Stepping through a course - Lesson 28

A very short lesson today. Only two new verbs, one of which I've added at the end of the lesson.

Dialog - 

M: Gidanokii na?
F: Gidaa-anokii.
F: Nimaamaa ashange.
F: Maamaanaan ashange.
M: Aaniindi wii-ashanged? (Not part of Pimsleur)
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Here's a line-by-line breakdown:

M: Gidanokii na?

• Are you going to go to work?

F: Gidaa-anokii.

• You should go to work.

F: Nimaamaa ashange.

• The new verb "ashange" means to serve food or to feed. She says " My mother is serving food."

F: Maamaanaan ashange.

• Grandmother is serving food.

M: Aaniindi wii-ashanged? (I've added this myself as an example of using the verb in a question.)

• When will she serve food?

New words this lesson:

• ashange - feed, serve food

Other vocabulary:

• naboobiike - make soup
• gichi-oginii-naboob - tomato soup
• Geyaabi imbakade, - I'm still hungry. 
• Giwii-naboobiike na? - Will you make some soup?

Forming questions, Part 2 - past and future tenses

Back in "Forming basic questions, Part 1", we learned how to form basic questions, using specific questions words, such as "What", "Where", "How", "When", etc. But we only learned how to form questions using these words in the present tense.

When we form questions in the past or future tense using these questions words, we need to use different tense markers. It's not difficult, just something we need to be aware of.

The basic rules for using past or future tense markers with one of these question words are:

• The past tense question marker "gii-" changes to "gaa-".
• The future tense questions marker "ga-" changes to "ge-".
• The future tense question marker "da-" changes to "ge-".
• The future desiderative tense marker "wii-" changes to "waa-".

Here are some examples of how these work:

• Aaniin gaa-ezhiwebag bijiinaago? - How was the weather yesterday?
• Aaniin ge-ezhiwebag waabang? - How will the weather be tomorrow?
• Aaniin gaa-ikidoyan? - What did you say (implied: a while ago)?

• ikido - say
• Aaniin gaa-ikidod awedi inini? - What did that man over there say?
• Aaniin waa-ikidoyan? - What are you going to say?
• Aaniin ge-ikidoyan? - What will you say?

• izhichige - do [SOMETHING]
• Aaniin gaa-izhichigeyan bijiinaago? - What did you do yesterday?

All of these examples use "Aaniish", but the same rules apply when we use "Aaniindi",  "Aaniish apii", "Awenen", and "Wegonen".

Stepping through a course - Lesson 27

This lesson is about introductions. I don't really know why Pimsleur waited until so late in the course to teach them. I personally think they should have been introduced way back when Giniw and Waabigwan met each other.

I've also included vocabulary and examples at the end of the lesson for work, both as a noun and as a verb.

Dialog -

M: Aaniish ezhinikaazoyan?
F: Waabigwan indizhinikaaz.
M: Giniw indizhinikaaz.
F: Awenen gidoodem?
M: Maang nindoodem.
F: Giigoonh nindoodem.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Here's a breakdown, line by line:

M: Aaniish ezhinikaazoyan?

• The new verb ezhinikaazo, be called is introduced here. He's asking "What is your name? (Literally, it's "What are you named/called?")

F: Waabigwan indizhinikaaz.

• She answers "My name is/I am called Waabigwan."

M: Giniw indizhinikaaz.

• He says "My name is/I am called Giniw/"

F: Awenen gidoodem?

• Here, we use the question word "Who" because our next new word - doodem, meaning "clan", is based on the belief that a human being became a certain other being, or animal. She's asking "What clan do you belong to?" (Literally "Who is your clan?")

M: Maang nindoodem.

• Maang means "loon", He answers "I am from the Loon clan."

F: Giigoonh nindoodem.

• Giigoonh means "fish". She says "I am from the Fish clan."

New words this lesson:

• awenen - who
• doodem - clan
• maang - loon
• giigoonh - fish
• izhinikaazo - be called, be named
• bimose- walk

Other vocabulary:

• anokii - work (verb)
• Bi-anokiin. - Come and work. (Bi- introduced in Summary, Lessons 1-10)
• Ningii-anokii dibikong. - I worked last night.
• Ningii-gichi-anokii. - I worked hard/I worked a lot.
• Nitaa-anokii. - He/She works frequently/often.

• anokiiwin - work, job (noun)
• maajaa - leave, depart (introduced in Lesson 14)
• Nimaajaa nindanokiiwing. - I'm going to (my) work.
• Ishkwaa-wiisiniyaan, niwii-majaa nindanokiiwing. - I'll go to work after I eat.

