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.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

VTA verbs

It occurred to me after writing yesterday's post that I should probably start to document how verb forms other than VAI are handled and conjugated. We've already seen several VTA verbs in previous lessons. These are verbs that were introduced in Lesson 23:
  • nooji' - seek, hunt, go after
  • nandawaabam - look for, search for, track
  • maakinaw - (shoot and) wound
  • waabam - see
Where VAI verbs generally have no object in a clause, VTA verbs do, specifically animate objects.

Conjugation of VTA verbs is regular, but handled differently. In VTA verbs, the main thing to remember is that the conjugation matches the object as well as the subject.

The list of conjugations I'm including is not complete. It only includes the nouns we've already covered - 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular for the subject and 2nd and 3rd person plural. I am, however, including a new construct - the reflexive pronoun for myself and yourself (-idiz(o)).

I will most likely use the information in this post to create a static page as I've done for VAI verbs.

Let's take the verb see someone - waabaam:

Independent order:

Positive:
  • i see myself - niwaabamidiz 
  • i see you (singl.) - giwaabamin
  • i see him - niwaabamaa
  • i see you (pl.) - giwaabamininim
  • i see them - niwaabamaag
  • you (singl.) see me - giwaabam 
  • you (singl.) see yourself - giwaabamidiz
  • you (singl.) see him - giwaabamaa
  • you (singl.) see them - giwaabamaag
  • he sees me - niwaabamig
  • he sees you (singl.) - giwaabamig
  • he sees himself - waabamidizo
  • he sees you (pl.) - giwaabamigoowaa 

Negative:
  • i don't see myself - niwaabamidizosii
  • i don't see you (singl.) - giwaabamisiinon
  • i don't see him - niwaabamaasii
  • i don't see you (pl.) - giwaabamisinoonim 
  • i don't see them - niwaabamaasiig
  • you (singl.) don't see me - giwaabamisii
  • you (singl.) don't see yourself - giwaabamidizosii
  • you (singl.) don't see him - giwaabamaasii
  • you (singl.) don't see them - giwaabamaasiig
  • he doesn't see me - niwaabamigosii
  • he doesn't see you (singl.) - giwaabamigosii
  • he doesn't see himself - waabamidizosii
  • he doesn't see you (pl.) - giwaabamigoosiiwaa

Conjunct order:

Positive:
  • i see myself - waabamidizoyaan
  • i see you (singl.) - waabaminan
  • i see him - waabamag
  • i see you (pl.) - waabamininagog
  • i see them - waabamagwaa
  • you (singl.) see me - waabamiyan
  • you (singl.) see yourself - waabamidizoyan
  • you (singl.) see him - waabamad
  • you (singl.) see them - waabamadwaa
  • he sees me - waabamid
  • he sees you (singl.) - waabamik
  • he sees himself - waabamidizod
  • he sees you (pl.) - waabamineg
  • he sees them - waabamaad

Negative:
  • i don't see myself - waabamidizosiwaan
  • i don't see you (singl.) - waabamisinowaan
  • i don't see him - waabamaasiwag 
  • i don't see you (pl.) - waabamisinoonagog
  • i don't see them - waabamaasiwagwaa
  • you (singl.) don't see me - waabamisiwan
  • you (singl.) don't see yourself - waabamidizosiwan
  • you (singl.) don't see him - waabamaasiwad
  • you (singl.) don't see them - waabamaasiwadwaa
  • he doesn't see me - waabamisig
  • he doesn't see you (singl.) - waabamisinog
  • he doesn't see himself - waabamidizosig
  • he doesn't see you (pl.) - waabamisinoweg 
  • he doesn't see them - waabamaasig

And here are some example sentences to put these conjugations to work:
  • Ningikenimaa - I know him/her
  • Gigikenimaa - You know him/her
  • Ogikenimaan - S/he knows him/her
  • Ningikenimaag - I know them
  • Gigikenimaag - You know them
  • Ogikenimaan - S/he knows him/her/them

Tense prefixes are constructed just as they would be in the present tense, that is: personal prefix+tense prefix+verb stem.
  • Gigii-gikenimaag ina? - Did you know them?
  • Henh, nigii-gikenimaag. - Yes, I knew them.

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