Noongwa e-Anishinaabemjig: The People Who Speak Anishinaabemowin Today

Ezhi-Giigidaang, How We Say It (Pronunciation)

Nsostamokiiwans, To Understand Little Things, (Explanation)
Ezhichigen, You Do It, (Practice)
Gikendaan, You Know, (Summary)

Nsostamokiiwans, To Understand Little Things, (Explanation)

Main points to know and start thinking about:

Writing system: Double vowel System
Pronunciation: Vowels, nasal vowels, constants, constant clusters.

Before moving forward in Ojibwe, it is important to practice pronunciation and understand the most common spelling system. The double vowel system was created by Charles Fiero and is used by Anishinaabe teachers, elders, translators, administrators, language activists, and students seeking a common Anishinaabemowin orthography. It is currently used in over 200 Anishinaabe communities in and around Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, North Dakota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Although this is a system of writing that the Anishinaabeg use on both sides of the international boundary, they also recognized the value and importance of syllabics and folk-phonetics as part of their linguistic heritage.

The list below is designed to give English speakers a clear description of Anishinaabe phonetics. Time spent getting these sounds correct will help you recognize and write words you have heard and sound out new words you encounter on the page. On the left is the sound as it is spelled in Nichols and Nyholm (using Charles Fiero's double vowel system). The < > brackets indicate a letter or spelling convention. On the right are example words in which the sound occurs, along with a translation into English. Bear in mind that dialect variation exists. Symbols enclosed in square brackets [ ] indicate the IPA symbol for the sound; this is most useful for people who have some experience using the International Phonetic Alphabet.

VOWELS
a	This is the sound "schwa" as in English but, cup, among, tuba.
	anishinaabe	'anishinaabe'
	namadabi	'sits down'
	baashkizigan	'gun'
aa	In English, this sound occurs in words like father, pot, opposite. Note that slight variation may exist between speakers, and a single English speaker might not pronounce the vowels in these words exactly the same way.
	aagim	'one snowshoe'
	maajaa	'goes away'
	waabaamaa	'to see him / her'
e	This sound has no exact counterpart in English, but occurs in the French word café. In English, we tend to pronounce café, as if it rhymes with obey or say; we diphthongize it, pronouncing it with two vowels -- [e] plus an sound - spoken together quickly. This is a mark of an American accent. Try to produce a clear simple [e]. To an English speaker, this vowel may sound more like the vowel in bet.
	epiichaak	'time'
	zheba	'early'
	biindige	'to enter'
i	In English, this sound occurs in words like bit, little, sip. It is not difficult for English speakers to say, but in English this sound never occurs at the ends of words, as it does in Anishnaabemowin. English speakers will tend to mispronounce the at the ends of the words above, turning them into <ee>, rhyming with knee.
	nini	'man'
	mawi	'cries'
ii	This sound occurs in the English word knee, peach, beat, each.
	niin	'I'
	giizhigak	'day'
	googii	'dives'
o	The letter <o> in Anishnaabemowin represents a variety of sounds in English. It may sound like the <au> in caught, or the <u> in put. In some dialects, it is pronounced as <a> (see above). Listen to the recordings and you might hear some of this subtle variation.
	objikaaz	'to use'
	nokii	'works'
	bigiza	'to swim'
oo	This combination represents the long <o> sound as in "boat," "know," or "toe."
	oodenang	'town'
	goon	'snow'
	pimbatoo	'runs along'
NASAL VOWELS
aanh	nokiiyaanh	'I work'
enh	nisawenh gii'enh	'my older brother' 'I was told'
iinh	wesiinh gaachiinh	'wild animal' '(someone) is small'
oonh	giigoonh	'fish'
CONSONANTS
b	bakade niibiish gizheb	'is hungry' 'leaf' 'in the morning'
ch	mchaamigad miigwech	'it is big' 'thanks'
d	debwe biidoon waagaakwad	'tells the truth' 'bring it!' 'ax'
g	giin waagosh kwewag	'you' 'fox' 'women'
h	nahaw	'ok'
j	jina ingiikaj biingej	'a little while' 'I'm cold' 'I'm cold'
k	makizin mik	'moccasin' 'beaver'
m	miinan jiimaan miijim	'blueberries' 'kiss, canoe' 'food'
n	naanan	'five'
p	pin baap	'potato' 'I laugh'
s	sin wiiyaas	'stone, rock' 'meat'
sh	shigan nimosh	'bass' 'dog'
t	temigad	'(something) is there'
w	waabang bizindaw	'tomorrow' 'listen to someone!'
y	wiiyoo nday	'someone's body' 'my dog'
z	ziibi zid indaakoz	'river' 'someone's foot' 'I am sick'
zh	zhaabonigan biizh	'needle' 'bring someone!'
CONSONANT CLUSTERS
sk	mskwaa	'is red'
shp	shpiming	'up above, in heaven'
sht	shtigwaaning	'my head'
shk	shkode gaashkashenh	'fire' 'gull'
mb	wiimbaa	'is hollow'
nd	aanind	'some'
nj	biinjiying ninj	'it is inside' 'my hand'
ng	bangii waabang	'a little bit' 'tomorrow'

Ezhichigen, You Do It, (Practice)

Here you should read through the words carefully. It is important to pay attention to when the vowels are long and when they are short, there are common mistakes English speakers make. Paying attention to this early on, will help your pronunciation and ability to speak later. For example: "zh" is an uncommon sound in English, be sure you are not saying "sh". Another common mistake is to mix up the "g" and "j" sounds. "G" is always pronounced as in "good" or "great". "J" is always pronounced as in "jump."

