Documentation:RelLex/Ojibwe People's Dictionary
Ojibwe People's Dictionary
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Language Name
Ojibwe.
Alternate Language Names
Anishinaabemowin, ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓈᐯᒧᐎᓐ, Ojibwa, Ojibway, Otchipwe, Ojibwemowin.
Region
Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, Canada; Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota, United States.
Who
Nora Livesay (Editor), John D. Nichols (Founder and Linguistic Editor).
Others Involved
Eugene Stillday, Gerri Howard, Gordon Jourdain, Leona Wakonabo, Lee Staples, Larry Smallwood, Marlene Stately, Nancy Jones, Rose Tainter (Speakers and Elders, audio files); Earl Nyholm (co-author of A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe, on which this dictionary is based); Brenda Child, Marcia Anderson (contributors); Chad Fennell, Ben Preece (programming and design); Jayson Roy (technical director); Bryce Kalow (system conversion); Rand Valentine, David H. Pentland (linguists); American Indian Studies Department and Libraries at the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society (collaborators); State Historic Preservation Office, Historic Resources Advisory Committee, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, National Science Foundation, Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang (funding).
Publishing Information
This is an online dictionary that was launched in 2012 and continues to be updated, although update dates are not listed.
How People are Cited
Collaborators, editors, and contributors are cited on the About the Dictionary page. Speakers and Elders who contributed their knowledge and voices to the dictionary are cited by name and with a short biography on the Ojibwe Voices page, and by their English initials in entries.
How Information is Cited
Entries containing audio files cite speakers by their initials.
Where is Information Coming from
Entries in this dictionary come from speakers and Elders, from Nichols and Nyholm's 1995 publication A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe. Grammatical information comes from previous works by linguists Rand Valentine and David H. Pentland. Audio files and example sentences come from speakers and Elders.
Tools and Framework used
This is a multimedia website that makes use of images, audio, and a multi-directional search function.
Access
This dictionary is available open access online.
Included Languages and Directionality
English to Ojibwe; Ojibwe to English.
Dialects Included
This dictionary includes forms from sixteen different dialects and communities, identified by “region codes” rather than wider dialect classifications. Region codes are marked in entries, and listed on the Key to Regions page.
Type of Dictionary
This is a bilingual, searchable, multimedia online dictionary.
How are Entries Organised
Entries in this dictionary can be searched in Ojibwe and English, or browsed alphabetically (English and Ojibwe) and topically (Ojibwe). Browsing topics include Awensiinyag (wild animals), Bineshiinyag (birds), Mitigoog (trees), Manoominikewin (ricing), and Iskigamizigewin (sugaring). However it is viewed, each entry is organised the same way. Entries are listed by Ojibwe headword, followed by its part of speech and English gloss. Audio and image icons are listed after the gloss if the entry contains either of those multimedia elements. Clicking on the Ojibwe headword opens the full entry page, which consists of the main page and a sidebar on the right. The main page contains inflected forms, a table of basic forms with audio files (if applicable), a table of example sentences with audio files (for most entries), and other grammatical information such as reduplicated forms or word parts. The side bar shows (when applicable) a short section entitled Word Family, where related words, borrowings, and complex inflections are listed. Each of these is hyperlinked to its own entry.
This dictionary also includes a collection of stories and miscellaneous audio files under the Pandemic Audio Recording tab, as well as a section entitled Cultural Galleries where images and artifacts from the Minnesota Historical Society Collections are shown. These galleries are grouped by the following topics: Bashkweginoon (hidework), Biboon (winter), Gigoonyikwewin (fishing), Iskigamizigewin (sugaring), Manoominikewin (ricing), and Wiigiwaaman (lodges). Guides to the dictionary, entries, and grammar are listed under Language Help.
Other Features
| Feature | Included | More Information |
|---|---|---|
| Guide to use and understand | ✅ | Listed under Language Help and on the sidebar under How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary |
| Audio | ✅ | Included in most entries |
| Images | ✅ | Included in many entries |
| Example phrases | ✅ | Included in many entries |
| Speakers marked | ✅ | Includes speakers' initials in audio entries |
| Dialects marked | ✅ | By region code in entries |
External Links
View the Ojibwe People's Dictionary open access online: https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/