Ojibwemowin 150 Basic words

Verbs

I AM or exist in a certain place  indAYAA (OMAA) (HERE)   vai  vii
I AM or = to (A MAN)  (ININI)  indAW.   he IS  AWI  vai
I ASK questions      inGAGWEDWE vai     I ASK him  inGAGWEJIMaa  vta
I BEGIN   niMAAJISE  vai                           it BEGINS  MAAJISE
I am BIG  niMINDID    vai     s/he is BIG   MINDIDO  vai    it is BIG   MICHAA   vii
I BUY  indADAAWE vai                             I SELL  indADAAWAAGE  vai
I COME  imBI-IZHAA vai                          I COME INSIDE  imBIINDIGE vai
I COME WITH him  niWIIJIWaa  vta         I EAT  niWIISIN   he EATS  WIISINI    vai                 
I EAT it  niMIIJIN vti                                   I EAT him.  indAMWaa,  EAT him! AMO!  vta
I FIND it   niMIKaAN  vti                             I FIND him  niMIKAWaa   vta
I FORGOT  ingiiWANIIKE vai   (ST SO SP)  vai+o
I HEAR it   niNOONDaAN  vti                    I HEAR him  niNOONDAWaa  vta
I HELP  niWIIDOOKAGE   vai                  I HELP him  niWIIDOOKAWaa  vta
I HAVE it  indAYAAN vti                          I HAVE him  indAYAAWaa  vta
I KNOW it  inGIKENDaAN  vti                  I KNOW him  inGIKENIMaa  vta
I LEAVE, DEPART, START OUT  niMAAJAA vai
I LIKE IT  niMINWENDaAN vti                I LIKE him   niMINWENIMaa vta
I LOVE it  niZAAGITOON  vti                 I LOVE him  niZAAGI'aa  vta
I LOOK AT it inGANAWAABANDaAN vti  I LOOK AT him   inGANAWAABAMaa  vta
I LISTEN  imBIZINDAM vai                      I LISTEN TO it  imBIZIDAN vti            
I LISTEN TO him  imBIZENDAWaa vta     I MAKE A MISTAKE niWANICHIGE vai
s/he IS GOOD, PRETTY   ONIZHISHI vai  it is GOOD, PRETTY   ONIZHISHIN vai
I PLAY (a game) indoODAMIN                s/he PLAYs  ODAMINO  vai    
I REMEMBER it  niMIKWENDaAN vti       I REMEMBER him  niMIKWENIMaa vta
I REMEMBER niMIKWENDAM  vai          I SEE (have vision)  niwaab(i) vai    
I  SEE it  niWAABANDaAN vti                     I SEE him   niWAABAMaa
I SHOW (demonstrate)  niWAABANDA'IWE vai I SHOW S.T. TO him niWAABANDA'aa vta
it is SMALL AGAASAA vii                           s/he is SMALL  AGAASHIINHYI vai
I SAY  indIKID  s/he SAYs IKIDO vai        I TALK TO or TELL him  indINaa  (izhi) vta
I TELL or INFORM him   niWIINDAMAWaa  vta    I TELL A STORY inDIBAAJIM vai
s/he TELLs a STORY  DIBAAJIMO  vai   I TELL A STORY TO him inDIBAAJIMOTAWaa
I THINK  indINENDaAM vai                      I THINK ABOUT IT  indINENDaAN vti
I THINK ABOUT him  indINEMIMaa vta
I USE it  indABIJITOON   vti                       I USE him  indABIJI'aa  vta
I UNDERSTAND IT niNISIDOTaAN vti     I UNDERSTAND him  niNISIDOTAWaa vta
I WRITE  indoOZHIBII'IGE vai                    I WRITE it  indoOZHIBII'AN vti



Particles and Pre-verbs

after   ishkwaa                                          and, again, also  miinawaa, gaye
all, every  akina                                        everything  gakina gegoo
all day  gabe-giizhik                                every day  endaso-giizhik
almost  gegaa                                           always  apane
bad  maji-, maazhi-                                  good  mino-
begin  maajii-                                           because of, that's why  onji, mii-wenji
before  jibwaa                                          big, great  gichi- chi-
but, however  aanawi, ____dash             by  jiiga-      near  besho
can, able to  gashki-                                 know how to  nitaa
come, come on  ambe                              coming up to  ani-
come in  biindigen                                  different, other  bakaan
first  akawe                                            and then mii-dash, azhigwaa
finally, lastly  ishkwaaj                           that's it  mii i'iw
for the purpose of, in order to   ji-          from a place  onji-
friend, fellow-  niiji-                               hopefully  apegish
hello  boozhoo, aaniin                            goodbye gigawaabamin miinawaa
if   giishpin                                              in, at, on  -g-ang -ong -ing
to, toward the speaker  bi-                      know how to, skilled at  nitaa-
like, similar  dibishko                             a little, few  bangii
look here,   nashke                                  look for, seek  nanda-
many, much  niibowaa                           more  nawaj
middle of the  naawi-                             must, need to  noonde
new  oshki-                                            old, old-fashioned  gete-
once, one time  aabiding                       only, just  eta, eta go
only you  giineta                                   or   magizha, gemaa
please  daga                                           some  aanind
some place, somewhere  ingoji             sometime  ingoding
sometimes  ayaagodinong                      soon, early  wayiiba
still, yet  geyaabi                                  
thank you  miigwech                              then  azhigwa, apii
here  omaa                                              there  imaa, iwidi
this  wa'aw (na)  o.ow (ni)                     that  a'aw (na)  i'iw (ni)
these  ongow (na)  onow (ni)                 those  ingiw (na)  iniw (ni)
thing  gegoo                                           try  gagwe-
on top of  agiji-                                      under  anaami-
very  aapiji- gichi-                                 up until  biinish
want to  wii-  waa-                                 with, along with  wiiji-

