Anyone who is really interested in grammar (or who just needs to pick things apart, or who needs alot of detail, or who just wants to know) will appreciate this information:
A descriptive word that modifies a noun or pronoun.
Affixes can indicate whether a noun is animate or inanimate (gender), whether it is plural, or how it is related to other parts of a phrase or sentence. Words that share a common noun stem are considered different forms of the same noun. Affixes include prefixes (in front) and/or a suffixes (at the end). A few of the many forms that the noun “boat” can take are:
Jiimaan boat
Jiimaanan boats
Gijiimaaning in your boat
Nijiimaaninaan our boat
In Ojibwe nouns have gender and all nouns belong to one of two classes of gender – animate and inanimate. Nouns referring to people, animals, trees, and spirits belong to the animate class of nouns. Some non-living things are also included in the animate class, although most nouns referring to non-living things are classified as inanimate.
From the learner’s point of view, the gender of a noun is often unpredictable and puzzling. For example, while it is easy enough to understand why such words are dog and birch tree are animate, it is difficult to understand why star, mitten, and net are animate, and earth, shoe, water, and boat are inanimate. The gender of a noun is shown by the form of the words that are in agreement with it. Once the learner is familiar with the forms of demonstrative, they will be able to determine the gender of unfamiliar nouns by looking at the demonstratives that modify them.
Verbs also take on different inflections to show agreement with nouns. The form of "I see" (in chart) varies in accordance with the gender (animate or inanimate) of the noun involved.
Derivation
Word stems may also be made up of parts that have meaning. Examining a group of words related in meaning, you find certain parts appear again and again, retaining the same basic meaning. For example, many words that refer to bursting or exploding begin with the same part of the word stem meaning to shoot something.
baashkiz- as in the word obaashkizaan s/he shoots it
The last part of the stem, the z or s part, is common to many words referring to heat or fire. Neither of these two parts is a word by itself, but together the word parts for burst or explode and by heat or by fire make up a word stem. This process of putting together parts to make word stems is called derivation.
In Ojibwe, word stems may be derived from other word stems by the addition of special derivational affixes. For example, by adding the suffix -ge/-ke to the stem in the above example, one gets another word, a verb that means to shoot things, which has different inflections.
baashkizige s/he shoots things
Derived stems can change word class. Noun stems can be made out of the verb stems above by the addition of various derivational suffixes.
baashkizigan gun
These noun stems with verb stems within them can be bases for further verbs, as illustrated below:
obaashkizigani s/he has a gun
Inflection
Many affixes are inflections, (word parts that indicate the grammatical categories of the language). These categories are the organizing ideas of the language. The inflections that express them transmit information (who is involved? how many? when?) and tie words together in phrases, clauses, or sentences. In Ojibwe, grammatical categories such as gender, number, person, and obviation and the inflectional affixes that represent them are essential aspects of nearly every sentence.
Much of what is indicated in English by the position of words in a sentence is shown in Ojibwe by inflection – that is, by the change in the form of a word through the addition of affixes. The following examples are different forms of the same word; they share the same word stem, but have different inflections.
anokii s/he works
nindanokii I work
anokiikan do some work later
ji-anokiiwaad …so they will work
Medials – Classificatory
Many medials loosely describe or classify the thing associated with the verb and are called classifiers. In the following examples, the medial gives some indication of the nature of the thing that is the subject of the verb:
ginwegad it (something sheet-like) is long
ginwaabiigad it (something string-like) is long
ginwaabikad it (something of metal or stone) is long
ginwaakwad/ginwaakod it (something of wood or stick-like) is long
In the examples, the roots and the finals are the same; the medials, however, differ.
INITIAL + MEDIAL (S) + FINAL (root)
ginw- -eg- -ad
-aabiig-
-aabik-
-aakw-
There is a parallel verb without a medial that can be used to describe any kind of inanimate subject. Note that its final (-aa) differs from the finals that appeared in the previous examples:
ginwaa it is long
Ojibwe distinguishes between two third persons in a sentence by a mechanism called obviation. When a sentence contains two third persons, one is seen as the main one (proximate) and the other one is seen as secondary (obviative).
John ogii-waabamaan Fredan . John saw Fred.
