Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Interesting Things To Know About The Ojibwe Language

By Ryan Harris


For those who are familiar with American and Canadian history, they will probably be familiar with the Ojibwe people who live around Canada up to Montana and Michigan. They were known for the ancient language which was the Ojibwe language, now considered a very rare dialect because not many of the younger generation speak it. If one is interested in dialects and culture, check out these facts.

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.

Even though it was one of the central languages of the past, it is actually considered endangered now by Minnesota. UNESCO actually announced that it was already included in the Atlas of Worlds Languages in Danger list as it is no longer spoken by the current generation. It is the grandparents who spoke it but their children never did anymore and more so their grandchildren or great grandchildren.

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.

Aside from the standard alphabet, there is also the nasal vowels. These are iinh, eenh, oonh, and aanh. As the name states, these are the ones that have a nasal sound when spoken.

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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