Question Words

How? What?  Aaniin? Aaniish?           How much? How many?  Aanish minik?
Where?  Aaniindi?                                When?  Aaniin apii?
What? (inanimate)  Awegonen?            Who? Awiiya?
Why?  Aaniin wenji?

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100 word list

Bubsi, Den Norske Enkelbondsmannen

     Idag, jeg har tenkte om nabooen min 40 år siden.  Han heter Bubsi, og han var en virkelig norske enkelbondsmann.
     Vi treffet ons når min familie flyttet til Central Minnesota.  Han hadde gården neste oss.  En dag, jeg spørtet til ham,
     "Hvor mye koster det til å pløye denne åker her?"  (Det var kansje en halvhektor)  Etter et øyeblikk han sier:
     "Kansje en tolv-pak."
     Etter da, vi drakk øl, fordelte maskineri og arbeid, og snart bli vi beste venner.  Han hadde store maskineri, og jeg hadde små.  Han hadde 50 hektorer, jeg hadde 5.  Han var en dyktig bondemann og jeg var ikke.  Det var en hyggelig ordning.

     Today I thought about my neighbor of 40 years ago.  His name was Bubsy, and he was a true Norwegian bachelor farmer.
     We met when my family moved to Central Minnesota.  He owned the farm next to us.  One day I asked him,
     "How much would it cost to plow this field here?"  (it was about an acre.)  In the blink of an eye he said: "About a 12-pack."
     After that, we drank beer, shared machinery and labor, and soon became the best of friends.  He had big machinery, mine was small.  He had 120 acres, I had 12.  He was a skilled farmer, and I was not.  It was a comfortable arrangement.

     Mange søndager, vi satt og drakk øl foran huset, og så på bilene i veien.  Bubsi sa:
     "Da kjøre Gawkerene"
     "Hvem er Gawkerene?" sier jeg.
     "Oh," sier Bubsi, "de kommer fra her og da, Noen kommer alle så langt fra Minne-goddam-apolis, og hver søndagen, for de meste, de kjører og gawker på veien."
     I vinteren, på søndag, vi satt og drakk kaffe med konjakk i kjøkken.  Innemellom vi kjøret og gawket i Bubsis lastebil.
     På dem gamledagene, jeg sang or spilte guitarre med en "Country Band."  En gang jeg så Bubsi da, og vi snakket.  Han sa til meg,
     "Du er bessere musiker enn du er bonde."
     O ja da, jeg husker deg, Bubsi, og jeg savner deg.

     Many Sundays we sat and drank beer in front of the house, watching the cars go by on the road.  Bubsy said, "There go the Gawkers."
     "Who are the Gawkers?" says I.
     "Oh," says Bubsy, "they come from here and there.  Some come all the way from Minne-goddam-apolis.  And every Sunday they drive down the road and gawk."
     On Winter Sundays, we sat in the kitchen and drank coffee with brandy.  Sometimes we'd go down the road in Bubsy's pick-up and gawk.
     In the old days, I sang and played guitar in a country band.  One time I saw Bubsy there, and we talked.  He said to me,
     "You're a better musician than you are a farmer."
     Oh yes, I remember you, Bubsy, and I miss you.

Yes, I'm Still Here

    As I haven't posted anything on this site since June of 2016, I just wanted to let you know I'm still here.  I still attend most of Bemidji's language tables on a weekly basis.

     The French table has dwindled down to 2 regulars, and has morphed into a Mandarin Chinese table, but we still change to French on the rare occasion that a French speaker appears.

   The Ojibwe table is not meeting this summer, but will probably resume again some time in September.

     The Norwegian, Italian and Spanish tables each have between 4 and 8 regular participants.

     You are all still most welcome to participate in any of these tables at your pleasure.  The schedules and locations are listed to the right.

Russian Bots and Trolls

     As I have not written anything here for 2 years, site traffic has reduced significantly to only 33 hits in the last month.  Curiously, 30 of the 33 hits originated in Russia.  I'm guessing that Vladimir Putin's crew has my site on their regular route.  I've always had some traffic from Russia, but NEVER 94% of ALL traffic.

     Donald, if you're listening, when you meet with Vladimir on Monday, maybe you could ask him what he finds so interesting about this old polyglot from Northern Minnesota.

     To the one or two REAL people from Russia who may have looked at my site in the last month, thank you for your interest, and I hope you haven't taken offence about my comments on Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump.