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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

wanimikoons ni a bud

(verb of abundance) wanimikoonsikaa vii [BL] there are (a lot of) buds
wanimikoonsikaa vii [BL] there are (a lot of) buds

wanimo vai s/he makes a mistake in speaking, mispronounces something

wanin vta take, touch h/ (the wrong one)

Paired with: waninan vti

waninamaw vta hand wrong one of something to h/

waninan vti hold, take, touch it the wrong way or the wrong one

Paired with: wanin vta

(benefactive) waninamaw vta hand wrong one of something to h/
waninawe'an vti stir it

See also: wanawe'an vti [BL]

(derived noun) waninawe'igan ni something used to stir or mix with: a stirring stick, an eggbeater, a mixer
waninawe'igan ni something used to stir or mix with: a stirring stick, an eggbeater, a mixer

See also: wanawe'igan ni [BL]

wanindiwag vai they mislead, confuse, fool each other

wanisidoon vti2 misplace it

Paired with: wanishim vta

wanisin vii it is lost, gets lost

Paired with: wanishin vai

wanishim vta

Paired with: wanisidoon vti2

wanishin vai s/he is lost, gets lost

Paired with: wanisin vii

wanishkwe' vta disturb, distract, interrupt h/

(reciprocal) wanishkwe'idiwag vai they disturb, distract, interrupt each other
wanishkwe'idiwag vai they disturb, distract, interrupt each other

wanishkwem vta disturb, distract, interrupt h/ (by speech)

wanishkweyendam vai s/he is distracted

wanitam vai2 s/he misunderstands something heard

wanitaw vta misunderstand (what) h/ (says)

wanitoon vti2 lose, miss it

Paired with: wani' vta

(detransitive) wanichige vai s/he makes a mistake, makes things wrong (verb of undergoing) wanichigaade vii it is lost (by somone), "they" lose it; it is made wrong (by someone), "they" make it wrong (verb of undergoing) wanichigaazo vai s/he or it (animate) is lost (by someone), "they" lose h/ or it (animate)
wanizhan vti cut it wrong; miscut it; make a mistake cutting it

wanizekwe vai s/he makes a mistake cooking

wanizhwi vta [NI] cut it (animate) wrong; miscut it (animate); make a mistake cutting it (animate)

Paired with: wanizhan vti

wanii'amaw vta trap (for) h/

wanii'igan ni a trap

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.