Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

giiyawen'enh nad es
Listen

your namesake

Note:
There is no simple independent word for namesake, a reciprocal relationship between name-giving sponsor and child. A personal prefix goes with the dependent noun stem /=iiyawen'eny-/ namesake to make a full word: 
  • niiyawen'enh my namesake (1s-3s)
  • giiyawen'enh your namesake (2s-3s)
  • wiiyawen'enyan h/ namesake
  • [MN] wiiyawen'enyan h/ namesake(s (3s-3')
  • [BL] wiiyawen'enyan h/ namesake (3s-3's)
  • [BL] wiiyawen'enya' h/ namesakes (3s-3'p)
Some basic forms of giiyawen'enh your namesake are: 



giiyawen'enh sg; giiyawen'enyag pl; Stem: /=iiyawen'eny-/

giiyawen'enh sg es
Listen

The Ojibwe People's Dictionary is developed and maintained by:
Nora Livesay, Editor
John D. Nichols, Founder and Linguistic Editor

with support and collaboration from the University of Minnesota's Department of American Indian Studies and University Libraries.

Word Family

=iiyawen'eny- nad STEM FOR: namesake (reciprocal relationship between name--giving sponsor and child)
niiyawen'enh nad my namesake giiyawen'enh nad your namesake wiiyawen'enyan nad h/ namesake

Related Words

Ways of Being Named
izhinikaazo vai s/he is named a certain way, has such a name; s/he is called by such a name
wiinzo vai s/he has a name, is named
izhi-wiinzo vai s/he is called, named a certain way
anishinaabewinikaazo vai s/he is called in Indian (Ojibwe); s/he has a spirit name
anishinaabe-izhinikaazo vai s/he has an Indian name
ojibwewinikaazo vai s/he is named in Ojibwe
zhaaganaashiiwinikaazo vai [BL] s/he has an English name, is called in English
apinikaazo vai s/he is named after somebody
ishkwaajinikaazo vai s/he has a last name
nitaminikaazo vai s/he has a first name
Anishinaabe Name Giving
giiyawen'enh nad your namesake
niiyawen'enh nad my namesake
wiiyawen'enyan nad h/ namesake
wiindaawaso vai s/he names a child, gives names, has a naming ceremony

Additional Resources

Many of the words in the Ojibwe People's Dictionary have related resources. Click through to the full dictionary entry to hear audio recordings, see images, read documents and watch videos. Here's a key to resource icons.

  • Audio recordings
  • Images
  • Video
  • Documents

Speakers & Regions Key

Individual speakers and speakers from different regions use different words when speaking. Each audio recording is marked with the initials of the Ojibwe speaker. Click on a speaker's initials to go to the speaker's bio page. If an Ojibwe word is particular to a certain region, it will be marked with a region code. Click on the region code to go to the Regions page.