Short Notes on Ojibwe Grammar

(last updated 06.13.04)

Introduction

Algonquin language family is the most populous and widespread Native language family in North America. Before the arrival of Europeans Algonquin languages were widespread in eastern and some western regions of the USA and in Southern Canada. Many Native American nations belong to Algonquin language family, speaking relative languages and dialects.

One of the most widespread Algonquin languages is Anishinaabe language – Anishinaabemowin. It belongs to the Central Algonquin group and includes three dialects: Ojibwe, Ottawa (Odaawaa) and Potawatomi (Boodewaadamii). Anishinaabe is a name, which these three nations call themselves. The most populous Anishinaabe nation is Ojibwe. Ojibwe is also one of the most populous Native nations in North America. But nowadays only 25% of Ojibwe people speak their own language as native one.

Writing System (Fiero system)

Ojibwe speakers in different communities use lots of different writing systems. The most popular and easy writing system is Double Vowel Writing System, or Fiero System. There are long a short vowel sounds in Ojibwe language. The system is called 'double vowel' because it uses two vowel letters written together (aa, ii, oo) to indicate long vowel sounds.

Fiero system is one of the easiest writing systems developed for Ojibwe language. In Fiero system almost every letter represent only one sound. It means that it can be read only one way.

Combinations of two or more letters widely used in English to represent a single sound are almost absent in Fiero system. There are only six letter combinations which represent one sound each in Fiero system.

There are no sounds l, r, v, f in Ojibwe language; and letters f, l, q, r, u, v, and x in Fiero system.

Stress in Ojibwe Words

All words consist of syllables, which are basic sound units. Any syllable should contain one vowel (long or short) and 0, 1, 2, or 3 consonants:

bezhig (one) = be-zhig [1st syllable:cons.+vowel - 2nd syllable:cons.+vowel+cons.]

amik (beaver) = a-mik [1st syllable:vowel - 2nd syllable:cons.+vowel+cons.]

bakade (he is hungry) = ba-ka-de [1st syllable:cons.+vowel - 2nd syllable:cons.+vowel - 3rd syllable:cons.+vowel]

bwaan (Dakota) = bwaan [1 syllable:cons.+cons.+vowel+cons.]

Every pair of syllables (counting from the start of the word) forms so called metrical foot, the first syllable of which is weak (unstressed), and the second - strong (stressed):

1st metr.foot:(weak syllab. + strong syllab.) + 2nd metr.foot:(weak syllab. + strong syllab.), etc.

There are some rules as well:

1. Only short vowels could be weak. If a long vowel takes position which must be occupied by a weak syllable, then this syllable with a long vowel is treated as a separate metrical foot consisting of only one (=strong) syllable (see: esiban, jiimaan).

2. The last syllable of a word is always stressed (see: bakadewin).

In the examples below metrical feet are in brackets, strong vowels marked bold:

(a-mik) beaver

(ba-ka)-(de) he is hungry

(ba-ka)-(de)-(win) hunger

(e)-(si-ban) raccoon

(jii)-(maan) boat

In every word there is the most stressed vowel (the main stress). This is the strong syllable in the third metrical foot counting them from the end of the word.*

ningii-waabamasiig - I didn't see them

metrical feet are: (ningii)-(waa)(bama)(siig)

The third metrical foot from the end is -waa-, it consists of only one strong syllable (there must be a week syllable after -gii- to form the standart weak-strong metrical foot, but there is the long (strong) vowel /aa/ after it. That makes -waa- a separate metrical foot, consisting of only one strong syllable. Being the strong syllable of the third metrical foot from the end, long /aa/ in -waa- takes the main stress.

If the word contains less metrical feet (one or two), then the main stressed syllable is the first strong syllable from the beginning of the word (the one which is farther from the end).

* This is correct for Odawa dialect maybe, but not quite correct for Ojibwe itself. Things are a bit more complicated. See My own notes about stress in Ojibwe.

Note. In Odaawa dialect weak vowels in words could be completely omitted. This is called vowel syncope. So they say: mik instead of amik (beaver), bkade instead of bakade (he is hungry), bkadewin instead of bakadewin (hunger), esban instead of esiban (raccoon), etc.

Parts of Speech

There are four parts of speech in Ojibwe language. They are: nouns, pronouns, verbs, and particles. Each of those parts of speech could be divided into several categories.

Nouns are divided into two genders to represent living and non-living beings and things. They could be modified by adding different prefixes and suffixes to them, which are used to indicate if the thing or being belongs to someone, if it is small, or used to indicate location or direction, etc.

Pronouns could be divided into personal pronouns, which indicate persons (like: I, you, he, etc); demonstrative pronouns, which are used to point out things (this, that); and some other kinds.

Verbs is the most important part of speech in Ojibwe language. Verbs are used to indicate actions and qualities and conditions of things (like color, or size, etc). In Ojibwe verbs are very often used in such cases where in English we use adjectives or adverbs. Ojibwe verbs flex. They change their form by adding prefixes and suffixes according to person who performs the action and person whom this action affects, tense, or relation of action which they describe with other actions and words in a statement, etc. Verbs as well as other Ojibwe words can contain several roots and add special particles called preverbs, combining all their meanings into one idea. This is the most difficult and most informative part of speech in Ojibwe.

Particles could be divided into different groups mostly according to their meaning and European understanding of parts of speech. There are particles used as numerals in European languages, particles, used as adverbs, or particles used as conjunctions, etc. Particles are the only words in Ojibwe language which do not change their form.

