Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Some Facts About The Ojibwe Language

By Ryan Harris


Located somewhere in Ontario up until the US border in Montana is the former home of the Ojibwe, an indigenous race with a rich history. They were known for their dialect known as the Ojibwe language and is actually one of the rarest languages one can find in the state because no one in this generation really uses it anymore. If one is interested in this ancient dialect, then here are something that one may find interesting.

Now, just to give an idea, this race of people are also known as the Anishinaabemowin or the Ojibway. As mentioned above, they settle in various places through Canada up until the US borders. They live near the Great Lakes making that area their main settlement or home town. Their dialect is known as the Central Algonquian language, previously used by all tribes in that area.

Unfortunately though, this dialect is actually close to being endangered, as announced by the state of Minnesota. It is actually quite sad that it was already added to the Atlas of Worlds Languages in Danger because only the previous generations are the ones who use it. While the baby boomers of that heritage may understand, they do not really speak it nor teach it to their children.

However, many groups have been trying to revive the language, opening up schools around Minnesota and even in Michigan. These schools aim to teach the dialect aiming for some people, especially of Ojibway heritage, to learn it as a second language. This is why the Ojibway Peoples Dictionary was created, but this is all part of a bigger picture for the future and growth of this culture.

For those who are new to this dialect, it is interesting to know that it makes use of a double vowel system instead of a single one like the English alphabet. So it is normal to see two vowels or even consonants together but used as a single unit. There is also an apostrophe that one can find there symbolizing a glottal stop in a sentence.

For those who do not know about the alphabet yet, there are some letters straight from the English alphabet but others are not. The ones from the English alphabet include most letters in the alphabet while some other added ones include aa, ee, ii, oo, ch, sh, and zh. As mentioned above, the ones that have two letters in them act as a single unit letter to make a completely different sound than a single letter unit.

One will also find there to be a nasal vowel list. These are the sounds of oonh, eenh, iinh, and aahn. These would have a sort of nasal sound when you try to say them.

Basically, these are some things to know about the Ojibway dialect. While it is about to be endangered, many people are trying to bring it back. This is to ensure the preservation of the culture of the people who used to live along the Great Lake area.




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