Stepping through a course - Lesson 15

This lesson, aside from the review dialog and a couple words, we'll focus on how to make plurals.

Dialog - 

F: Niwii-izhaa iwidi niimi'iding.
M: Giwii-izhaa na iwidi niimi'iding?
F: Henyanh, niwii-izhaa iwidi niimi'iding.
M: Niwii-adaawen gegoo iwidi niimi'iding.
F: Daga, izhaadaa.
M: Aaniish apii niimi'iding?
F: Waabang gigizheb.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
M: Niwii-adaawenan makizinan.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Here's a line-by-line breakdown:

F: Niwii-izhaa iwidi niimi'iding.

• We learned the verb "izhaa" in the summary of lessons 1-10, but it is reintroduced here. She is saying "I want to go (there) to the pow-wow.

M: Giwii-izhaa na iwidi niimi'iding?

• "Do you want to go (there) to the pow-wow?"

F: Henyanh, niwii-izhaa iwidi niimi'iding.

• "Yes, I want to go (there) to the pow-wow."

M: Niwii-adaawen gegoo iwidi niimi'iding.

• We also learned the verb "adaawe" (buy) in the summary of lesson 1-10. He is saying "I want to buy something (there) at the pow-wow."

F: Daga, izhaadaa.

• In lesson 8, we learned that "daga" means "please" or "come on". "Izhaadaa" is the 3rd person imperative for "go", so she is saying "Come on, let's go."

M: Aaniish apii niimi'iding?

• "When is the pow-wow."

F: Waabang gigizheb.

• "Tomorrow morning." (Learned in lesson 13.)

* * * * * * * * * * * *

M: Niwii-adaawenan makizinan.

• "makezin" is a new word, meaning "moccasin". There's an "an" ending, making it plural. He says "I want to buy moccasins."

New words this lesson:

• makizin - shoe, moccasin
• izhaa - go [SOMEWHERE] (We actually learned this in the Summary and review of Lessons 1-10)

A note on plurals.

Forming plurals in Ojibwe is done in two ways, one for animate objects and one for inanimate objects.

As we see with the inanimate moun "makizin", we only need to add an "an" to it to make it plural (makizinan). If the noun ends in a vowel, just an "n" is added.

For animate mouns, an "ag" is added when the noun ends in a consonant or "wag" when the noun ends in a vowel. So let's take a look at the word "ikwe" (woman). To make it plural (women), we simply add "wag" since it ends in an "e", making "ikwewag".

Another example of a word ending in a consonant is "waakaa'igan" (house). To make it plural, we simply add "an" to the end, making it "waakaa'iganan" (houses).

Here are a few new words to practice making plurals:

Inanimate nouns -

• mazina'igan (book), plural form is mazina'iganan
• mazinaatesijigan (television set), plural form is mazinaatesijiganan

Animate nouns - 

• animosh (dog), plural form is animoshag
• gaazhagens (cat), plural form is gaazhagensag
• bineshiinh (bird), plural form is bineshiinyag (because bineshiinh ends in a nasalized 'nh", we change the "nh" to a "ny".

Example sentences:

• oshki- (new), attach to beginning of the noun
• Niwii-adaawenan niizh oshkimazinaatesijiganan.  * (I want to buy two new television sets.)
• Animoshag nibaawag. * (The dogs are sleeping.)
• Gaazhagensag bakaded. * (The cats are hungry.)
• nagamo (sing)
• Bineshiinyag nagamod.  * (The birds are singing.)

* The verb must also be plural.