CVwidog
bigiw
bigiwish
"no good gum"
W Stem
C
Cos
Cosh
Codog
mitig
mitigosh
"no good tree"
C
Cos
Cosh
Codog
nigig
nigigosh
"no good otter"
Cwa
Coos
Coosh
Coodog
makwa
makoosh
"no good bear"
Cwa
Cos
Cosh
Codog
ikwa
ikosh
"no good louse"
Y Stem
C
Ciis
Ciish
Ciidog
aniib
aniibiish
"no good elm"
Ci
Ciis
Ciish
Ciidog
anwi
anwiish
"no good bullet"
C
Cwiis
Cwiish
Cwiidog
nining
niningwiish
"my lousy armpit"
Augment Stem
C
Caas
Caash
Caadog
ninow
ninowaash
"my no good cheek"
C
Cwaas
Cwaash
Cwaadog
nikatig
nikatigwaash
"my no good forehead"
Ca
Caas
Caash
Caadog
oodena
oodenawaash
"damn village"
Cay
Caas
Caash
Caadog
omooday
omoodaash
"no good bottle"
C
Caas
Caash
Caadog
nindengway
nindengwayaash
"my no good face"
Can
Canis
Canish
Canidog
ma'iingan
ma'iinganish
"no good wolf"
Can
Canaas
Canaash
Canaadog
nindooskwan
nindooskwanaash
"my no good elbow"
Cana
Canaas
Canaash
Canaadog
mikana
mikanaash
"no good road"
Participle Stem
C
Cos
Cosh
Cidog
maaniwang
maaniwangosh
"no good fruit"
d
dos
dosh
jidog
naawogaaded
naawogaadedosh
"no good quadruped"
When the diminutive suffix ens or the affective suffix is, is followed by the other, the s becomes z, as in izens or enzis. When the pejorative suffix ish is added to the diminutive suffix ens, combination yields enzhish, while adding the diminutive suffix ens to the pejorative suffix ish, just as with any other Consonant Stem patterns, yields ishens. In Northwestern Ojibwe dialect when the pejorative suffix ish is added, any other d, t, z and s in the word are changed to j, ch, zh and sh respectively.
Singular vocatives do not follow a systematic pattern like plural vocatives do, with various strategies in achieving the vocative case:
nominative
vocative
gloss
mechanism for vocative
noos
noose!
my father
adding a vowel
Aanji-binesi
Aanji-bines!
Changing Bird
dropping the final vowel
Noodinookwe
Noodinook!
Wind-woman
dropping the final vowel and medial w
ningashi
ninga!
my mother
dropping the final vowel and affective suffix
ningwizis
ningwis!
my son
dropping of affective suffix
nookomis
nooko!
my grandmother
dropping of affective suffix and the possessive theme m
noozhishenh
noozis!
my grandchild
dropping of contemptive suffix and de-palatalize effected affective suffix consonants
However, many irregular forms of achieving the vocative case also exist, including in some dialects unchanged forms such as noozhishenh! (my grandchild) used as a vocative, and vocative beyond the regular changed forms such as ninge! (my mother).
Adjectives
Ojibwe has no adjectives per se but verbs that function as adjectives. Thus, instead of saying "the flower is blue," Ojibwe says something like to "the flower blues" (ozhaawashkwaa waabigwan) or "be a blueing flower" (waabigwan-ozhaawashkwaa). Ojibwe has a copula, in some situations, which has a verb (several, in fact) that can be translated as "to be" and used in situations to equate one thing with another. However, a copula is not always used in Ojibwe, such as if demonstrative pronouns are used (jiimaan o'ow, "this is a canoe").
Adverbs
Particles
Ojibwe language with its iambic accent system and relatively atonal word stresses, has any nuance of expressing word emphasis, stress, mood, etc., being expressed by particles like these:
mii — discourse sequencer, topical focuser
(i)dash — topical shift indicator; may even appear as -sh
(i)go — emphasises heightened assertiveness
(i)sa — emphasises novelty
(i)sha — emphasises contradiction
(i)maa — emphasises cooperation (either actual or desired)
(i)naa — emphasises evaluative information
wii — unexpectedness indicator
The short initial 'i' is omitted typically when following a word or particle ending in a vowel or ending in 'n'.
1 In theory 2 Historically, either niizh midana or niizhidana. 3 Many speakers omit the initial n (shown in parentheses). 4 In Algonquin and Algonquin-influenced communities, new and newin midana are used instead of niiwin and niimidana, respectively. 5 In Northwestern Ojibwe, Oji-cree, and Algonquin, o is used instead of i as the connector vowel for the suffixes -midana and -midanaak. 6 In some dialects, such as in parts of Eastern Ojibwe, zhaang is used instead of zhaangaswi; the shorter form was historically recorded as being the more pervasive form, but it now is rarely used. 7 Richard Rhodes reports that some Algonquin speakers use a connector, -di, before -swi, -somidana, and -somidanaak. 8(n)ingod is "one" in Potawatomi but "something" in Ojibwe.
