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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

makoons na nj
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a bear cub



makoons sg; makoonsag pl; Stem: /makoons-/

makoons sg gh
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nj
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es
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makoonsag pl gh
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Babiiwizhiinyiwag igiw makoonsag gaa-waabamagwaa.

The bear cubs I saw were tiny.
 es
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diminutive of: makwa na a bear
makoons /makoons-/: /makw-/ stem of makwa na ; /-ns/
[diminutive]

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

makoons na a bear cub
(verb of being) makoonsiwi vai
  1. s/he is a bear cub
  2. she comes of age, has her first menses

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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.