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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

zhiiwibag ni rhubarb, a rhubarb leaf

zhiiwi' vta make h/ sour; sour h/

Paired with: zhiiwitoon vti2

zhiiwimaagozi vai
  1. s/he or it (animate) smells sour
  2. s/he or it (animate) smells sweet

Paired with: zhiiwimaagwad vii

zhiiwimaagwad vii
  1. it smells sour
  2. it smells sweet

Paired with: zhiiwimaagozi vai

zhiiwinamaw vta sweeten (it) for h/

zhiiwinan vti [RL] sweeten it

(benefactive) zhiiwinamaw vta sweeten (it) for h/ (verb of undergoing) zhiiwinigaade vii [RL] it is sweetened (by someone), "they" sweeten it (detransitive) zhiiwinige vai s/he sweetens something
zhiiwinigaade vii [RL] it is sweetened (by someone), "they" sweeten it

zhiiwinige vai s/he sweetens something

zhiiwipidan vti find it tastes sour

zhiiwipogozi vai it (animate) tastes sour; [BL] it (animate) tastes sweet

Paired with: zhiiwipogwad vii

zhiiwipogwad vii it tastes sour; [BL] it tastes sweet

Paired with: zhiiwipogozi vai

zhiiwisijigan na sourdough

zhiiwisijigaans na a pickle

zhiiwisin vii it turns sour

Paired with: zhiiwishin vai

zhiiwishin vai it (animate) turns sour

Paired with: zhiiwisin vii

zhiiwitaagan ni salt

zhiiwitaagana' vta salt h/

Paired with: zhiiwitaagana'an vti

zhiiwitaagana'an vti salt it

Paired with: zhiiwitaagana' vta

(detransitive) zhiiwitaagana'ige vai s/he salts things (verb of undergoing) zhiiwitaagana'igaade vii it is salted (by someone), "they" salt it (verb of undergoing) zhiiwitaagana'igaazo vai it (animate) is salted (by someone), "they" salt it (animate)
zhiiwitaagana'igaade vii it is salted (by someone), "they" salt it

zhiiwitaagana'igaazo vai it (animate) is salted (by someone), "they" salt it (animate)

zhiiwitaagana'ige vai s/he salts things

zhiiwitaaganaabo ni brine; salt water

See also: zhiiwitaaganaaboo ni

zhiiwitaaganaaboo ni brine; salt water

See also: zhiiwitaaganaabo ni

zhiiwitaaganaagamin vii it (a liquid) is salty

zhiiwitaagani-gookoosh na salt pork

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.