Lesson 5 - Even More Weather
Gimiwan na? - Is it raining?
Gimiwan na megwaa? - Is it raining right now?
Gimiwan na mego? - Is it raining right now?
Miinange - Yes. Of course.
Ehe - Yeah. Uh huh.
Zoogipon na? - Is it snowing?
Gaawiin - No.
Gaawiin zaagaatesinoon - It is not sunny.
Gaawiin gisinaasinoon - It is not cold.
Gaawiin noongom onji-gimiwanzinoon - It didn't rain today.
Gaawiin noongom gii-gimiwanzinoon - It didn't rain today.
Gaawiin wii-zoogiponzinoon - It is not going to snow.
Aaniin ezhiwebag? - How is the weather?
Aaniin ezhiwebag aagojing? - How is the weather outside?
Aaniin gaa-ezhiwebag bijiinaago? - How was the weather yesterday?
Aaniin ge-ezhiwebag waabang? - How will the weather be tomorrow?
Gaawiin ningikendanziin - I don't know.
Amanji sa - I don't know.
Gii-zoogipon na bijiinago? - Did it snow yesterday?
Gii-booni-gimiwan bijiinago? - It stopped raining yesterday.
Da-booni-gimiwan wiiba - It will stop raining soon.
Wii-maajii-gimiwan waabang - It is going to start to rain tomorrow.
Gii-booni-noodin - The wind stopped.
Gii-maajii-noodin - The wind started.
Wii-zoogipon na? Aazha maajii-zoogipon. - Is it going to snow? It is starting to snow already.
Wii-maajibiisaa - It is going to start to rain tomorrow.
Gii-boonaanimad - The wind stopped.
New Words:
na - question marker
ehe - yeah
aaniin - here: how
ezhiwebag - happen (about natural events)
aagojing - outside
ningikendanziin - i don't know [it]
amanji sa - i don't know;
booni- stop
maajii- start
biisaa - rain, misty rain
aanimad - strong wind blows
boonaanimad = booni- + aanimad
Note.
Yes/no questions are questions to which the answer may be 'yes' or 'no.' These questions are formed from statements by placing the question word na after the first word:
gimiwan (it is raining) - gimiwan na? (is it raining?)
gii-gimiwan bijiinaago (it rained yesterday) - gii-gimiwan na bijinaago? (did it rain yesterday?)Wh-questions (questions with words: who, what, when, where, why, how) are formed in a different way. Special interrogative words must be used there (in our case: aaniin, 'how').
In wh-questions verbs, gii-, wii-, and da- change their form: gii- changes into gaa-, da- changes into ge-, and wii- changes into waa-.
More detailed information on these questions will be described later.For denying the situation you have to place the word gaawiin ("no") before a verb, and add -sinoon or -zinoon at the end of a weather verb.
-sinoon is added to verbs, ending in a vowel, e.g.: zaagate - zaagaatesinoon.
-zinoon is added to verbs, ending in a consonant, e.g.: gimiwan - gimiwanzinoon.Preverbs. There are such words in Ojibwe - preverbs, which could not be used separately. Instead of it they are combined with verbs, creating new words:
maajii- (start) + gimiwan (it is raining) = maajii-gimiwan (it starts to rain)
boonii- (stop) + zoogipon (it is snowing) = boonii-zoogipon (it stopped to snow)
boonii- (stop) + aanimad (it is strong wind) = boonaanimad (the wind stops)
There are very many preverbs in Ojibwe.
Grammar note.
1) yes/no questions are questions which need only "yes" or "no" answers, they are formed with interrogative word na or ina. It always stands after first word in a sentence.
2) wh-questions (questions with words: who, what, when, where, why, how) are formed in a different way. Special interrogative particles must be used (in our case: aaniin) and verb affix must be changed into B form. In wh-questions tense markers also change their form: gii- changes into gaa-, ga- (future tense marker for 1st and 2d person) and da- (future tense marker for 3d person) change into ge-; wii- changes into waa-.
3) negations are formed with word gaawiin - "no, not" and negative suffixes, here: -sinoon or -zinoon. Consonant in suffix depends on stem ending - 's' after vowel and 'z' after consonant.
amanji sa. amanji - is a particle with meaning "i don't know "; sa - another particle without separate meaning, it emphasizes, stresses other words.