The word order can be varied without changing the essential meaning of the sentence:
John Fredan ogii-waabamaan. John saw Fred.
When two third persons perform the same grammatical function, in the examples below, the two third persons are both subjects of the verb.
John miinawaa Fred gii-bimosewag miikanaang.
John and Fred were walking on the road.
The locative form of a noun is used to express ideas of location. The locative form is indicated by a suffix.
Noun: aakoziiwigamig – hospital
Location: aakoziiwigamigong - to/at/in the hospital
As in the case with the other basic suffixes, the actual form of the locative suffix varies from noun stem to noun stem. Each stem requires a particular connective sound between the stem and the last part of the suffix. For example, in the word used above, the proper connective sound is o between the stem and the last part of the suffix, which is –ng.
Noun: Singular & Plural
In Ojibwe, the animate plural suffix ends in –g and the inanimate plural suffix ends in –n. The plural form of a noun shows not only number, but also gender; different suffixes are used to indicate the plural of animate and inanimate nouns. The actual forms of each plural suffix vary from noun stem to noun stem. Most stems require a connective between the stem and the last sound of the suffix. The form of these connectives can also vary.
Preverbs - Relationship of Preverbs and Roots
Many preverbs are the same or nearly the same in both pronunciation and meaning as verb roots. The most obvious difference between the two is that when a preverb is taken out of a verb, the remaining element is still a real word, whereas when the root is taken out of a word, the remaining element is no longer a word or word stem and the stem collapses. Thus, in the first example below, the root izhi- in Western Ojibwe, meaning in a certain way, to a certain place, is an essential element of the stem and cannot be taken away. In the second example, its related preverb, which has the same meaning, is an element that has been added to an existing stem (bagidin-).
nindizhiwidoon I take it to a certain place
nindizhi-bagidinaan I put it down in a certain place
Pronouns – Demonstrative
Demonstrative pronouns can be used with nouns or can stand in place of nouns. They are used to point out or designate specific persons or things.
Animate Singular Inanimate Singular
This wa’aw o’ow
That a’aw I’iw
Animate Plural Inanimate Plural
These ongow onow
Those ingiw iniw
Obviative Singular Obviative Plural
This/these onow onow
That/those iniw iniw
Animate Singular Inanimate Singular
This over there wa’awedi o’owedi
That over there awedi iwedi
Animate Inanimate
Plural Plural
These over there ongowedig onowedin
Those over there ingiwedig iniwedin
Obviative Singular Obviative Plural
This/these over there onowedin onowedin
This/that over there iniwedin iniwedin
Personal pronouns stand in place of persons or nouns and indicate various roles of speech. There are three grammatical person represented by personal pronouns: First person (I), Second person (you), and Third person (he/she/it). Indicate the relationship in which the person referred to stands with respect to the speaker.
Singular Plural
First Person niin (I,me) niinawind (exclusive: we/us, but not you)
Second person giin (you) giinawind (inclusive: we/us, including you)
giinawaa (you)
Third Person wiin (s/he) wiinawaa (they/them)
There is also a set of personal pronouns, called pronouns of precedence, used to express concepts of x – first, or x’s turn: niinitam (me first, my turn)
Roots and Finals - Meanings
Many roots can be translated by adjectives or adverbs in English; others call for the use of a different verb; still others have no single-word equivalent. The following list of English words and phrases is intended to give some indication of the variety of concepts and ideas that can be conveyed by roots Ojibwe:
good
up against something
sticky
fast
flat
cold
testing
in plain view
five
in a certain place
sticking out of a surface
in a certain manner
Verb finals usually identify a state, process, or action, and can often be translated in English by verbs or by phrases that describe the means by which an action or event comes about. The list below gives some indication of the variety of ideas that can be conveyed by distinct finals Ojibwe:
be
grow
blown by wind
with a tool
by heat
fly
stand
by mouth
by cutting with blade
The final not only adds a certain meaning to the verb stem, but also determines whether the word is a noun or a verb. If the word is a verb, the final often determines its class – whether it is animate intransitive, transitive animate, or one of the other verb types. Verb types are often paired by transitivity and gender; that is, animate intransitive verbs are paired with inanimate intransitive verbs, and transitive animate verbs are paired with their transitive inanimate counterparts. The difference between an animate intransitive verb and its inanimate intransitive counterpart usually lies in their finals, as may be seen in the following pairs:
miskwaa it (inanimate) is red
miskozi it (animate) is red
jaagide it (inanimate) burns
jaagizo it (animate) burns
Similarly, the difference between transitive animate verbs and their transitive inanimate counterparts lies in their finals. In the three sets of transitive inanimate verbs below, the root through appears with several finals, each indicating a difference in the manner in which the action of the verb – to go through – is carried out:
ozhaaboshkaan
he/she goes through it with foot or body
ozhaaboga’aan
he/she chops through it (literallyhe/she goes through it by chopping)
ozhaabonaan
he/she goes through it by using the hand (as in a needle through cloth)
In the transitive animate counterparts of these verbs, some slight differences may be observed in the finals. In the first two cases below, something has been added to the finals that appeared in the transitive inanimate verbs; in the last case, the final is the same as that in the transitive inanimate verb.
