Ottawa oral literature and texts

Traditional Ottawa stories fall into two general categories, aasookaan 'legend, sacred story' (plural aasookaanag)^[1] and dbaajmowin 'narrative, story' (plural dbaajmownan).^[2] Stories in the aasookaan category involve mythical characters such as Nenbozh.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] Stories in the dbaajmowin category include traditional stories that do not necessarily involve mythical characters,^[7] with the same term also used more generally to refer to any type of story not in the aasookaan category. Published Ottawa text material includes a range of genres, including historical narratives,^[8] stories of conflict with other indigenous groups,^[9] humorous stories,^[10] and others.^[6]^[11]

Text

Ottawa speaker Andrew Medler dictated the following text while he was working with Leonard Bloomfield in a linguistic field methods class at the Linguistic Institute of the Linguistic Society of America, held during the summer of 1938 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.^[12] Medler grew up near Saginaw, Michigan but spent most of his life at Walpole Island.^[13] The texts that Medler dictated were originally published in a linguistically oriented transcription using phonetic symbols, and have been republished in the modern orthography, with analysis.^[14]

Love Medicine
Andrew Medler

(1) Ngoding kiwenziinh ngii-noondwaaba a-dbaajmod wshkiniigkwen gii-ndodmaagod iw wiikwebjigan.
Once I heard an old man tell of how a young woman asked him for love medicine.

(2) Wgii-msawenmaan niw wshkinwen.
She was in love with a young man.

(3) Mii dash niw kiwenziinyan gii-ndodmawaad iw wiikwebjigan, gye go wgii-dbahmawaan.
So then she asked that old man for the love medicine, and she paid him for it.

(4) Mii dash gii-aabjitood maaba wshkiniigkwe iw mshkiki gaa-giishpnadood.
Then this young woman used that medicine that she had bought.

(5) Mii dash maaba wshkinwe gaa-zhi-gchi-zaaghaad niw wshkiniigkwen.
Then this young man accordingly very much loved that young woman.

(6) Gye go mii gii-wiidgemaad, gye go mii wiiba gii-yaawaawaad binoojiinyan.
Then he married her; very soon they had children.

(7) Aapji go gii-zaaghidwag gye go gii-maajiishkaawag.
They loved each other and they fared very well.

Analysis of text

Below is an interlinear glossing and analysis of the words in each sentence, with lines of analysis being vertically aligned on a word-by-word basis. For each sentence the first line presents the text, the second presents a morphological analysis, the third line presents a translation of the elements identified in line 2, and the fourth line presents a word-by-word translation. A more detailed morphological analysis is also available.^[15] A table of codes for grammatical elements used in interlinear glossing occurs after the glossed sentences.^[16]

In the first line the hyphen '-' is used to mark the division between a preverb and an immediately following verb, as in Sentence 1: ngii-noondwaaba 'I heard it,' with past tense preverb gii-; or a preverb followed by another preverb, as in Sentence 5, gaa-zhi-gchi-zaaghaad, where the first two hyphens indicate the boundaries between preverbs, and the third hyphen indicates the boundary between a preverb and a verb. In the second line, where morphological analysis is presented, the hyphen marks the start of a suffix, as in wshkiniigkwe-n 'young.man' followed by Obviative suffix -n. Also in the second line, the marker '=' indicates the boundary between a verb and a following verb or preverb.

Sentence 1

(1)	Ngoding	kiwenziinh	ngii-noondwaaba					a-dbaajmod			wshkiniigkwen		gii-ndodmaagod				iw	wiikwebjigan
(2)	ngoding	kiwenziinh	n-	gii=	noondaw	-aa	-ba	a=	dbaajmo-	-d	wshkiniigkwe-	-n	gii=	ndodmaw-	-igw	-d	iw	wiikwebjigan
(3)	once	old.man	1	PAST	hear NA	DIR	PRET	PV.CNJ	tell.story	CNJ.3	young.woman	OBV	PAST	ask NA for NI	INV	CNJ.3	that	love.medicine
(4)	Once	old man	I heard him					he says			young woman		he asked the other for				that	love medicine