Nouns

 Noun Gender and Plural

GENDER. Nouns have gender – animate or inanimate. Nouns referring to people, animals, trees, and spirits belong to the animate gender. Some non-living things are also included in the animate gender, although most nouns referring to non-living things are classified as inanimate.

Animate Nouns Inanimate Nouns

 inini man waakaa'igan house

 ikwe woman adopowin table

 makwa bear waasechigan window

 mitig tree zhoomin grape

 giizis sun, month mitig stick

 animikii thunder aanakwad cloud

 miigwan feather zaaga'igan lake

 odaabaan car miikana road

 akik kettle onaagaans cup

A noun and any demonstrative that accompanies it must agree in gender. Thus a demonstrative used with an animate noun must be in the animate gender; a demonstrative used with an inanimate noun must be in the inanimate gender.

wa'aw inini - this man (animate) o'ow waakaa'igan - this house (inanimate)

a'aw ikwe - that woman (animate) i'iw adopowin - that table (inanimate)

Verbs also take on different inflections to show agreement with nouns. In the examples below, the form of I see varies in accordance with the gender (animate or inanimate) of the noun involved.

Inini niwaabamaa - I see a man (animate) Waakaa'igan niwaabandaan - I see a house (inanimate)

NUMBER. Nouns have number; that is, they can be either singular or plural. The plural is formed by the addition of a suffix to the stem. Different suffixes are used to indicate the plural of animate and inanimate nouns. The animate plural suffix ends in -g and the inanimate plural suffix ends in -n. Most stems require a connective (a, wa, o, ii, oo) between the stem and the last sound of the suffix.

Animate Nouns Inanimate Nouns

English Singular Plural English   Singular   Plural

 bear makwa makwa-g fire ishkode ishkode-n

 wolf ma'iingan ma'iingan-ag dish onaagan onaagan-an

 beaver amik amik-wag plant mashkiki mashkiki-wan

 fish giigoonh giigoon-yag river ziibi ziibi-wan

 rabbit waabooz waaboz-oog box makak makak-oon

 ice mikwam mikwam-iig paddle abwi abwi-in

The form of a demonstrative and a verb will also indicate the number of the noun to which they refer:

Onizhishin i'iw mazina'igan. - This book is nice. Onizhishinoon iniw mazina'iganan. - These books are nice.

Note. In different Anishinaabemowin dialects the same noun can belong to diffrent genders. E.g. they consider bakwezhigan (bread) - animate in Minnesota, and inanimate in Southern Ontario, etc.

Note. Sometimes inanimate nouns could be treated as animate ones. In some stories or fairytales (or when used as names for people), inanimate objects are treated as alive and can perform actions including those directed towards other inanimate or animate objects - people, things; then they are treated as animate nouns using vai, vti, and vta verbs with them.

Locative Form

The locative form of a noun is used to express ideas of location. The locative form is indicated by a suffix.

oodena - town oodenaang - to/at/in the town

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.

Noun Noun Locative

 oodena town oodena-ang to/at/in the town

 onaagan dish onaagan-ing at/on the dish

 makak box makak-ong in/on the box

 mitig tree mitig-ong to/at/in/on the tree

 zaaga’igan lake zaaga’igan-ing to/at/in/on the lake

atoon o’ow onaaganing - put that (inanim.) on a dish

namadabi apabiwing - he is sitting on a chair

adaawewigamigong nind-izhaa - I’m going to the store

ningii-bimosemin miikanaang - we were walking on the road

Possesssed and Dependent Nouns

Possessed nouns. Nouns can also be inflected to indicate a grammatical relationship of possession. The possessor is shown by a personal prefix or a personal prefix and personal suffix added to the possessed noun.

 nin-jiimaan my boat (inanimate noun)

 gi-jiimaan your (s) boat

 o-jiimaan his/her boat

 nin-jiimaan-i-naan our (exc) boat (-i- before suffix - connecting vowel)

 gi-jiimaan-i-naan our (inc) boat

 gi-jiimaan-i-waa your (pl) boat

 o-jiimaan-i-waa their boat

In addition to a personal prefix, a possessed noun may have a basic suffix showing its gender, number, and, if applicable, obviative or locative form.

A personal suffix may appear between the stem and the basic suffix to show that the possessor is plural or, if third person, obviative.

gi-jiimaan-an - your(singl) boats gi-jiimaan-iwaa-n - your(pl) boats

Some possessed nouns take on the possessive suffix -(i)m immediately after the stem but before any inflectional suffixes.

Note. There is no rule indicating which nouns take it and which - don’t.

 ni-zhooniya-m my money (animate noun)

 gi-zhooniya-m your s. money

 o-zhooniya-m-[an] his/her money

 ni-zhooniya-m-i-naan our (exc) money (-i- between suffixes is a connecting vowel)

 gi-zhooniya-m-i-naan our (inc) money

 gi-zhooniya-m-i-waa your pl. money

 o-zhooniya-m-i-waa-[n] their money

Note. In square brackets there is a suffix of another grammatical category - obviative.

Dependent Nouns. In Ojibwe, two groups of nouns, which include names of body parts and relatives, always appear in a possessed form with a personal prefix. These nouns are known as dependent nouns because their stems cannot appear alone but only with a personal prefix.

(n)indengway - my face

nininj - my hand

nikaad - my leg

nimisad - my stomach

nishtigwaan - my head

(n)indooskwan - my elbow

(n)ingidig - my knee

nipikwan - my back

(n)indinimaangan - my shoulder

(n)inzid - my foot

(n)imbaabaa - my father

nimaamaa - my mother

nimishoomis - my grandfather

nookomis - my grandmother

ningosis - my son

nindaanis - my daughter

nisayenh - my older brother

nimisenh - my older sister

nishiime - my younger brother/sister

Diminutive Nouns

A diminutive suffix can be added to a noun stem to indicate that the thing/being referred to is of small size or physically immature relative to other items of its kind or members of the group identified by the noun.

