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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

freezer
n
freezer
dakisijigan ni something that cools things: a refrigerator, a freezer

freight hauler
n
freight hauler
aawadaasoowinini na a freight hauler

french
n
French language
wemitigoozhiimowin ni the French language

speak French
wemitigoozhiimo vai s/he speaks French

frenchman
n
Frenchman
wemitigoozhi na
  1. [in the US] a Frenchman
  2. [in Canada] a whiteman

Friday
n
Friday
naano-giizhigad vii it is Friday

friend
n
close friends
beshwaji' vta be close friends with h/

friend
=iijikiwenh nad STEM FOR: (male's) brother

=iijikwe nad someone's (female's) female friend

=iikaan nad someone's (male's) brother; someone's (male's) male friend

=iikaanis nad someone's (male's) brother; someone's (male's) male friend

frighten
vt
frighten
zegi' vta scare, frighten h/

Paired with: zegitoon vti2

frighten verbally
zegim vta scare, frighten, intimidate, alarm h/ (verbally)

zegindiwag vai they scare, frighten, intimidate, alarm each other (verbally)

frightened
adj
frightened
zegizi vai s/he is afraid, frightened, scared

pretend to be frightened
zegiziikaazo vai s/he pretends to be afraid, frightened, scared

frightening
adj
frightening
zegendaagwad vii it is frightening, scary, terrifying

Paired with: zegendaagozi vai See also: zegendaagod vii [RL]

zegendaagod vii [RL] it is frightening, scary, terrifying

Paired with: zegendaagozi vai See also: zegendaagwad vii

zegendaagozi vai s/he is frightening, scary, terrifying

Paired with: zegendaagwad vii

frightening dream
zegaabandam vai2 s/he has a frightening dream, a scary dream

zegaabandan vti have a frightening dream, a scary dream about it

Paired with: zegaabam vta

zegaabam vta have a frightening dream, a scary dream about h/

Paired with: zegaabandan vti

look frightening
zeginaagozi vai s/he looks scary, looks frightening; s/he looks scared, looks frightened

Paired with: zeginaagwad vii

zeginaagwad vii it looks scary, looks frightening

Paired with: zeginaagozi vai

sound frightening
zegitaagozi vai s/he sounds scary, sounds frightening

Paired with: zegitaagwad vii

zegitaagwad vii it sounds scary, sounds frightening

Paired with: zegitaagozi vai

fringe
n
fringe
niisiiwezhigan ni fringe

cut fringe
niisiiwezh vta cut fringe in h/

Paired with: niisiiwezhan vti

niisiiwezhan vti cut fringe in it

Paired with: niisiiwezh vta

niisiiwezhigaade vii it cut into a fringe (by someone), "they" cut it into fringe

niisiiwezhigaazo vai s/he is cut into fringe (by someone), "they" cut it into fringe

The Ojibwe People's Dictionary is developed and maintained by:
Nora Livesay, Editor
John D. Nichols, Founder and Linguistic Editor

with support and collaboration from the University of Minnesota's Department of American Indian Studies and University Libraries.

Additional Resources

Many of the words in the Ojibwe People's Dictionary have related resources. Click through to the full dictionary entry to hear audio recordings, see images, read documents and watch videos. Here's a key to resource icons.

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Speakers & Regions Key

Individual speakers and speakers from different regions use different words when speaking. Each audio recording is marked with the initials of the Ojibwe speaker. Click on a speaker's initials to go to the speaker's bio page. If an Ojibwe word is particular to a certain region, it will be marked with a region code. Click on the region code to go to the Regions page.