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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

jiichiibigaadeshkaa vai h/ leg twitches, convulses; h/ legs twitch, convulse

jiichiibingwaamo vai s/he twitches in h/ sleep

jiichiibininjiini vai s/he taps h/ fingers

jiichiibishkaa vai s/he quivers, twitches, convulses

jiichiibishkaa vii it quivers, twitches, convulses

jiichiibishkiinzhigwe vai h/ eyes twitch

jiichiibiwebin vta rock h/

jiichiibizideni vai s/he taps h/ foot

jiichiibiingwetaw vta wink at h/

jiichiibiingwetaa vai s/he has facial tics

jiichiigawiganebizh vta scratch h/ back

jiichiigaakoshimoono vai s/he or it (animate) rubs against a tree or wall to remove something from h/self or itself

jiichiigibidoon vti2 scratch it (leaving a visible mark)

Paired with: jiichiigibizh vta

jiichiigibinidizo vai s/he scratches h/ self

jiichiigibizh vta scratch h/ (leaving a visible mark)

Paired with: jiichiigibidoon vti2

(reflexive) jiichiigibinidizo vai s/he scratches h/ self
jiichiigii vai s/he scratches (leaving a visible mark)

jiichiigom na a wart

jiichiigwam vta chew on, gnaw h/

Paired with: jiichiigwandan vti

jiichiigwandan vti chew on, gnaw it (taking the meat off it)

Paired with: jiichiigwam vta

(detransitive) jiichiigwanjige vai s/he chews things
jiichiigwanjige vai s/he chews things

jiichiigwaanow ni a bare, skinny tail

jiichiigwaanowe vai s/he has a bare skinny tail

jiichiishkinzhe'igan ni a fire poker

jiichiishkinzhe'ige vai s/he stirs the fire

jiigada'igan ni a broom

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.