ozhaaboshkawaan
he/she goes through him/her/them/ (or some animate thing) with foot or body (as in getting through a crowd)
ozhaaboga’waan
he/she goes through it (some animate thing) by chopping
ozhaabonaan
he/she goes through it (some animate thing) by using the hand
Some roots and finals may themselves consist of smaller parts.
Stem Building Elements - Identification
It is not possible to determine the composition of a particular word stem by looking at that stem in isolation. In other words, you cannot distinguish the various parts that make up the stem of a word or determine their meaning by looking at the one word alone. To discover the patterns of derivation, one must compare words that are in some way related in meaning in order to see if they also have a distinctive group of sounds in common (even if these are pronounced slightly differently).
When such a group of sounds (or related sounds) is found to recur in a group of stems that are related in meaning, the group of sounds is identified with the meaning and is considered a stem-building element. For example, if one looks at several verbs that share the meaning run (it is important to determine that they are, in fact, different stems and not just different inflected forms of a single stem), one finds that a particular group of sounds recurs in each stem.
bimibatoo he/she runs by, along
onjibatoo he/she runs from a certain place
bejibatoo he/she runs slowly
The recurring group of sounds in the verbs that share the meaning run can be identified as a stem-building element. Since this common element appears at the end of the stem, it is called a final.
-batoo run
In this process of analysis and discovery, the identification of each element should be verified by examining as many different stems as possible that are related in meaning. The sounds, the meaning, and the relative position of the stem-building element should be the same or similar in each stem. For example, in some instances, one may find that two different elements are pronounced the same way but have different meanings.
This method of analyzing families of stems that are related in meaning and form can also be used to identify the root of the stems. For example, if one examines the stems below, which are related in meaning and share the same group of sounds, one can identify two different roots.
bagami batoo he/she arrives running
bagam ose he/she arrives walking
beji batoo he/she runs slowly
bed ose he/she walks slowly
Analysis of the same group of stems also reveals a new final: -ose (walk)
The list of stems above also presents examples of the way sounds in an element may change when they combine with other elements. In the word bejibatoo (runs slowly), the two elements are joined by a connective i necessitated by a pronunciation rule. The root ends in j when it appears in front of this connective, but otherwise ends in d, as in the stem bedose (walks slowly). There are many of these kinds of variations that are not discussed in this outline.
Verb Stems – Primary Verb Stems with Two Elements
A primary verb stem contains no other word stems inside it. Many primary verb stems have two identifiable elements, neither of which is a word stem itself. The first element is called an initial and the second element is called a final according to their relative positions. Various kinds of elements can serve as initials in stems; in a primary stem, the initial is a root.