Here are the words grouped for reading practice:

English	Anishinaabemowin
anishinaabe	'anishinaabe'
namadabi	'sits down'
baashkizigan	'gun'
aagim	'one snowshoe'
maajaa	'goes away'
waabaamaa	'to see him / her'
epiichaak	'time'
zheba	'morning'
biindige	'to enter'
nini	'man'
mawi	'cries'
niin	'I'
giizhigak	'day'
googii	'dives'
objikaaz	'to use'
nokii	'works'
bigiza	'to swim'

English	Anishinaabemowin
oodenang	'town'
goon	'snow'
pimbatoo	'runs along'
nokiiyaanh	'I work'
nisawenh	'my older brother'
gii'enh	used for emphasis
wesiinh	'wild animal'
gaachiinh	'he/she is small'
giigoonh	'fish'
bakade	'is hungry'
niibiish	'leaf'
gizheb	'in the morning'
mchaamigad	'it is big'
miigwech	'thanks'
debwe	'tells the truth'
biidoon	'bring it!'
waagaakwad	'ax'
giin	'you'

English	Anishinaabemowin
waagosh	'fox'
kwewag	'women'
nahaw	'ok'
jina	'a little while'
ingiikaj	'I'm cold'
biingej	'I'm cold'
makizin	'moccasin'
mik	'beaver'
miinan	'blueberries'
jiimaan	'kiss, canoe'
miijim	'food'
naanan	'five'
pin	'potato'
baap	'I laugh'
sin	'stone, rock'
wiiyaas	'meat'
shigan	'bass'

English	Anishinaabemowin
nimosh	'dog'
temigad	'it is there'
waabang	'tomorrow'
bizindaw	'listen to him/her!'
wiiyoo	'someone's body'
nday	'my dog'
ziibi	'river'
zid	'someone's foot'
indaakoz	'I am sick'
zhaabonigan	'needle'
biizh	'bring someone!'
mskwaa	'is red'
shpiming	'up, in heaven'
shtigwaaning	'my head'
shkode	'fire'
gaashkashenh	'gull'
wiimbaa	'is hollow'
aanind	'some'
biinjiying	'it is inside'
ninj	'my hand'
bangii	'a little bit'
waabang	'tomorrow'

Gikendaan, You Know, (Summary)

Read each of the following sentences three times. For the first time, read it to practice the sounds. After you read the sentence again look at the second line. The second line is a literally translation meaning for meaning. You will notice that the second line does not match the third line, which is the way you might say the sentence in English.

Try sounding out these phrases:

1.	Aanii
	Hi

2.	Boozhoo
	Hello

3.	Enh
	Yes

4.	Kaa
	No

5.	Wenesh	izhinikaazyin?
	What	to be called you?
	What is your name?

6.	__________	nd'	izhinikaaz.
	(name)	I	called.
	My name is (name).

7.	Aapiish	onjibaayin?
	Where	to originally be from you?
	Where are you from?

8.	__________	nd'	onjibaa.
	(city)	I	to originally be from.
	I am from (city).

9.	Wenesh	ezhi	bimaadiziyin?
	How	the way it is done	to be living you?
	How are you living?

10.	N'mino	bimaadiz.
	I good	to be living.
	I am living well.

11.	Mii	maampii	binji	izhaayaanh	wii	gajitooyaanh	wii	Anishinaabemyaanh.
	Then	here	inside	to go I		to use		speak Anishinaabe I
	I came here to try to speak Anishinaabemowin.

12.	Giishpin	igo	getin	wii	gajitooyaanh	gonemaa	gwa	n'da	shkitoon	ji	Anishinaabemyaanh.
	If	really	hard		to use I	maybe	really	I	would be able to	to	speak Anishinaabe I.
	If I try really hard maybe I can speak Anishinaabemowin.

13.	Baa maampii
	Here
	Goodbye*

* Note: this is one of those idiomatic phrases that is used frequently and has no direct literally translation. You will encounter other phrases like this throughout the year.

Ojibwe Pronunciation

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Next Lesson: Rhythm

Giishpin gwa pane anishinaabemoying...Ingoding gwa giishigag kina kaa Anishinaabemowin. If we all speak Anishinaabemowin...one day everyone will speak Anishinaabemowin

Home / Lessons / Year One / Ezhi-Giigidaang, How We Say It (Pronunciation)

Nsostamokiiwans, To Understand Little Things, (Explanation)

VOWELS

NASAL VOWELS

CONSONANTS

CONSONANT CLUSTERS

Ezhichigen, You Do It, (Practice)

Gikendaan, You Know, (Summary)

Ojibwe Pronunciation