Stepping through a course - Lesson 26

In this lesson we talk about feeling cold, and I also add a couple examples of cold weather at the end, using a new clause-builder, or connector - "because" or "that's why". We also learn how to ask what's happening and how to answer.

Dialog -
M: Aaniish apii wii-piindigewaad?
F: Gigiikaji na?
M: Enh, ingiikaj.
F: Gaawiin, ingiikajisii.
F: Aaniish ezhiwebak?
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Here's a line-by-line breakdown:

M: Aaniish apii wii-piindigewaad?

• Because "wii-" is affixed to "bindige", the "b" changes to a "p". He says "When are they coming?"

F: Gigiikaji na?

• Here's a new verb, "giikaji" be or feel cold.  She's asking "Are you cold?"

M: Henh, ingiikaj.

• Yes, I'm cold. (Notice the way the verb is conjugated.)

F: Gaawiin, ingiikajisii.

• And the negative response "No, I'm not cold." (Notice that an "i" is inserted before the negative suffix "sii".)

F: Aaniish ezhiwebak?

• Here's another new verb - izhiwebad, meaning "happens". She's asking "What's happening?/What's new?" (Again, notice that because we're using a question word, we need to conjugate the verb in the conjunct form.)

New words this lesson:

• gimiwan - be raining
• giikaji - feel cold, be feeling cold
• izhiwebad - happen so, be an event

Other vocabulary:

• gaawiin gegoo - nothing
• ganage - in the least, at all
• Aaniish ezhiwebak? Gaawiin ganage gegoo. - What's happening? Nothing at all.

• wenji- that's why/because **
• Gisinaa agwajiing wenji-zoogipon. - It's cold out, that's why it's snowing.

• ondin - wind comes from [A CERTAIN DIRECTION]
• giwedin - north
• Giiwedinong ondaanimad wenji-gisinaag. - The wind is from the north, that's why it's cold.

** A note on wenji- :

As far as I can tell, there is no straightforward way to say "because" in Ojibwe. It's translated more as "that's why", so usually we see the clauses reversed from what they would be in English.

So "Gisinaa agwajiing wenji-zoogipon." can mean either "It's cold out, that's why it's snowing." or "It's snowing because it's cold out." and "Giiwedinong ondaanimad wenji-gisinaag." can mean either "The wind is from the north, that's why it's cold." or "It's cold because the wind is from the north."

Stepping through a course - Lesson 25

This really should have been combined with Lesson 24, since Pimsleur only introduces the animate form of the verb "smells good" and an animate noun. I've added a few more vocabulary examples to play with, and how to form the compound noun for [animal-] meat.

Dialog -

F: Minomaate i'iw waawaashkeshiiwi-wiiyaas.
M: Minomaaso a'aw ogaa.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Here's a line-by-line breakdown:

F: Minomaate i'iw waawaashkeshiiwi-wiiyaas.

• "Waawaashkeshiiwi-wiiyaas" is a combination of "deer" and "meat" (although, see below). She's saying "That deer meat smells good."

M: Minomaaso a'aw ogaa.

• Here, "ogaa" (walleye) is an animate noun, so we need to use an animate form of the verb "smells good" - "minomaaso". In addition, we need to use the animate version of "that" - "a'aw". He says "That walleye smells good."  

New words this lesson:

• waawaashkeshiiwi-wiyaas - venison, deer-meat
• ogaa - walleye, walleyed-pike
• minomaaso - SOMETHING (animate) smells good

Note:

Often, when we want to talk about specific meats, we use the animal name and turn it into a verb, for example: waawaashkeshiiwi-wiyaas is deer+the verb wi (be [SOMETHING])-wiiyaas. So waawaashkeshiiwi then becomes a sort of preverb adjective for wiiyaas. In effect, what we're saying is "the deering meat" and not "deer-meat".

Other vocabulary:

• bizhiki - cow
• makwa - bear
• baaka'aakwenh - chicken
• gookooshi - pork
• bizhikiwi-wiiyaas - beef
• mako-wiiyaas - bear meat
• baaka'aakwenh-wiiyaas - chicken meat
• gookooshi-wiiyaas - pork

• ode'imin - strawberry

Here is another take on "smell":

• minomaam - enjoy the smell of SOMETHING
• Niminomaamaa ode'iminan. - I like the smell of strawberries.