The diminutive suffix ends in -ns and its form very depending on noun stems (-ens, -ns, -oons, -iins)

ziibi (a river) - ziibiins (a small river, a creek)

miigwan (a feather) - miigwaans (a small feather)

nishiime (my younger brother) - nishiimens (my little younger brother)

wajiw (a mountain) - wajiwens (a small mountain, a hill)

gekek (a hawk) - gekekoons (a small/little hawk)

Pejorative Nouns

A pejorative suffix can be added to a noun stem to indicate that the thing or the person named is in some way unsatisfactory or in disfavour.

The pejorative suffix is -(i)sh.

jiimaanish - useless boat

mookomaanish - useless knife

Note. The pejorative suffix may also indicate affection.

Preterit Nouns

A preterit suffix can be added to a noun stem to indicate past state or absence. For example, a preterit suffix added to a noun that refers to a person indicates that the person is deceased. In some varieties of Ojibwe, a preterit suffix added to a noun that refers to a thing indicates that the thing is missing or no longer usable.

The preterit suffix is /-(i)ban/.

nimishoomisiban - my late grandfather

nimishoomisibaniig - my late grandfathers

nimookomaaniban - the knife I used to have, the thing that used to be my knife

nimashkimodibaniin - the bags I used to have, the things that used to be my bags

Vocative Nouns

There are special vocative forms used in addressing people by name or, in some cases, by designations indicating kinship. These often involve shortening the full word.

Ninga (my mother) - Ning! (mom!)

Nimishoomis (my grandfather) - Misho! (grandfather!)

Nokomis (my grandmother) - Noko! (grandmother!)

Aabitagiizhigokwe (Half-of-the-sky-woman, personal name) - Aabitagiizhigok!

In formal speech, a vocative plural suffix may be added to the noun stem designating the group addressed. A basic suffix does not appear.

Boozhoo, nindanishinaabedog - Hallo, my fellow Natives

Bizindamog inashke, abinoojiiyidog - Listen to it, children!

Obviation

Ojibwe "distinguish between two third persons in a sentence or a narrative by means of a mechanism called obviation. In the sentence John saw Fred, for example, there are two third persons - John and Fred. When a sentence contains two third persons in this kind of grammatical relationship, one of them is seen as the main one and is called proximate (as if it were somehow closer to the interest of the speaker) and the other one is seen as secondary and is called obviative. The obviative noun takes on an obviative inflectional suffix that distinguishes it from the unmarked proximate third person. In the sentence below, the obviative ending on the noun is underlined.

John ogii-waabamaan Fredan - John saw Fred

Since the grammatical relationship between the two nouns is indicated by their inflections and by the inflection on the verb, the word order can be varied without changing the essential meaning of the sentence, as is shown in these Western Ojibwe variations on the same sentence.

Ogii-waabamaan John Fredan. - John saw Fred. 

John Fredan ogii-waabamaan. - John saw Fred. 

Fredan John ogii-waabamaan. - John saw Fred.

When two third persons perform the same grammatical function - for example, when they are jointly the subject or the object of a verb - they are both proximate or obviative, depending on their relationship to the other animate third person in the sentence...

Once a particular third person has been marked as obviative,.. all the words that agree with it have an obviative inflection. Similarly, all words that agree with the proximate noun have a proximate inflection. In the examples below, the two third persons are both subjects of the verb and proximate.

John ya’aa dash Fred gii-bimosewag miikanaang. - John and Fred were walking on the road.

" ("Native Languages: Ojibwe and Cree - Resource Guide, Grades 1 to 12, 2002.")

***

"Lots of languages distinguish their third person forms according to different criteria that don't apply to first and second person forms. Think about English - you have "I' and "you" and these are used without regard to the sexual gender of the speaker, right? In other words, there's no difference in the use of "I" as to whether the speaker is male or female. But think about third person -- here you have to choose a gender-specific pronoun, "he" or "she". Well Ojibwe doesn't work this way - you never have to choose a specific pronoun based on sexual gender - but Ojibwe has a different system, so-called third and fourth person - now here's how this works - a speaker chooses a particular third person to be prominent in a particular span of discourse -- the third person, and all other non-1st, 2nd persons are then made secondary, so-called obviative [fourth-person] (this is as fundamental to Ojibwe as "he" and "she" is to English." (this is an explanation written by Randolph Valentine in First-Ojibwe Forum.)

Simpler the meaning of obviative could be explained as a need to distinguish between two third persons in a statement. The reason for such need is that Ojibwe has a very flexible word order. It means that almost every word can take almost every place in a statement. In English we say "John saw Fred"; in Ojibwe it is possible to say "John saw Fred", "Fred saw John", "Jonh Fred saw", "Fred John saw", "Saw John Fred", and "Saw Fred John"; and all with the same meaning - "John saw Fred". Nouns can freely circulate around verbs. Usually it makes no mess because Ojibwe verbs contain information about all persons involved in the action. Phrases look like 'John i-see-you', or 'i-see-you John'. But when there are two third persons verbs look like 'he-sees-him' and it's impossible to say who sees and who is seen, with such a word order. That's why obviative is in need and that's why it affects only third persons and only animate third persons, when both of them are he or she.

nimbaabaa onoondawaan ma'iinganan - my father hears the wolf

nimbaabaa ma'iinganan onoondawaan - my father hears the wolf

nimbaabaayan onoondawaan ma'iingan - wolf hears my father

onoondawaan nimaabaayan ma'iingan - wolf hears my father

Note. The most preferred Ojibwe word order in the second sentence however would be:

nimbaabaa owaabamigoon ma'iinganan - my father is heard by the wolf.

