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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

ago
adv
long ago
mewinzha adv tmp a long time ago, long ago

a little while ago
naanoomaya adv tmp a little while ago

some time ago
gayat adv tmp formerly, previously, some time ago

agree
[have same opinion]
vi
agree
debwetaw vta believe, agree with, obey h/

Paired with: debwetan vti

agree
[make feel good]
vi
agree with
minokaw vta
  1. fit h/ well
  2. [inverse] it (something consumed) agrees with h/, does h/ good

See also: minokan vti

agreeable
adj
agreeable
minwendaagozi vai s/he is likeable, is agreeable, is fun

Paired with: minwendaagwad vii

ahead
[in front]
adv
ahead
niigaan adv loc ahead, at the front, leading; in the future

niigaani- pv lex ahead, leading, in front

go ahead
niigaanii vai s/he leads, goes ahead

ahead of
[earlier than planned]
prep
ahead of time
nayaag adv tmp ahead of time; previously

aim
vi
aim
zhigweyaabi vai s/he aims sights

zhigweyaabam vta aim at h/

Paired with: zhigweyaabandan vti

zhigweyaabandan vti aim at it

Paired with: zhigweyaabam vta

air pump
n
air pump
boodaajii'igan ni an air pump, a tire pump

airplane
n
airplane
bemisemagak ni-v [C] an airplane

airport
n
airport
endazhi-booniimagak ni-v airport

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.

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.

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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.