Ojibwe language

Ojibwa language Ojibemowin
Pronunciation:	/otʃɪpweːmowɪn/
Spoken in:	Canada,  United States
Region:	Ontario, Manitoba and into Saskatchewan, with outlying groups as far west as British Columbia; in the United States, from Michigan westward to Montana
Total speakers:	46,298 (32,460 in Canada;[1] 13,838 in the United States[2])
Language family:	Algic  Algonquian   Central Algonquian    Ojibwa-Potawatomi-Ottawa     Ojibwa-Ottawa      Ojibwa language
Writing system:	Latin alphabet of various orthographies in Canada and the United States, and Ojibwe syllabics in Canada, and formerly, pictographs, and Great Lakes Aboriginal syllabics in the United States.
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:
ISO 639-3:	variously: ojg – Eastern Ojibwa ojc – Central Ojibwa ojb – Northwestern Ojibwa ojw – Western Ojibwa ciw – Chippewa
Location of all Anishinaabe Reservations/Reserves and cities with an Anishinaabe population in North America, with diffusion rings about communities speaking the Anishinaabe language
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The Ojibwa language (Chippewa Language, Ojibwemowin, ᐅᒋᐺᒧᐎᓐ in Eastern Algonquian syllabics, or simply as Ojibwe) is the second most commonly spoken First Nations language in Canada (after Cree),^[1] and the fourth most spoken in North America (behind Navajo, Inuit and Cree). It is one of the Algonquian languages of the Ojibwa-Potawatomi-Ottawa language (or the Anishinaabe language or Anishinaabemowin), more specifically a major component of the Ojibwa-Ottawa language. However, it is also common for both the Ojibwa-Potawatomi-Ottawa language and its branch, the Ojibwa-Ottawa language, to be simply referred as the Ojibwa language.

Contents 1 Geographic distribution 2 Phonology 3 Grammar 4 Vocabulary 5 Well-known speakers of Anishinaabemowin 6 See also 7 References 8 Notes 9 Further reading 10 External links

Geographic distribution

The Ojibwa language is spoken by approximately 46,298 people in North America and can be divided into five major dialects: the Chippewa language (Southwestern Ojibwa), Western Ojibwa language (Saulteaux language or Plains Ojibwa language), Northwestern Ojibwa language, Central Ojibwa language and Mississauga language (Eastern Ojibwa language). It is spoken by 13,838 people in the United States^[2] and by as many as 32,460 in Canada,^[1] making it one of the largest Algic languages by speakers. The various dialects are spoken in northern Montana, northern North Dakota, northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan in the United States, and north into eastern British Columbia, southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba and Ontario in Canada.

Phonology

Main article: Ojibwe phonology

As with other members of the Ojibwa-Potawatomi-Ottawa language, the Ojibwe language generally have 18 consonants. Obstruents are often said to have a lenis/fortis contrast, where those written as voiceless are pronounced more strongly, significantly longer in duration, and often aspirated or pre-aspirated, while those written as voiced are pronounced less strongly and significantly shorter in duration. For many communities, however, the distinction has become a simple voiced/voiceless one.

There are three short vowels, /i a o/, and three corresponding long vowels, /iː aː oː/, as well as a fourth long vowel which lacks a corresponding short vowel, /eː/. The short vowels differ in quality as well as quantity from the long vowels, are phonetically closer to [ɪ], [ə]~[ʌ], and [o]~[ʊ]. /oː/ is pronounced [uː] for many speakers, and /eː/ is for many [ɛː]. There are also nasal vowels, which are comparatively rare.

With regards to stress, the Ojibwa language divides words into metrical "feet," each foot containing a strong syllable and (if two-syllables long) a weak syllable. The strong syllables all receive at least secondary stress. In general, the strong syllable in the third foot from the end of a word receives the primary stress. In many dialects, initial unstressed vowels are frequently lost, while the in some dialects all unstressed vowels may change quality or may be lost.

Grammar

Main article: Ojibwe grammar

Like other members of the Ojibwa-Potawatomi-Ottawa language, the Ojibwa language is polysynthetic, meaning it exhibits a great deal of synthesis and a very high morpheme-to-word ratio. It is agglutinating, and thus builds up words by stringing morpheme after morpheme together, rather than having several affixes, each of which carry numerous different pieces of information.

There is a distinction between two different types of third person, the proximate (the third person deemed more important or in-focus) and the obviative (the third person deemed less important or out-of-focus). Nouns can be singular or plural, and one of two genders, animate or inanimate. Separate personal pronouns exist, but are usually used for emphasis; they distinguish inclusive and exclusive first person plurals.

Verbs constitute the most complex word class. Verbs are inflected for one of three orders (indicative, the default, conjunct, used for participles and in subordinate clauses, and imperative, used with commands), as negative or affirmative, and for the person, number, animacy, and proximate/obviative status of both its subject and object, as well as for several different modes (including the dubitative and preterit) and tenses.

