Indoojibwem!

Indoojibwem!

When I set out to look for learning materials on the web, I was initially excited to find so many search results for the language. This excitement quickly faded with the number of 404 - Not Found messages I kept getting on each click of a link. So I've created this space as a repository of resources for learning Anishinaabemowin, or more specifically, Ojibwemowin. With time, I hope it can be of use not just to me, but to others.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Stepping through a course - Lesson 14

We've got a couple new verbs this lesson, and I've also introduced another conjunction (adv) to be able to create more dependent clauses.

Dialog - 

F: Aaniindi niimi'idiwaad? Aaniinidi niimi'iding?
M: Aaniish apii wii-biindigewaad?
F: Wii-miigiwewag na?
M: Henh. Wii-miigiwewag. 
Breaking it down line by line:

 F: Aaniindi niimi'idiwaad? Aaniinidi niimi'iding? 
  • A new verb - "niimi", meaning dance, and with the third persona plural (they). Also notice the word "niimi'iding". It's actually a verbal form of "being at a pow-wow". So she asks "Where are they dancing? Where is the pow-wow?"
M: Aaniish apii wii-biindigewaad? 
  • Another new verb - biindige, means "come in" or enter". Again, the third persona plural (they) is used. He asks "When are they coming in?" This is in reference to the Grand Entry, which is part of the pow-wow ceremony.
F: Wii-miigiwewag na? 
  • And another new verb - miigiwe, means "give", "present" or "gift". The "wag" ending tells us it's third person plural again. She's asking "Will they be having a giveaway? (Will they be giving away?, literally) This is another ceremonial piece of the pow-wow.
M: Henh. Wii-miigiwewag. 
  • He responds "Yes, they're going to have a giveaway."


New words for this lesson:
  • dibikak - dark; tonight - In the oral drills but I've provided an example below
  • niizh - two - Numbers are beginning to be slowly introduced. a complete list can be found on the right sidebar.
  • niimi'idim - be a pow-wow
  • biindige - enter; go in
  • miigiwe - present; give; gift; grant; contribute


Other vocabulary to add into the mix:
  • ishkwaa-dibikak - after dark
    • Ishkwaa-dibikak, aaniish niimi'idiwaad? (After dark, will they dance?)
  • jibwaa-dibikak - before dark
  • maajaa - leave, depart
    • Niwii-maajaa jibaa-dibikak. (I'll leave before dark.)
  • anwaataa - finish
    • Jibwaa-waabang, giwii-anwaataa na? (Will you finish before tomorrow?)
  • giishpin - if
    • Giishpin giwii-anwataa noongom, aaniish waa-izhichigeyan waabang? (If you finish today, what will you do tomorrow?)

With the introduction if "giishpin" we have another way to create a dependent, or subordinate clause.
Posted by Unknown at 4:13 PM
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1 comment:

  1. Jed MeltzerOctober 1, 2020 at 12:41 PM

    The indpendent form of the VII verb is "dibikad" - it is night.
    The plain conjunct is "dibikak" - ishkwaa-dibikak is literally "after it is night"

    The plain conjunct is also usually used with "giishpin" (if).
    So for the last example, I would instead say:
    Giishpin wii-anwataayan noongom, aaniish waa-izhichigeyan waabang?

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