Sentence 2

(1)	Wgii-msawenmaan					niw	wshkinwen
(2)	w-	gii=	msawenm-	-aa-	-n	niw	wshkinwe	-n
(3)	3	PAST	desire NA	DIR	OBV	that.NA.OBV	young.man	OBV
(4)	She desired him					that one	young man

Sentence 3

(1)	Mii	dash	niw	kiwenziinyan		gii-dodamaagod				iw	wiikwebjigan,	gye	go	wgii-dbahmawaan
(2)	mii	dash	niw	kiwenziinh	-an	gii=	dodamaw-	-igw	-d	iw	wiikwebjigan	gye	go	w-	gii=	dbahmaw-	-aa	-an
(3)	so	then	that.NA	old.man	OBV	PV.PAST	do so to NA	INV	CNJ.3	that.NI	love.medicine	and	emphatic	3	PV.PAST	pay NI to NA	DIR	OBV
(4)	So	then	that one	old man		she asked him for it				that	love medicine,	and	emphatic	she paid him for it

Sentence 4

(1)	Mii	dash	gii-aabjitood			maaba	wshkiniigkwe	iw	mshkiki	gaa-giishpnadood
(2)	mii	dash	gii=	aabjitoo-	-d	maaba	wshkiniigkwe	iw	mshkiki	gaa=	giishpnadoo-	-d
(3)	so	then	PV.PAST	use NI	CNJ.3	this NA	young.woman	that NI	medicine	IC.PAST	buy NI	CNJ.3
(4)	So	then	she used it			this	young woman	that	medicine	that she bought

Sentence 5

(1)	Mii	dash	maaba	wshkinwe	gaa-zhi-gchi-zaaghaad						niw	wshkiniigkwen
(2)	mii	dash	maaba	wshkinwe	gaa=	zhi=	gchi=	zaagh-	-aa	-d	niw	wshkiniigkwe-	-n
(3)	so	then	this NA	young.man	IC.PAST	thus	very	love NA	DIR	CNJ.3	that NA	young.woman	OBV
(4)	So	then	this one	young man	he very much loved her						that one	young woman

Sentence 6

(1)	Gye	go	mii	gii-wiidgemaad,				gye	go	mii	wiiba	gii-yaawaawaad					binoojiinyan
(2)	gye	go	mii	gii=	wiidgem-	-aa	-d	gye	go	mii	wiiba	gii=	yaaw-	-aa	-waa	-d	binoojiinh	-an
(3)	and	emphatic	so	PAST	marry NA	DIR	CNJ.3	and	emphatic	so	soon	PV.PAST	have NA	DIR	CNJ.PL.3	CNJ.3	child	OBV
(4)	And	indeed	so	he married her				and	indeed	so	soon	they had					children

Sentence 7

(1)	Aapji	go	gii-zaaghidwag			gye	go	gii-maajiishkaawag
(2)	aapji	go	gii=	zaaghidi-	-wag	gye	go	gii=	maajiishkaa-	-wag
(3)	very	emphatic	PV.PAST	love.each.other	PL.NA	and	emphatic	PV.PAST	fare.well	PL.NA
(4)	Very much	indeed	they loved each other			and	indeed	they fared very well

The following table lists codes used in the interlinear analysis of the text.

Code	Gloss	Code	Gloss
1	First person	NI	Inanimate gender
3	Third person	OBV	Obviative form of noun
CNJ	Conjunct form of verb	PAST	Past tense preverb
DIR	Direct inflection of verb	PL	Plural
IC	Initial Change	PRET	Preterit mode
INV	Inverse form of verb	PV	Preverb element occurring before verb
NA	Animate gender

