Saturday, September 1, 2018

Interesting Things To Know About The Ojibwe Language

By Ryan Harris


The Ojibwe were a race of people who used to live in Canada in Ontario up until the US border somewhere in Montana and Michigan. They were a race of people who spoke the Ojibwe language, which is one of the rarest languages in the world as it is the native tongue of the older generation wherein the current generation don't practice it anymore. Here are a few things one might find interesting about this lost dialect.

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.

Now, to know about the dialect a bit, one has to know what kind of alphabet it uses. It makes use of what is known as a double vowel system wherein two letters combine with each other to act as a single sound. It is also pretty interesting to know that there is an apostrophe somewhere in the alphabet which is symbolizing of a sort of stop.

The alphabet consists of twenty four letters with a few of them not being found in the English language. To give one an idea, the letters that one can find in this alphabet are the regular letters of the alphabet and letters with the two consonants making a different sound compared to the single vowels. There is also the an aa, ee, oo, and ii which are part of the double vowel system.

There are also the nasal vowels in the alphabet. These include the aanh, oonh, eenh and the iinh. These, as the name implies, are nasal vowels that give off a nasal sound when one pronounces 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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