Category:Ojibwe stem-building elements

In Ojibwe, word stems (the core part of a word to which inflectional affixes may be added) are themselves assembled through a process called derivation.

A primary stem is made of elements (by definition, bound morphemes) that are not word stems themselves. This is called primary derivation and can include the following elements:

• initials (often called roots) - convey a concrete meaning that is often rendered in English by an adjective or an adverb
• medials - an optional element that conveys information about things or kinds of things associated with the verb (classification, body part, etc.)
• finals - can have a concrete or abstract meaning, including information about what class of noun or verb the word is

A secondary stem, assembled through secondary derivation, is made of an underlying word stem and at least one other stem-building element. Secondary derivation corresponds to what is simply known as "derivation" in Indo-European languages.