Vocabulary

Although it does contain a few loans from English (e.g. gaapii, "coffee," ) and French (e.g. mooshwe, "handkerchief" (from mouchoir),^[3] ni-tii, "tea" (from le thé, "the tea")), in general, the Ojibwa language is notable for its relative lack of borrowing from other languages. Instead, speakers far prefer to create words for new concepts from existing vocabulary. For example in Minnesota Ojibwemowin, "airplane" is bemisemagak, literally "thing that flies" (from bimisemagad, "to fly"), and "battery" is ishkode-makakoons, literally "little fire-box" (from ishkode, "fire," and makak, "box"). Even "coffee" is called makade-mashkikiwaaboo ("black liquid-medicine") by many speakers, rather than gaapii. These new words vary from region to region, and occasionally from community to community. For example, in Northwest Ontario Ojibwemowin, "airplane" is ombaasijigan, literally "device that gets uplifted by the wind" (from ombaasin, "to be uplifted by the wind") oppose to the Minnesota's bemisemagak.

Like any language dialects spanning vast regions, some words that may have had identical meaning at one time have evolved to have different meanings today. For example, zhooniyaans (literally "small[-amount of] money" and used to refer to coins) specifically means "dime" (10-cent piece) in the United States, but a "quarter" (25-cent piece) in Canada, or desabiwin (literally "thing to sit upon") means "couch" or "chair" in Canada, but is used to specifically mean a "saddle" in the United States.

Cases like "battery" and "coffee" also demonstrate the often great difference between the literal meanings of the individual morphemes in a word, and the overall meaning of the entire word.

Below are some examples of common Ojibwe words.

Short List of VAIs: onjibaa = he/she comes izhaa = he/she goes maajaa = he/she departs bakade = he/she is hungry minwendam = he/she is glad zhaaganaashimo = he/she speaks English biindige = he/she comes in ojibwemo = he/she speaks Ojibwe boogidi = he/she flatulates boogide = he/she has flatulence aadizooke = he/she tells a story wiisini = he/she is eating minikwe = he/she drinks bimose = he/she walks bangishin = he/she falls dagoshin = he/she is arriving giiwe = he/she goes home jiibaakwe = he/she cooks zagaswe = he/she smokes nibaa = he/she sleeps giigoonyike = he/she is fishing (lit. he/she makes fish) gashkendam = he/she is sad bimaadizi = he/she lives giishkaabaagwe = he/she is thirsty

Short List of Nouns: naboob = soup ikwe = woman inini = man ikwezens = girl gwiiwizens = boy mitig = tree asemaa = tobacco opwaagan = pipe mandaamin = corn manoomin = wild rice miskwi = blood doodooshaaboo = milk doodoosh = breast doodooshaaboo-bimide = butter omanoominiig = Menomonee peoples giigoonh = fish miskwimin = raspberry gekek = hawk gookookoo'oo = owl migizi = bald eagle giniw = golden eagle bemaadizid = person bemadiziijig = people

Well-known speakers of Anishinaabemowin

• Jim Clark (elder, narrator)
• George Copway (chief, missionary, writer, cultural ambassador)
• Basil H. Johnston (educator, curator, essayist, cultural ambassador)
• Peter Jones (missionary, reverend, chief)
• Maude Kegg (narrator, artist, cultural ambassador)
• Howard Kimewon (educator, author)
• Patricia Ningewance Nadeau (educator, author, publisher)
• Margaret Noori (educator, writer)
• Jim Northrup (writer)
• Anton Treuer (educator, writer)

See also

• Canadian Aboriginal syllabics
• Algonquian languages
• List of languages
• Ojibwa
• Anishinaabe
• Anishinaabe language dialects
• Ojibwe phonology
• Ojibwe grammar
• Ojibwe writing systems

References

Notes

Further reading

External links

• Noongwa e-Anishinaabemjig: People Who Speak Anishinaabemowin Today - hosted at the University of Michigan
• Ojibwe Language Society
• Ojibwe Language Group
• Rand Valentine's introduction to Ojibwe
• Grammar, lessons, and dictionaries
• Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary — Freeware off-line dictionary, updated with additional entries every 6-10 weeks.
• Language Museum report for Ojibwe
• Aboriginal Languages of Canada — With data on speaker populations
• Language Geek Page on Ojibwe — Syllabary fonts and keyboard emulators are also available from this site.
• Ojibwe Toponyms
• Our Languages: Nakawē (Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre)
• Niizh Ikwewag — A short story in Ojibwe, originally told by Earl Nyholm, emeritus professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University.
• Ethnologue report for Ojibwe
• Native Languages: A Support Document for the Teaching of Language Patterns, Ojibwe and Cree
• Native Languages page for Ojibwe
• Letter Men: Brothers Fight for Ojibwe Language, a story broadcasted on Fresh Air, a National Public Radio broadcast show.
• Bemaadizing: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Indigenous Life (An online journal)

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