Ojibwe language

Ojibwe
Ojibwa
Anishinaabemowin, ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓈᐯᒧᐎᓐ
Pronunciation[anɪʃːɪnaːpeːmowɪn] or [anɪʃɪnaːbeːmowɪn]
Native toCanada, United States
RegionCanada: Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, groups in Alberta, British Columbia; United States: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, groups in North Dakota, Montana
EthnicityOjibwe people
Native speakers
(50,000 cited 1990–2016 censuses)[1]
Dialects(see Ojibwe dialects)
Language codes
ISO 639-1oj – Ojibwa
ISO 639-2oji – Ojibwa
ISO 639-3oji – inclusive code – Ojibwa
Individual codes:
ojs – Severn Ojibwa
ojg – Eastern Ojibwa
ojc – Central Ojibwa
ojb – Northwestern Ojibwa
ojw – Western Ojibwa
ciw – Chippewa
otw – Ottawa
alq – Algonquin
Glottologojib1241  Ojibwa
Linguasphere62-ADA-d (Ojibwa+Anissinapek)
Location of all Anishinaabe Reservations/​Reserves and cities with an Anishinaabe population in North America, with diffusion rings about communities speaking Anishinaabe languages
Ojibwe is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
PersonOjibwe
PeopleOjibweg
LanguageOjibwemowin
CountryOjibwewaki
This article contains Canadian Aboriginal syllabic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of syllabics.

Ojibwe (/oʊˈdʒɪbweɪ/ oh-JIB-way),[2] also known as Ojibwa (/oʊˈdʒɪbwə/ oh-JIB-wə),[3][4][5] Ojibway, Otchipwe,[6] Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian language family.[7][8] The language is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems. There is no single dialect that is considered the most prestigious or most prominent, and no standard writing system that covers all dialects.

Dialects of Ojibwemowin are spoken in Canada, from southwestern Quebec, through Ontario, Manitoba and parts of Saskatchewan, with outlying communities in Alberta;[9][10] and in the United States, from Michigan to Wisconsin and Minnesota, with a number of communities in North Dakota and Montana, as well as groups that were removed to Kansas and Oklahoma during the Indian Removal period.[10][11] While there is some variation in the classification of its dialects, at least the following are recognized, from east to west: Algonquin, Eastern Ojibwe, Ottawa (Odawa), Western Ojibwe (Saulteaux), Oji-Cree (Severn Ojibwe), Northwestern Ojibwe, and Southwestern Ojibwe (Chippewa). Based upon contemporary field research, J. R. Valentine also recognizes several other dialects: Berens Ojibwe in northwestern Ontario, which he distinguishes from Northwestern Ojibwe; North of (Lake) Superior; and Nipissing. The latter two cover approximately the same territory as Central Ojibwa, which he does not recognize.[12]

The aggregated dialects of Ojibwemowin comprise the second most commonly spoken First Nations language in Canada (after Cree),[13] and the fourth most widely spoken in the United States or Canada behind Navajo, the Inuit languages and Cree.[14]

Ojibwemowin is a relatively healthy indigenous language. The Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Immersion School in Hayward, Wisconsin teaches all classes to children in Ojibwe only.[15] A similar program is also in place at Lowell Elementary School in Duluth, Minnesota.[16]

  1. ^ Ojibwa at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed access icon
    Severn Ojibwa at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed access icon
    Eastern Ojibwa at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed access icon
    Central Ojibwa at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed access icon
    Northwestern Ojibwa at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed access icon
    Western Ojibwa at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed access icon
    Chippewa at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed access icon
    (Additional references under 'Language codes' in the information box)
  2. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
  3. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forke, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2020). "Ojibwa". Glottolog 4.3.
  4. ^ "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: oji". ISO 639-2 Registration Authority – Library of Congress. Retrieved July 4, 2017. Name: Ojibwa
  5. ^ "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: oji". ISO 639-3 Registration Authority – SIL International. Retrieved July 4, 2017. Name: Ojibwa
  6. ^ R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878. A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language
  7. ^ Goddard, Ives, 1979.
  8. ^ Bloomfield, Leonard, 1958.
  9. ^ Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, p. 6.
  10. ^ a b Nichols, John, 1980, pp. 1–2.
  11. ^ Rhodes, Richard, and Evelyn Todd, 1981.
  12. ^ Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, p. 456.
  13. ^ "Various Languages Spoken (147), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census – 20% Sample Data". Statistics Canada. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  14. ^ "Census in Brief: The Aboriginal languages of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit". www12.statcan.gc.ca. October 25, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  15. ^ "Waadookodading: Ojibwe Language Immersion School". theways.org.
  16. ^ "Misaabekong Ojibwe Immersion - Duluth Public Schools". www.isd709.org. Retrieved October 7, 2024.