Notes

^ Rhodes, Richard, 1985, 14
^ Rhodes, Richard, 1985, 103
^ Valentine, J. Randolph, 1988, 197-215; 113-115
^ Piggott, Glyne, 1985, 11-16
^ Piggott, Glyne, 1985a, 13-16
^ ^a ^b Nichols, John and Leonard Bloomfield, 1991, 18-23
^ Piggott, Glyne, 1985a, 1-12
^ Piggott, Glyne, 1985, 1-10
^ McGregor, Gregor with C. F. Voegelin, 1988, 114-118
^ Fox, Francis and Nora Soney with Richard Rhodes, 1988
^ Wilder, Julie, ed. 1999
^ Bloomfield, Leonard, 1958, p. vii
^ Bloomfield, Leonard, 1958, p. viii
^ Valentine, J. Randolph, 1998, pp. 57, 167, 239-240
^ Valentine, J. Randolph, 1998, pp. 239-240
^ Valentine, J. Randolph, 1998, pp. xiii-xiv; 217

References

Bloomfield, Leonard. 1958. Eastern Ojibwa: Grammatical sketch, texts and word list. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Cappel, Constance. (Editor).2006. Odawa Language and Legends: Andrew J. Blackbird and Raymond Kiogima. Bloomington,IN:Xlibris.
Fox, Francis and Nora Soney with Richard Rhodes. 1988. "Chippewa-Ottawa texts." John Nichols, ed., An Ojibwe text anthology, 33-68. London: The Centre for Teaching and Research of Canadian Native Languages, University of Western Ontario. ISBN 0-7714-1046-8
McGregor, Gregor with C. F. Voegelin. 1988. "Birch Island Texts." Edited by Leonard Bloomfield and John D. Nichols. John Nichols, ed., An Ojibwe text anthology, 107-194. London: The Centre for Teaching and Research of Canadian Native Languages, University of Western Ontario. ISBN 0-7714-1046-8
Nichols, John D. and Leonard Bloomfield, eds. 1991. The dog's children. Anishinaabe texts told by Angeline Williams. Winnipeg: Publications of the Algonquian Text Society, University of Manitoba. ISBN 0-88755-148-3
Piggott, Glyne L., ed. 1985. Three stories from the Odawa language project. Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics, Readers and Study Guides. Winnipeg: Department of Native Studies, University of Manitoba. ISSN 0711-382X
Piggott, Glyne L., ed. 1985a. Stories of Sam Osawamick from the Odawa language project. Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics, Readers and Study Guides. Winnipeg: Department of Native Studies, University of Manitoba. ISSN 0711-382X
Valentine, J. Randolph. 1998. Weshki-bimaadzijig ji-noondmowaad. 'That the young might hear': The stories of Andrew Medler as recorded by Leonard Bloomfield. London, ON: The Centre for Teaching and Research of Canadian Native Languages, University of Western Ontario. ISBN 0-7714-2091-9
Wilder, Julie, ed. 1999. Wiigwaaskingaa / Land of birch trees: Ojibwe stories by Arthur J. McGregor. Ojibwe editor Mary E. Wemigwans. Hobbema, AB: Blue Moon Publishing. ISBN 0-9685103-0-2

[1] Rhodes, Richard, 1985, 14

[2] Rhodes, Richard, 1985, 103

[3] Valentine, J. Randolph, 1988, 197-215; 113-115

[4] Piggott, Glyne, 1985, 11-16

[5] Piggott, Glyne, 1985a, 13-16

[Nichols_1991-6] Nichols, John and Leonard Bloomfield, 1991, 18-23

[7] Piggott, Glyne, 1985a, 1-12

[8] Piggott, Glyne, 1985, 1-10

[9] McGregor, Gregor with C. F. Voegelin, 1988, 114-118

[10] Fox, Francis and Nora Soney with Richard Rhodes, 1988

[11] Wilder, Julie, ed. 1999

[12] Bloomfield, Leonard, 1958, p. vii

[13] Bloomfield, Leonard, 1958, p. viii

[14] Valentine, J. Randolph, 1998, pp. 57, 167, 239-240

[15] Valentine, J. Randolph, 1998, pp. 239-240

[16] Valentine, J. Randolph, 1998, pp. xiii-xiv; 217

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