Ojibwe

See also: ojibwe

English

Alternative forms

• Ojibwa, Ojibway

Etymology

First attested in English around 1700 (and attested in early French as Outchibouec), from the Ojibwe name of an individual band of Ojibwe, of unclear origin. The most widely accepted theory connects it to Ojibwe ojibwaakide (“it shrivels, it puckers in the fire”), in reference to the puckering or tightening of moccasins at their seams or near fire. Alternatively, Helen Tanner and Edmund Danzinger connect it to the Ojibwe practice of writing on birch bark or making pictographs, respectively; compare ozhibii' (“write (someone's name) down”).

Other, less credible theories:

Other, less likely suggestions include: Henry Schoolcraft derived it from a word *bwe "pertaining to voice" ((compare bedowe (“have a soft voice”)), and like George Belcourt, believed it referred to a peculiarity of the tribe's (language's) pronunciation. Some other works connect it to the word for puckering the lips, which however is bajiishkidooneni (“she or he puckers the lips”), or assert that it refers to roasting captives until their flesh puckered, but this was not a common practice and is improbable as a self-designation.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈdʒɪbweɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /oʊˈdʒɪbweɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Proper noun

Ojibwe

1. The language spoken by the native Algonquin people of central Canada, one of a closely related group of languages and dialects of the Algonquian branch of the Algic language family.
   • 2019 November 15, Kate Allen, “‘I am Janet.’ One transgender woman’s journey and her pioneering surgery”, in Toronto Star‎^[1], archived from the original on 17 July 2024:

     On a Tuesday in April 2017, Janet Macbeth composed an all-office email. “My story,” read the subject line in Nishnaabemwin, the Ojibwe language.
     “Hello everyone,” the email continued in Nishnaabemwin. “My name is Janet.”

   • 2023 December 30, Daniel W. Hieber, “Why I hate conlangs”, in Linguistic Discovery‎^[2], archived from the original on 24 May 2024:

     Endangered language communities would be thrilled with and proud of that kind of exposure for their language, like when Star Wars was dubbed into Navajo and Ojibwe.

Synonyms

• Ojibwemowin
• Chippewa / Chippeway / Chippewe

Hypernyms

• Anishinaabemowin

Translations

Ojibwe (language)

• Breton: ojibweg
• Catalan: chippewa m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 歐及布語 / 欧及布语 (Ōujíbù yǔ)

• Cree: ᓇᐦᑲᐍᐏᐣ (nahkawewin)
• Dutch: Ojibwe (nl) n, Ojibwa n
• Esperanto: Aniŝinabeka lingvo
• Finnish: odžibwa (fi), odzhibwa (fi), ojibwa (fi)
• French: ojibwé (fr) m
• Galician: lingua ojibwa f
• German: Ojibwe (de) n
• Japanese: オジブウェー語 (ja) (Ojibuwē-go), アニシナーベ語 (Anishinābe-go)
• Lithuanian: anišinabų kalba
• Marathi: ओजिबवे f (ojibve)
• Menominee: ocīpīweqnaesewen
• Navajo: Anishinaabe bizaad
• Ojibwe:

  Canadian Syllabics: ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᒧᐎᓐ

  Roman: anishinaabemowin

• Ottawa: nishnaabemwin
• Polish: odżibwe m
• Portuguese: ojibwa m, ojibwe m
• Potawatomi: neshnabémwen
• Quechua: anishinapay simi
• Russian: оджи́бва (ru) m (odžíbva), оджи́бве (ru) m (odžíbvɛ)
• Spanish: ojibwa m
• Swedish: ojibwe (sv)
• Thai: ภาษาโอจิบเว (paasăa ohjìpway)
• Turkish: Ojibvaca, Ojibva dili

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Ojibwe terms

Proper noun

Ojibwe (plural Ojibwes or Ojibwe)

1. A member of a native Algonquin people of central Canada.
   • 2022 May 5, Arland Thornton, Alphonse Pitawanakwat, Eric Hemenway, Lindsey Willow Smith, Linda Young DeMarco, Anishinaabe Geography in the 1930 Decennial Census—and the Use of this Geography in Studying the 1900-1940 Attributes of Anishinaabe People‎^[3], page 4:

     The Anishinaabe people are American Indians who have historically been associated with the Great Lakes region of what is now called Canada and the United States. The Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes include the Odawas (also known as the Ottawas), the Chippewas (also known as the Ojibwes), and the Potawatomis (also known as the Bodéwadmis)—three interrelated groups that are sometimes collectively referred to as the Three Fires Confederacy.

Translations

member of Ojibwe people

• Catalan: chippewa, ojibwa
• Cree: ᓇᐦᑲᐏᔨᓂᐤ (nahkawiyiniw)
• Dutch: Ojibwa pl, Ojibway pl
• Esperanto: Oĝibvoj
• Finnish: odžibwa (fi), odzhibwa (fi), ojibwa (fi)
• French: ojibwé (fr) m, ojibwée (fr) f, ojibwés (fr) m pl, ojibwées (fr) f pl
• German: Anishinabe
• Italian: ojibway
• Japanese: オジブワ族 (Ojibuwa-zoku)
• Lithuanian: odžibviai
• Marathi: ओजिबवे m (ojibve)
• Menominee: ocīpīw
• Ojibwe:

  Canadian Syllabics: ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯ

  Roman: Anishinaabe, Anishinaabeg pl

• Ottawa: Nishnaabe, Nishnaabeg pl, Jibwe, Jibweg pl
• Portuguese: ojibwa m
• Russian: оджи́бва (ru) m (odžíbva), оджи́бве (ru) m (odžíbve)
• Serbo-Croatian: chippewa
• Spanish: ojibwa
• Swedish: ojibwa
• Turkish: Ojibva, Anişinaabe, Çippeva
• Unami: Chipuwe anim

Adjective

Ojibwe (comparative more Ojibwe, superlative most Ojibwe)

1. Of or pertaining to this people, culture or language.
   • 1998, David H. Pentland (editor), Papers of the Twenty-ninth Algonquian Conference, page 169:

     Then for 50 years its story lay dormant — although the Dream Dance remained a component of Ojibwe life both north and south of the Canada-U.S. border until its rediscovery by a Winnipeg historian and her colleagues.

Synonyms

• Chippewa / Chippeway / Chippewe

Hypernyms

• Anishinaabe

Further reading

• ISO 639-1 code oj, ISO 639-3 code oji (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Ojibwe, oji ⁠, a macrolanguage including:

• Ethnologue entry for Central Ojibwe, ojc ⁠
• Ethnologue entry for Eastern Ojibwe, ojg ⁠
• Ethnologue entry for Northwestern Ojibwe, ojb ⁠
• Ethnologue entry for Ottawa, otw ⁠
• Ethnologue entry for Severn Ojibwe, ojs ⁠
• Ethnologue entry for Western Ojibwe, ojw ⁠