INITIAL + FINAL (root)
For example, in the stem of the word most commonly translated as runs, there are actually two elements – an initial root conveying direction (by, past, or along) and a final identifying the action (run).
bimibatoo he/she runs by, along
Many Ojibwe words are complex in construction, consisting of several parts, each of which has a meaning or function. In nouns and verbs, the core part of a word – the part that carries the basic meaning of the word – is called a word stem. To this stem may be added inflectional affixes, known as inflections, which give additional grammatical information about the word. (Such grammatical information can include, where applicable, gender, person, number, and the relationship in which the inflected word stands to other words or phrases in the sentence.) Affixes that are added to the front of the stem are known as prefixes; those that are added after the stem are known as suffixes. The suffices merge together to form an ending. The overall pattern of an inflected noun or verb is shown in the following word diagram:
inflectional prefixes + WORD STEM + inflectional suffixes (word ending)
In the following examples, the word stem can occur as in independent word, but meaning changes when a prefix and two suffixes are added:
Jiimaan (boat) is word stem
Gijiimaaniwaan = gi + jiimaan + iwaa + n = Your Boats
You + boat + more than one of you + more than one thing
A word stem does not always constitute an independent word. The following example is made up of a prefix, a stem, and an ending, but the stem does not constitute a word that can stand alone:
Niwaabandaan = ni + waaband + aan = I see it
The nouns and verbs in Ojibwe typically consist of a word stem and inflectional affixes, which surround the stem:
inflectional prefixes + WORD STEM + inflectional suffixes
The stem, or core part of a word, carries the basic meaning; the inflections show grammatical ideas and relationships. Many word stems are made up of smaller word parts, some are themselves words, some are not but still add a particular meaning to the underlying stem. For example, all of the stems in the words below have a meaning that includes the idea of through, and all of them have an element in common:
Zhaabwaakade it is burned through
zhaabwaate light filters through
zhaabonigan needle
A particular group of sounds (zhaabw- or zhaabo-) appears in these and many other stems that include the idea of through. The meaning is attached to a sound group, and turns into a stem-forming element. This particular element typically occurs as the first element of a word stem.
Many words are made up of elements that act as building blocks in word stems. Each element contains a particular group of sounds (which may vary in pronunciation depending on how it fits with other elements) and has a particular meaning or function and (usually) a particular position inside a stem. Word stems made up of such elements can also serve as building blocks in other stems, and these in turn inside others. Every time a stem-building element is added to another element or to a word stem, a meaning or function is added or changed and a new stem is created.
The process of assembling or building stems out of elements or existing word stems is called derivation. There are three main ways of assembling word stems: by primary derivation, by secondary derivation, and through composition.
A stem formed by primary derivation, called a primary stem, is made up of one or more elements that are not word stems themselves. A stem formed by secondary derivation, called a secondary stem, is made up of an underlying word stem and at least one stem-building element. A stem formed through composition, known as a compound stem, contains a relatively independent element, such as a word stem or a preverb or prenoun that resembles an adverb or other particle, and a word stem. A verb stem may also be modified in meaning by a process of reduplication, in which a prefix, the form of which depends on the sounds in the first syllable of the stem, is added to the front of the stem.
Word stems belonging to a particular word class will usually follow the pattern of inflections established for that word class. The patterns of derivation, however, are both more complex and more varied. Small groups of word stems will follow a common pattern, but, even within these small groups, many exceptions will occur.
It is derivation that the distinctive and meaningful core of the languages is most apparent. In examining the composition of word stems, we are looking at very old but still creative and changing aspects of the languages. To become really fluent in Ojibwe, one has to learn to understand and to make up new combinations of stem-building elements and to do so in accordance with the established patterns of the language.
Because some stem-building elements occur frequently and are easy to identify, one might be tempted to break all of the word stems they teach down into elements or other words. This may prove a tricky, since there are many elements that are pronounced in the same way as, or that sound similar to, other elements, but that have different meanings or positions. Breaking down stems into their elements and analyzing them and describing the patterns of stem formation can often be a complex process, and one should make sure that their explanation and patterns apply to more than one stem before using them. OKeep in mind that using a wide variety of stems in real words and sentences is often a better way to learn them rather than analyzing or explaining them. nly the most basic kinds of stem-building patterns are addressed here, there is still much to be learned about derivation.
When stems or stem-building elements are identified in the text, they are preceded (for suffixes) or followed (for prefixes and stems) by a hyphen to indicate that they are not full words, but only parts of words. In writing elements, the connective sounds that may appear between elements when they are assembled into stems are usually omitted.
Learning and understanding word stems is essential to learning the Ojibwe language.