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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

nabanenike vai s/he has only one arm

nabaneningwii vai s/he has only one wing

nabaneninjii vai s/he has only one hand

nabaneya'ii adv loc on one side

nabaneyaabi vai it (animate) has only one headlight; s/he sees with one eye

nabaneyiigin ni the back of a page; the verso

nabanezide vai s/he has only one foot

nabobizo vai s/he drives making a return trip

nabogaadeshkoozo vai s/he is caught with h/ legs doubled up

nabon vta fold h/ over

Paired with: nabonan vti

nabonan vti fold it over

Paired with: nabon vta

naboninjiishkoozo vai [BG] [BL] s/he is caught with hands or forepaws doubled up

nabozideshkoozo vai s/he is caught with feet or hindpaws doubled up

naboob ni soup, stew

(verb of making) naboobiike vai s/he makes a soup or stew
(benefactive) naboobiikaw vta make a soup or stew for h/ (applicative) naboobiikaazh vta make a soup or stew of it (animate) (applicative) naboobiikaadan vti make a soup or stew of it
(applicative) naboobiikaade vii it is made into a soup or stew (verb of being) naboobiiwan vii it is soupy (verb of possession) onaboobiimi vai s/he has soup
naboobii-emikwaan ni a soup ladle

naboobiikaw vta make a soup or stew for h/

naboobiikaadan vti make a soup or stew of it

Paired with: naboobiikaazh vta

naboobiikaade vii it is made into a soup or stew

Paired with: naboobiikaazo vai

naboobiikaazh vta make a soup or stew of it (animate)

Paired with: naboobiikaadan vti

naboobiikaazo vai it (animate) is made into a soup or stew

Paired with: naboobiikaade vii

naboobiike vai s/he makes a soup or stew

naboobiiwan vii it is soupy

naboobiiwinaaganens ni [BL] a soup bowl

nabwaabiigin vta double it (animate; string-like)

Paired with: nabwaabiiginan vti

nabwaabiiginan vti double it (string-like)

Paired with: nabwaabiigin vta

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.