Modifications of sound
Ojibwe initials of words may experience morphological changes under three modification strategies: initial consonant change, initial vowel change and initial syllable reduplication.
Initial consonant change
Ojibwe consonants are divided into lenis and fortis values:
lenis-fortis pairs: ′ – h (if distinguished), b – p, d – t, g – k, j – ch, z – s, zh – sh
unpaired fortis: h (if not distinguished), m, n, w, y
When either the past tense preverb gii'- or the desiritive future tense wii'- is added to a verb, if the verb begins with a lenis consonant, it may change to its fortis counterpart; it is common for many writers to omit the writing of the glottal stop, so they graphically indicate this consonant shift by writing the fortis consonant counterpart. In some dialects, such as with the Red Lake Ojibwe in Minnesota, this rule is suspended if the consonant in the verb's second syllable already contains a fortis consonant. In some dialects as in Odaawaa, this rule is not applied.
Ojibwe (without gii-)
English
Ojibwe (with gii-)
English
Comment
ayekozi
he/she is tired
gii-ayekozi
he/she was tired
not applicable, as this word begins with a vowel
nibaa
he/she sleeps
gii-nibaa
he/she slept
initial consonant is already a fortis
jiibaakwe
he/she cooks
gii-chiibaakwe
he/she cooked
initial consonant changes to its fortis counterpart
jaka'ige
he/she pokes
gii-jaka'ige
he/she poked
Red Lake: initial consonant is not changed due to a fortis consonant (in this case, k) in the second syllable
zhaabobide
he/she drives through
gii-zhaabobide
he/she drove through
Odaawaa: this dialect does not implement the initial consonant change
Initial vowel change
In general, verbs in Conjunct and Participial orders and nouns of Subjunctive order change the vowel quality of the first syllable in the manner shown in the table below.
unchanged
changed
-a-
-e-
-aa-
-ayaa-
-e-
-aye-
-i-
-e-
-ii-
-aa-
-o-
-we-
-oo-
-waa-
However, in some words beginning in dan-, dazh-, das-, dash- or daa- instead take on the prefix en- to form endan-, endazh-, endas-, endash- or endaa-. The directional prefix bi-, meaning "over here," instead becomes ba-.
Initial syllable reduplication
Words typically conveying repetitive actions have their very first syllable experience reduplication. Reduplication may be found in both verbs and in nouns. Vowel syncope process Eastern Ojibwe and Odaawaa experiences happen after the word has gone through reduplication. The most general reduplication pattern for the initial syllable is C1V1 → C1V2C2V1 but the table below shows the most common reduplication strategies.
In some words, the reduplicated consonant shifts from their lenis value to their fortis value. Yet in some stems, initial Cw- retains the -w- while others do not. Those words experiencing the prefix en- may change to in- before experiencing reduplication. Other prefixes such as gino- (long) does not follow the typical C1V1 → C1V2C2V1 pattern, and instead becomes gagaano-.
Syntax
As Ojibwe is highly synthetic, word order and sentence structure is relatively free, since a great deal of information is already encoded onto the verb. The subject can go before or after the verb, as can the object; however, the subject and the object together cannot go before the verb. In general, whichever participant is deemed more important or in-focus by the speaker is placed first, before the verb, and the less important participant follows the verb. Ojibwe tends to prefer a VS order (verb–subject) when subjects are specified with separate nominals or pronouns (e.g., bakade a'aw asabikeshiinh, be.hungry that.there.ANIMATE net.make.PEJORATIVE.CONTEMPTIVE, "that spider is hungry").
Artuso, Christian (1998). Noogom gaa-izhi-anishinaabemonaaniwag: Generational Difference in Algonquin (MA thesis). University of Manitoba.
Kegg, Maude (1990). Nookomis Gaa-inaajimotawid: What my grandmother Told Me. Bemidji, MN: Indian Studies Publications.
Mithun, Marianne (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nichols, John D., ed. (1988). An Ojibwe Text Anthology. London, ON: Centre for Research and Teaching of Canadian Native Languages.
Nichols, John D.; Nyholm, Earl (1995). A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Picard, Marc (1984). "On the Naturalness of Algonquian ɬ". International Journal of American Linguistics. 50 (4): 424–437. doi:10.1086/465851.
Rhodes, Richard A. (1985). Eastern Ojibwa-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Valentine, J. Randolph (2001). Written at The Ojibway Heritage Center, Walpole Island. Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN0-8020-4870-6.