My father here is preferred to be proximate third person. And it creates necessity to use verb in passive voice. Using passive voice to make the proximate third person (of a narrative) proximate in any case is usual in Ojibwe language. It is considered better to use passive voice if needed, than make changes between chosen proximate and obviative persons in a narrative depending on who is performing the action.

There is another situation (besides 'he-sees-him') in Ojibwe when two third persons are involved into statement and obviation is needed. These are animate nouns in posessive form, that belong to posessors standing in third person (that belong to him, her, or them). It's considered that the posessor is the main, proximate third person, even if it doesn't appear in the statement, so these nouns must appear in obviative form, as well as all their verbs and pronouns.

Paul omaamaayan jiibaakwewan - Paul's mother is cooking.

osayeyan bimosewan - his older brother is walking.

Nouns in obviative take special suffixes. Noun obviative suffix is /-an/, or /-n, -yan, -wan/. For verb obviative suffixes see Verb Paradigms.

Demonstrative animate pronouns are not used with nouns in obviative. With nouns in obviative are used only plural inanimate demonstrative pronouns regardless to real number.

nisaye a'aw - that is my older brother (a'aw - 'that' animate)

gisaye a'aw - that is your older brother

osayeyan iniw - that is his older brother  (iniw - 'that' animate obviative, or 'those' inanimate plural)

Pronouns

Demonstrative Pronouns

Ojibwe language has three sets of demonstrative pronouns expressing distance - this (the closest), that (further), that over there (the furthest). Different demonstrative pronouns are used with animate and inanimate nouns:

Animate Inanimate

Singular Plural Singular Plural

 This wa'aw ongow   o'ow   onow

 That a'aw ingiw   i'iw   iniw

 That over there awedi ingiwedig   iwedi   iniwedin

The form of demonstrative pronouns vary in different dialects and communities. These are demonstrative pronouns used in Minnesota Ojibwe.

Personal Pronouns

There are seven personal pronouns in Ojibwe:

 niin I, me

 giin you

 wiin he, she

 niinawind we (exc.); we exclusive, we without you – me and them

 giinawind we (inc.); we inclusive, we with you – me and you (singl. or pl.)

 giinawaa you pl., you all

 wiinawaa they

Verbs

Verb Categories and Inflections

There are two main features of Ojibwe verbs, which affect their inflections - transitivity and animacy.

Transitivity.

Take a look at these examples:

1) I walk, you go, he is standing, we are living;

2) It works, it rains, it is shining, it is falling;

3) I see him, you hear me, he knows us, I remember you;

4) I see it, you hear it, he knows it, I remember it.

Can you see the difference between the first two and the last two lines?

Verbs in the last two lines are used with words him, me, us, you, it. These words are called objects. Objects could be also nouns: I see a boat, you hear a bird, he knows John. Such verbs which can take objects are called transitive verbs. Verbs in the first two lines can't take objects (just logically) - these are intransitive verbs, they have only subjects (those, who are doing actions are called subjects.)

In English it is not vital to know if a verb is transitive or intransitive. In Ojibwe it is. In English you can say: I eat, I eat it, I know, I know him, I know it. We use the same verbs both with and without objects. We just don't care about it.

In Ojibwe if a verb is intransitive, you can't use an object with it. At all. If you need to add an object, or if you talk about an object even without naming it, you have to use an appropriate transitive verb:

wiisini - eat (intransitive verb)

niwiisin - I eat

niwiisin opin - I eat potato - incorrect phrase; opin is an object, you can't use intransitive verb with it.

nindamwaa - I eat him/her (transitive verb)

nindamwaa opin - I eat potato - correct phrase; transitive verb is used with the object. (potato is animate noun in Ojibwe - he)

Animacy

The second thing which affects Ojibwe verbs is animacy. To know the gender of nouns you use with verbs is also vital. For intransitive verbs with animate subjects (subjects which are animate nouns) you need to use animate intransitive verbs:

niwiisin - I eat (without saying what you eat);

(n)indagaashiinh - I'm small;

ninibaa - I sleep.

With inanimate subjects you need to use inanimate intransitive verbs:

gimiwan - it is raining;

bangishimo - it is sunset;

agaasaa - it is small.

Transitive verbs are also affected by animacy. But for transitive verbs you need to know the gender of an object. If you need to add an animate object you need to use an animate transitive verb:

niwaabamaa - I-see-him/her (=i see him, or i see her)

niwaabamaa nimaamaa - I-see-him/her my-mother (=i see my mother)

(n)indamwaa opin - I-eat-him/her potato (=i eat potato)

And if you need to add an inanimate object, you need an inanimate transitive verb:

niwaabandaan - I-see-it (=I see it)

niwaabandaan waakaa'igan - I-see-it house (=I see a house)

nimiijin wiiyaas - I-eat-it meat (=I eat meat)

So once again:

wiisini - eat (intransitive verb)

niwiisin - I eat

niwiisin opin - I eat potato - incorrect phrase; opiniig is an object, you can't use intransitive verb with it.

nindamwaa - I eat him/her (animate transitive verb)

nindamwaa opin - I eat potato - correct phrase; transitive verb is used with the object. (potato is animate noun in Ojibwe - he) animate transitive verb is used with animate noun.

niwiisin manoomin - i eat wild rice - incorrect phrase; manoomin is an object, you can't use intransitive verb with it.

nindamwaa manoomin - i eat wild rice - incorrect phrase; manoomin is not alive, it is it, not he, so you can't use i eat him/her verb with it.

nimiijin - I eat it (inanimate transitive verb)

nimiijin manoomin - i eat wild rice - correct phrase; transitive verb is used with the object. inanimate transitive verb is used with inanimate noun.

