Stepping through a course - Lesson 5

Here is this week's text from Lesson 5 of the Pimsleur Ojibwe course.

Dialog -

F: Aaniindi wenjibaayan?
M: Mii omaa.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
M: Aaniindi zaaga'igan?
F: Iwidi.
F: Omaa na?
F: Iwidi na?
* * * * * * * * * * * *
M: Aaniindi niimi'idiwaad?
M: Niimi'idiwag iwidi.
F: Niimi'idiwag (mii) omaa.


And here we'll break it down line by line.

F: Aaniindi wenjibaayan?

• "Aaniindi" is a new word this week, meaning "where". The second word, 'wenjibaayan" means "you originate/come from".

• "Where are you from?" is the complete phrase.

M: Mii omaa.

• Rememer that "mii" is an intensifier. We have another new word, "omaa" which means "here".

• So He's saying "Right here."

* * * * * * * * * * * *
M: Aaniindi zaaga'igan?

• "zaaga'igan" means "lake".

• So the question is "Where is the lake?"

F: Iwidi.

• This means "over there".

F: Omaa na?

• Remember the question marker "na".

• So the question is "Is it here?"

F: Iwidi na?

• "Is it over there?"

* * * * * * * * * * * *
M: Aaniindi niimi'idiwag?

• "Aaniindi" is "where". "Niimi'idiwag" is "they dance" (the "wag" tells us that's it is third person plural)

• So we have "Where are they dancing?"

M: Niimi'idiwag iwidi.

• "They're dancing over there."

F: Niimi'idiwag (mii) omaa.

• "They're dancing (right) here."

Just a few new words this lesson:

• wenjibaayan (the verb is actually onjibaa - to come from/originate from somewhere)

• omaa - here
• iwidi - over there
• zaaga'igan - lake
• niimi'idiwag - to dance (with each other)