Lesson 21 - Relatives

Nibaabaa - My father
Gibaabaa - Your father
Obaabaayan - His/her father
Nimaamaa - My mother
Gimaamaa - Your mother
Omaamaayan - His/her mother
Ningozis - My son
Ningozisag - My sons
Gigozis - Your son
Gigozisag - Your sons
Ogozisan - His/her son
Ogozisa' - His/her sons
Nindaanis - My daughter
Nindaanisag - My daughters
Gidaanis - Your daughter
Gidaanisag - Your daughters
Odaanisan - His/her daughter
Odaanisa' - His/her daughters
Nisaye - My older brother
Nisayeyag - My older brothers
Gisaye - Your older brother
Gisayeyag - Your older brothers
Osayeyan - His/her older brother
Osayeya' - His/her older brothers
Nimise - My older sister
Nimiseyag - My older sisters
Gimisa - Your older sister
Gimiseyag - Your older sisters
Omiseyan - His/her older sister
Omiseya' - His/her older sisters
Nishiime - My younger sibling
Nishiimeyag - My younger siblings
Gishiime - Your younger sibling
Gishiimeyag - Your younger siblings
Oshiimeyan - His/her younger sibling
Oshimeya' - His/her younger siblings

Joe obaabaayan onowe - This is Joe's father.
Joe oshiimeya' onowe - These are Joes younger siblings.
Joe obaabaayan abiwan - Joe's father is at home.
Osayeya' gaye abiwa' - His older brothers are at home also.
Aaniin ezhichigenid omaamaayan? - What is his mother doing?
Aaniin omaamaayan ezhichigenid? - What is his mother doing?
Jiibaakwewan - She is cooking.
Aandi odaanisa' gaa-dizhaaanid? - Where did his daughters go?
Magizha oodenaang gii-izhaawa' - Maybe they went to town.
Awe inini obaabaayan aakoziwan - This man's father is sick.
 
 

New Words:

abi - he is there; he is at home
jiibaakwe - he cooks
 
 

Note.

In Ojibwe relatives could not be mentioned without a prefix, indicating which relatives they are: my, your, his, ours, etc. This prefix is called a possessive prefix.

Possessive prefixes look very much like personal prefixes of A form, but they are added to nouns:

ni- (nin-, nind-) - my; a possessive prefix of me. It indicates that relatives are mine.

gi- (gid-) - your; a possessive prefix of you. It indicates that relatives are your.

o- (od-) - his/her. This prefix indicates that relatives belong to him or her.

When you need to indicate a possessor, you can simply place him before or after his relative:

Joe obaabaayan - Joe's father.
Awe inini obaabaayan aakoziwan - This man's father is sick.

Speaking about his/her relatives another thing happens. His/her relatives' terms take an additional suffix:

If a noun refers to one person, it takes a suffix -an (or: -yan, -wan):

Ogozisan - His/her son
Odaanisan - His/her daughter

If a noun refers to more than one person it takes a suffix -a' (or: -ya', -wa'):

Ogozisa' - His/her sons
Odaanisa' - His/her daughters

A person with this special suffix (it is called an obviative suffix) is considered to be not just 'he' or 'she', but 'another he' or 'another she'.
In Ojibwe only one he or she could be placed in a statement. If there are others, they automatically will be qualified as 'another he or she'.

Speaking of his/her relatives there already is one he or she - a possessor! So his/her relative is another s/he. This another s/he is also called - obviative.
When this another (obviative) s/he does something, a verb takes a different affix, not just which is added for simple he or she! That's why it's also called the forth person.

So when ahother s/he does something -

Joe obaabaayan abiwan - Joe's father is at home.
'Another (or obviative) s/he' takes a suffix -wan.

Osayeya' gaye abiwa' - His older brothers are at home also.
'Another they' take a suffix -wa'.

In wh-questions (B form) obviative suffix -nid is the same for both another s/he and they:

Aaniin ezhichigenid omaamaayan? - What is his mother doing?
Aandi odaanisa' gaad-izhaaanid? - Where did his daughters go?
(past tense prefix gaa- can turn into gaad- before vowels).

With 'another s/he' another thing happens. Different demonstrative pronouns are used with them - those, which are used with inanimate nouns (!) and besides all only plural (!), which are used with more than one thing, even if there is only one omaamaayan!

Joe obaabaayan onowe - This is Joe's father.
Joe oshiimeya' onowe - These are Joes younger siblings.
 
 

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Grammar Note.

Relatives. Kin terms in Ojibwe are dependent nouns. It means that they could not be used without possessive form (affix), marking a person to whom they belong:

my	ni- (relative)
your singl	gi-(relative)
his/her	o-(relative)-[n]
our (exc)	ni-(relative)-nan
our (inc)	gi-(relative)-nan
your pl	gi-(relative)-waa
their	o-(relative)-waa-[n]

Possessive form can be used with any noun, meaning: my, your, his, etc.
If you need to define a possessor, put him just before a noun in possessive form.
Obviative. New grammatical category is used in this chapter - obviative. Obviative occurs in some cases, we will describe one of them here:
If an animated noun in possessive form belongs to a possessor, which stands in 3d person (singular or plural: he, she, they), this noun (and demonstrative pronouns and verbs, which belong to this noun) change their form. Obviative singular noun suffix is -n (or -an, -wan, -yan). In plural the last sound ‘n’ of a suffix is dropped and changed into glottal stop - ‘. Obviative verb suffixes here: -wan for A form and -nid for B form.

 

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