That's why there are four verb categories in Ojibwe:

Verbs animate intransitive (vai)

Verbs inanimate intransitive (vii)

Verbs transitive animate (vta)

Verbs transitive inanimate (vti)

This way there are usually three or four different verbs for the same action in Ojibwe language, belonging to defferent categories. For example, there are three different verbs 'eat', three different verbs 'know', three different verbs 'see', 'hear', etc.

1. Verbs animate intransitive (vai)

Verbs animate intransitive (vai) – are used with an animate subject and no object:

wiisini he eats, he is eating

niminikwe I drink, I am drinking

aakoziwag they are sick

baapi he laughs, he is laughing

gibakade you (singular) are hungry

Verbs conjugate i.e. change their form depending on person and number.

Personal pronouns are not used in conjugation. Personal prefixes and suffixes (affixes) are used instead:

 Affix:

 I, me ni-(verb)

 You s. gi-( verb)

 S/he (verb)

 We (exc) ni-( verb)-min

 We (inc) gi-( verb)-min

 You pl. gi-( verb)-m

 They (verb)-wag

The main verb form of Ojibwe verbs is 3d person singular. It means that a verb itself stands in 3d person singular and is translated as: wiisini – (he) eats, minikwe – (he) drinks, etc. That’s why in 3d person singular vai verbs don’t take affix.

Personal prefixes change slightly depending on the sound following after them:

ni- before w, n, m;

nin- before d, g, j, z, zh;

nim- before b;

nind- before any vowel;

gi- before any consonant;

gid- before any vowel.

Note. In Minnesota subdialects in nin-, nind-, nim- variations of ni- prefix first /n/ is often omitted and prefix looks like in-, ind-, im-. Usually the first /n/ is omitted when a word is standing before the word with this prefix ends in a consonant:

"Niminwendam," indikid - I said, "I'm glad." but:

"Nimino-ayaa," nindikid - I said, "I'm okay."

Further to the west in Manitoba the first /n/ in the first person prefix is never omitted. But to the east in Michigan and Ontario (Odaawaa dialect) the first person prefix looks like n-, nd-. They also use long prefixes in this region: ndoo- (or nda-, ndi-.)

wiisini - eats izhaa - goes

 ni-wiisin I eat nind-izhaa I go

 gi-wiisin you eat gid-izhaa you go

 wiisini s/he eats izhaa s/he goes

 ni-wiisini-min we (exc) eat nind-izhaa-min we (exc) go

 gi-wiisini-min we (inc) eat gid-izhaa-min we (ins) go

 gi-wiisini-m you pl. eat gid-izhaa-m you pl. go

 wiisini-wag they eat izhaa-wag they go

For more examples see Verb Paradigms.

Note. If a vai verb ends in a short vowel /i/ or /o/, this vowel will be dropped in 1 and 2 person singulars:

wiisini (he eats)      - niwiisin (I eat), giwiisin (you eat)

gawishimo (he lies) - ningawishim (I lie), gigawishim (you lie).

If a vai verb starts with /o/, this vowel will lengthen into /oo/ taking personal prefix:

onjibaa (he is from such a place) - nindoonjibaa (I am from such a place)

Verb Tenses

There are only three tenses in Ojibwe: Present, Past and Future.Present Tense is used to express actions which happen in present, or now, or actions just past. Present tense never used to express future actions in Ojibwe. Present tense doesn't have any tense prefix.Past Tense expresses past actions, which happened longer time ago that just now. Past tense forms by adding the past tense prefix /gii-/. The past tense prefix stands after personal prefixes: 

wiisini - eats izhaa - goes

 nin-gii-wiisin I ate nin-gii-izhaa I went

 gi-gii-wiisin you s. ate gi-gii-izhaa you s. went

 gii-wiisini s/he ate gii-izhaa s/he went

 nin-gii-wiisini-min we (exc) ate nin-gii-izhaa-min we (exc) went

 gi-gii-wiisini-min we (inc) ate gi-gii-izhaa-min we (inc) went

 gi-gii-wiisinim you pl. ate gi-gii-izhaa-m you pl.  went

 gii-wiisini-wag they ate gii-izhaa-wag they went

Future Tense expresses all future actions, even 'future in the past' actions. It is formed in two different ways:1) Simple future is formed with the prefix /ga-/ for 1st and 2nd person and with the prefix /da-/ for 3d person.2) Future with meaning of wish or want, is formed with the prefix /wii-/.Future with /wii-/ is usually translated as «want to do smth.» or «going to do smth.», and future with /ga-/ and /da-/ - as «will (definitely) do»:

wiisini - eats izhaa - goes

 nin-ga-wiisin I will eat ni-wii-izhaa I am going to go

 gi-ga-wiisin you s.  will eat gi-wii-izhaa you s. are going to go

 da-wiisini s/he will eat wii-izhaa s/he is going to go

 nin-ga-wiisini-min we (exc) will eat ni-wii-izhaa-min we (exc) are going to go

 gi-ga-wiisini-min we (inc) will eat gi-wii-izhaa-min we (inc) are going to go

 gi-ga-wiisini-m you pl.  will eat gi-wii-izhaa-m you pl.  are going to go

 da-wiisini-wag hey will eat wii-izhaa-wag   they are going to go

Note. Verb tenses are formed the same way for all verb categories. 

