Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

diba'amaw vta rg
Listen

pay h/ for (it), pay (it) to him



indiba'amawaa 1s - 3s ind; nindiba'amawaa 1s - 3s ind; nidiba'amawaa 1s - 3s ind; odiba'amawaan 3s - 3' ind; diba'amawaad 3s - 3' conj; deba'amawaad 3s - 3' ch-conj; diba'amaw 2s - 3 imp; Stem: /diba'amaw-/

nindiba'amawaa1s - 3s ind rg
Listen

odiba'amawaan3s - 3' ind rg
Listen

diba'amawaad3s - 3' conj rg
Listen

deba'amawaad3s - 3' ch-conj rg
Listen

diba'amaw2s - 3 imp rg
Listen

Meshkod giga-diba'amawin wiiji'iyan.

I'll pay you if you help me. = I'll pay you in exchange for you helping me.
 nj
Listen

Giishpin ganage bebangii diba'amawid endaso-giizis, maagizhaa ingoding indaa-gii-izhi-diba'amaag.

Even if she only pays me a little bit each month, maybe some day I'll get paid off.
 nj
Listen

diba'amaw /diba'amaw-/: /diba'-/ stem of diba'an vti ; /-amaw/
do it for h/

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

diba'an vti pay it, pay for it
(verb of undergoing) diba'igaade vii it is paid, paid for (by someone), "they" pay it or for it (verb of undergoing) diba'igaazo vai s/he or it (animate) is paid for (by someone), "they" pay for h/ or it (animate) (detransitive) diba'ige vai s/he pays things; s/he measures things
(derived noun) diba'igan adv num
  1. an hour
  2. a mile
diba'igaans adv num
  1. a minute
  2. an acre
 (verb of being) diba'igane vii [N] it is a certain time in hours; it is a distance in miles
diba'igese vii it pays off, pays for itself
(benefactive) diba'amaw vta pay h/ for (it), pay (it) to him
(reciprocal) diba'amaadiwag vai they pay each other for (it) (detransitive) diba'amaage vai s/he pays people for (something)

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.