Lesson 24 - Who?
Awenen gewajid? - Who is cold?
Awenen gezhizod? - Who is hot?
Awenen nibaad? - Who is asleep?
Awenen ebid? - Who is at home?
Awenen enokiid? - Who is working?
Awenen wiisinid? - Who is eating?
Awenenag wiisiniwaad? - Who all are eating?
Awenenag enokiiwaad? - Who all are working?
Awenen gaa-baapid? - Who laughed?
Awenen gaa-nibaad? - Who slept?
Awenen gaa-gibaang izhgwaandem? - Who closed the door?
Awenen gaa-gibaang? - Who closed it?
Niin - I or me
Awenen iwedi eyaad? - Who is over there?
Aandi ezhaad gisaye? - Where is your older brother going?
Zaaga'iganing izhaa - He is going to the lake.
Gidizhaa na gaye giin? - Are you going also?
New Words:
baapi - he laughs
niin - i, me
Note.
Questions with a word awenen (who) are wh-questions. Verbs in them stand in B form. All the verbs in this lesson are vai verbs, exept gibaa- (close it). Vai verbs do not contain 'it' and thus can't take an object. A verb wiisini (he eats, he is eating) also a vai verb, it is not used to say 'i am eating it', etc. Another vti verb is needed to say 'i am eating it'. We'll talk about it later. A word zaaga'iganing in a statement:
Zaaga'iganing izhaa - He is going to the lake. - is not an object. It answers the question 'where, where to?' - this word indicates a place.
An object answers the questions - 'what?' or 'who(m)?'.
Words 'niin' (i, me) and 'giin' (you) are called personal pronouns. Personal pronouns are words like 'i', 'you', 'he', 'we', 'they'. Personal pronouns usually are not needed in statements when you use verbs in Ojibwe, because 'i', 'you', 'he', etc are already added to verbs as personal prefixes. But if there are no verbs, they are used to indicate a person.
'gaye giin' (and you) are always used together when a person wants to say 'and you?', 'and how about you?', 'you too' in addition to a statement. Personal prefix is not enough in this case: Gidizhaa na gaye giin? - And you, are you going also?
Vti verbs have different suffixes also for B form: Awenen gaa-gibaang izhgwaandem? - Who closed the door?
Vti verbs like gibaa- and bakin- take a suffix -ang with 's/he'. With gibaa- just -ng.
Grammar Note.
Personal pronouns. There are seven personal pronouns in Ojibwe:
niin I, me giin you singl wiin s/he niinawind we exclusive - we without you; i and them giinawind we incusive - we with you; i and you, or i, them and you giinawaa you pl wiinawaa they
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