2. Verbs transitive animate (vta)

Verbs transitive animate (vta) – are used with an animate subject and an animate object:

nindamwaa opin – I eat potato (opin/potato (singl) – animate noun)

nindamwaag opiniig – I eat potatoes (opiniig/potatoes (pl))

nimbaabaa niwaabamaa – I see my father

giwaabamaa a’aw ikwe – you (singl) see that woman

niwaabamaanaan a’aw ma’iingan – we (exc) see that wolf

giga-waabamin – see you later (gi-ga-waabam-in – I will see you)

This is the most difficult verb category. Vta verbs change their form depending on both subject and object person and number. Variety of forms could reach some hundreds or more. There are some examples:

(waabam - see someone)

I see myself - niwaabamidiz

I see you (singl.) - giwaabamin

I see him/her - niwaabamaa

I see you (pl.) - giwaabamininim

I see them - niwaabamaag

you (singl.) see me - giwaabam

you(singl.) see yourself - giwaabamidiz

you(singl.) see him/her - giwaabamaa

you(singl.) see us - giwaabamimin

you (singl.) see them - giwaabamag

s/he sees me - niwaabamig

s/he sees you (singl.) - giwaabamig

s/he sees himself/herself - waabamidizo

s/he sees another one - owaabamaan

s/he sees us (excl.) - niwaabamigoonaan

s/he sees us (incl.) - giwaabamigoonaan

s/he sees you (pl.) - giwaabamigoowaa

s/he sees them - owaabamaan

Examples of more vta verb inflections see in Verb Paradigms. 

3. Verbs transitive inanimate (vti)

Verbs transitive inanimate (vti) – are used with an animate subject and an inanimate object:

nimiijiin wiiyaas – I eat meat (wiiyaas/meat – inanimate noun)

giwaabandaan o’ow jiimaan – you see that boat

niwaabandaamin o’ow jiimaan – we (exc) see that boat

niwaabandaanan iniw jiimaanan – I see those boats

Vti verb conjugation depends on subject person and number and on object number.There are two classes of vti verbs depending on a verb stem ending, consonant (class 1) or vowel (class 2). Suffixes for these two classes differ slightly:

(waaband- - see something)

I see it - niwaabandaan

you (singl.) see it - giwaabandaan

s/he sees it - owaabandaan

we (excl.) see it - niwaabandaamin

we (incl.) see it - giwaabandaanim

you (pl.) see it - giwaabandaanaawaa

they see it - owaabandaanaawaa

More examples of vti verb inflections see in Verb Paradigms. 

4. Verbs inanimate intransitive (vii)

Verbs inanimate intransitive (vii) – are used with an inanimate subject and no object:

waawiyeyaa – it is round

waabishkaa – it is white

michaa – it is big

inaande – it is of such color

bizhishigwaa – it is empty

Note. To these verbs suffix /-magad/ could be added, it has no special sense and doesn’t change the sense of the verb:

waawiyeyaa-magad – it is round

inaande-magad – it is of such color

Vii verbs have much less forms, than verbs of other categories:

michaa - it is big michaawan - they (inaniamte) are big

More examples of vii verb inflections see in Verb Paradigms.

Among vii verbs there are also so called "weather" verbs:

gimiwan - rain, it is raining

zoogipon - snow, it is snowing

zaagaate - sunny, it is sunny

gizhaate - hot, it is hot

gisinaa - cold, it is cold

noodin - wind, it is windy

waaban - dawn

gii-gimiwan bijiinaago – it rained yesterday.

da-zaagaate waabang – it will be sunny tomorrow. 

Obviative

Obviative is a grammatical category, which deals with the second third person. It affects nouns as well as verbs.

First of all let's start with what specialists in Ojibwe language say about obviative:

"Ojibwe distinguish between two third persons in a sentence or a narrative by means of a mechanim called obviation. In the sentence John saw Fred, for example, there are two third persons - John and Fred. When a sentence contains two third persons in this kind of grammatical relationship, one of them is seen as the main one and is called proximate (as if it were somehow closer to the interest of the speaker) and the other one is seen as secondary and is called obviative. The obviative noun takes on an obviative inflectional suffix that distinguishes it from the unmarked proximate third person.When two third persons perform the same grammatical function - for example, when they are jointly the subject or the object of a verb - they are both proximate or obviative, depending on their relationship to the other animate third person in the sentence...Once a particular third person has been marked as obviative,.. all the words that agree with it have an obviative inflection. Similary, all words that agree with the proximate noun have a proximate inflecion..." (Native Languages: Ojibwe and Cree - Resource Guide, Grades 1 to 12, 2002. Ontario Ministry of Education.)

***

"Lots of languages distinguish their third person forms according to different criteria that don't apply to first and second person forms. Think about English - you have "I' and "you" and these are used without regard to the sexual gender of the speaker, right? In other words, there's no difference in the use of "I" as to whether the speaker is male or female. But think about third person -- here you have to choose a gender-specific pronoun, "he" or "she". Well Ojibwe doesn't work this way - you never have to choose a specific pronoun based on sexual gender - but Ojibwe has a different system, so-called third and fourth person - now here's how this works - a speaker chooses a particular third person to be prominent in a particular span of discourse -- the third person, and all other non-1st, 2nd persons are then made secondary, so-called obviative [fourth-person] (this is as fundamental to Ojibwe as "he" and "she" is to English." (this is an explanation written by Randolph Valentine in First-Ojibwe Forum.)

Simpler the meaning of obviative could be explained as a need to destinguish between two third persons in a statement. The reason for such need is that Ojibwe has a very flexible word order. It means that almost every word can take almost every place in a statement. In English we say "John saw Fred"; in Ojibwe it is possible to say "John saw Fred", "Fred saw John", "Jonh Fred saw", "Fred John saw", "Saw John Fred", and "Saw Fred John"; and all with the same meaning - "John saw Fred". Nouns can freely circulate around verbs. Usually it makes no mess because Ojibwe verbs contain information about all persons involved in the action. Phrases look like 'John i-see-you', or 'i-see-you John'. But when there are two third persons verbs look like 'he-sees-him' and it's impossible to say who sees and who is seen, with such a word order. That's why obviative is in need and that's why it affects only third persons and only animate third persons, when both of them are he or she.

nimbaabaa onoondawaan ma'iinganan - my father hears the wolf

nimbaabaa ma'iinganan onoondawaan - my father hears the wolf

nimbaabaayan onoondawaan ma'iingan - wolf hears my father

onoondawaan nimaabaayan ma'iingan - wolf hears my father

Note. The most preferred Ojibwe word order in the second sentence however would be:

nimbaabaa owaabamigoon ma'iinganan - my father is heard by the wolf.

My father here is preferred to be proximate third person. And it creates necessity to use verb in passive voice. Using passive voice to make the proximate third person (of a narrative) proximate in any case is usual in Ojibwe language. It is considered better to use passive voice if needed, than make changes between chosen proximate and obviative persons in a narrative depending on who is performing the action.

There is another situation (besides 'he-sees-him') in Ojibwe when two third persons are involved into statement and obviation is needed. These are animate nouns in posessive form, that belong to posessors standing in third person (that belong to him, her, or them). It's considered that the posessor is the main, proximate third person, even if it doesn't appear in the statement, so these nouns must appear in obviative form, as well as all their verbs and pronouns.

Paul omaamaayan jiibaakwewan - Paul's mother is cooking.

osayeyan bimosewan - his older brother is walking.

Nouns in obviative take special suffixes. Noun obviative suffix is /-an/, or /-n, -yan, -wan/. For verb obviative suffixes see Verb Paradigms.

Demonstrative animate pronouns are not used with nouns in obviative. With nouns in obviative are used only plural inanimate demonstrative pronouns regardless to real number.

nisaye a'aw - that is my older brother (a'aw - 'that' animate)

gisaye a'aw - that is your older brother

osayeyan iniw - that is his older brother (iniw - 'that' animate obviative, or 'those' inanimate plural) 

Verb Order or Form

Every verb in Ojibwe can appear in three orders, sometimes called verb forms. Each of those orders has its own set of paradigms:

Independent order, or A form is used in simple sentences and in main clauses of complex sentences.

zaaga'iganing nindizhaa - I go to the lake.
adaawewigamigong gidizhaa - you (singl.) go to the store.
ogii-waabamaawaan gimaaamaayan - they saw your mother (obv.)

Conjunct order, or B form is used in subordinate clauses of complex sentences and in content questions. (More on conjunct)

giwii-odamin ishkwaa-wiisiniyan - you (singl) will play after eating (= after you eat)
gishpin gimiwang waabang, gaawiin niwii-izhaasii adaawewigamigong - if it is raining tomorrow, I won't go to the store.
aaniin ezhi-bimaabiziyan? - how are things? (=how are you living?)
aandii ezhaayan? - where are you going?

Besides usual B form, or plain conjunct, there is also B form with an inital vowel change, also called changed conjunct, and so called C form, or participle.
Two variants of B form are used in different types of subordinate clauses. Changed conjunct is also used in content questions.

aaniin pii gaa-ni-maajaa? - when did he leave?

Difference in using between these two B forms appears because of the difference in their meanings. Though in diffrent communities plain conjunct could be used in cases where in other communities changed conjunct is used and vice versa.

B form without initial vowel change (plain conjunct) has hypothetical meaning, it describes something that haven't happen yet, and you don't know for sure if it happens. It is very often preceded with the word 'when' in translation, or at least 'when' could be easily placed before it without any real change of its meaning.

giishpin gimiwanzinook noongom, giwii-babaamosemin mitigwaakiing - if it doesn't rain today, we will go for a walk to the forest.

B form with an initial vowel change (changed conjunct) has a 'real' meaning. Verbs in it describe real situations, not just 'if' or 'when'. In translations it is usually preceded with words: 'because', 'while', 'even though', 'whenever', 'in order to'.

Aanawi waa-gimiwang noongom, giwii-babaamosemin mitigwaakiing - even though it rains today, we will go for a walk to the forest.

Participle, or C form is a verb form which is used instead of a noun, naming an object. Participles also often work as English adjectives, qualifying nouns (sharing this role with preverbs). Since almost all equivalents of English adjectives are verbs in Ojibwe, combining with nouns to qualify them, they often turn into participles:

Niwaabamaa a'aw memengwaa mekawaadizid. - I see that beautiful butterfly.

Participle answers the question "who?", or "what?" The correct sense of it could be translated as "someone/something, who/which is doing smth", or "someone/something, who/which is smth":

Niwaabamaag degoshingig. - I see those who arrived.

Participles are very widely used in Ojibwe. Besides nouns there are also some names for people, objects, animals, e.g., "gekinoo'amaaged" (teacher), gekinoo'amaawind" (student), "bemisemagak" (airplane), "detebised" (wheel), etc., which are used as nouns, but in fact are participles and are inflected as verbs not nouns:

gekinoo'amaaged - he who is a teacher
gekinoo'amaageyaan - I who am a teacher
gekinoo'amaageyan - you (singl.) who are a teacher, etc.

Imperative order is a form of a verb which is used to give commands.

biindigen - enter!
zaaga'an - go out!
izhaadaa - let's go!

There are three kinds of imperative in Ojibwe, or three modes of imperative - immidiate imperative, delayed imperative, and prohibitive imperative.

Immidiate imperative is used to give commands which must be executed immediately.

biidoon i'iw mazina'igan - you (singl.) bring that book!
biidooyok iniw mazina'iganan - you (pl.) bring those books!

Examples of immidiate imperative see in Verb Paradigms.

Delayed imperative expresses commands, which must be executed in some future time.

wiisinikan - eat later! (to singl.)
wiisinikeg - eat later! (to pl.)

Prohibitive imperative expresses prihibitive 'don't do' commands.

gego zaaga'nken - don't go outside! (to singl.)
gego zaaga'ankegon! - don't go outside! (to pl.)
gego doodangen - don't do it! (to singl.)

Examples of prohibitive imperative see in Verb Paradigms.

Note. To say the truth, not only Imperative has three modes, but both Independent and Conjunct Orders also have set of modes: neutral, or indicative mode (usual mode used most often), preterit mode, dubitative mode, and dubitative-preterit mode. And each of those modes has its own paradigm set. In these short notes we encounter only neutral (indicative) mode of the Independent and Conjunct Orders.

"Yes/no" Questions and Negations"

"Yes/no" questions, which need "yes" or "no" answer are formed using special question marker - a word ina or na. It always stands after the first word in questions:

giwiisin ina? – are you eating?

giminikwe na? – are you drinking?

ginamadab ina? – are you sitting?

gigii-anokii na bijiinaago? – did you work yesterday?

giwii-izhaa na adaawewigamigong waabang? – will you go to the store tomorrow?

Negations are formed with a word gaawiin – «no, not» and a negative suffix /-sii/ or /-zii/ for vai and vta, /-siin/ or /-ziin/ for vti and vta, /-sinoon/ or /-zinoon/ for vii. A consonant in a suffix depends on a stem ending - 's' after a vowel and 'z' after a consonant:

gaawiin niwiisinisii – I’m not eating

gaawiin niminikwesii – I’m not drinking

gaawiin ningii-anokiisii bijiinaago – I didn’t work yesterday

gaawiin niwii-izhaasii adaawewigamigong waabang – I won’t go to the store tomorrow

Negative suffix is added at the end of a verb in singular. But in plural it is usually put before plural suffix for vai verbs or between singular and plural parts of a suffix of vti’s and vta’s:

gaawiin wiisini-sii-wag – they are not eating

gaawiin niwaaband-an-ziin - I don’t see it

gaawiin niwaaband-an-ziin-an – I don’t see them

gaawiin niwaabam-aa-sii - I don’t see him

gaawiin niwaabam-aa-siin-aan – we (exc) don’t see him

Content Questions

Content questions are questions with words: who, what, when, where, why, etc. These questions are formed in a different way than "yes/no" questions. Verbs in these questions stand in B form (or conjunct order). Initial vowel change in B form (changed conjunct) occurs in this case:

/a/ becomes /e/,

/aa/ becomes /ayaa/,

/e/ becomes /aye/,

/i/ becomes /e/,

/ii/ becomes /aa/,

/o/ becomes /we/,

/oo/ becomes /waa/,

/ji/ becomes /ge/,

/ga/ becomes /ge/.

Note. Though B form with an initial vowel change is used in different regions usually in the same cases, it could be formed differently in different subdialects. This rule of an initial vowel change occurs in its complete form only in Minnesota Ojibwe. In other subdialects it is very much reduced and often replaced with other grammatical changes (preverbs e-, gaa-, etc.)

Initial vowel change affects also past and future tense prefixes: /gii-/ changes into /gaa-/, /ga-/ into /ge-/, and /wii-/ into /waa-/. Initial vowel change affects the first syllable of a verb, making no difference of what this first syllable actually is - tense prefix, preverb or a verb itself.

aaniin ezhinikaazoyan? – what is your s. name (how are you called)?

aaniin ezhinikaazod? – what is his/her name (how is s/he called)?

aandi ezhaayan? – where are you s. going?

aaniish pii gaa-dagoshing? – when did s/he arrive?

aaniin – what, how

aandi - where

aandi onji – where from

aniish pii – when

In answers A form (independent order) is used:

aaniin ezhinikaazoyan? – ojiig nindizhinikaaz

what is your s. name? – my name is Marten

aaniish pii gaa-dagoshinan? – ningii-dagoshin bijiinaago

when did you s. arrive? – I arrived yesterday

Note. Questions with 'where'.

In Ojibwe verbs can contain so called relative roots, which always show initial vowel change in B form. Izhi- and onji- are most often used examples of such roots. These roots force initial vowel change of a verb in B form.

Questions with 'where' (despite other wh-questions) don't need initial vowel change in a verb (B form without initial vowel change is used there). But in these questions mostly verbs with relative roots are used. So initial vowel change occures in where-questions very often. Though it is not a grammatical rule for where-questions, but a result of using words with relative roots.

Note. Questions with 'when'.

In different Ojibwe dialects differnt B forms are sometimes used in these questions. E.g. changed conjunct is used in Manitoba Ojibwe an Odawa, but at least in several Minnesota communities plain conjunct is used in this case.