Oji-Cree language
| Severn Ojibwa | |
|---|---|
| Anishininiimowin, ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᒧᐏᐣ | |
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | Ontario, Manitoba |
|
Native speakers
|
10,500 (2001 census) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | seve1240 |
The Severn Ojibwa or the Oji-Cree language (ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓂᓃᒧᐏᐣ, Anishininiimowin; Unpointed: ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᒧᐏᐣ) is the indigenous name for a dialect of the Ojibwe language spoken in a series of Oji-Cree communities in northern Ontario and at Island Lake, Manitoba, Canada. Ojibwa is a member of the Algonquian language family, itself a member of the Algic language family.
The language is often referred in English as Oji-Cree, with the term Severn Ojibwa (or Ojibwe) primarily used by linguists and anthropologists. Severn Ojibwa speakers have also been identified as Northern Ojibwa, and the same term has been applied to their dialect.
Severn Ojibwa speakers use two self-designations in their own language. The first is Anishinini 'ordinary person' (plural Anishininiwag) This term has been compared to Plains Cree ayisiyiniw 'person, human being.' The term Anishinaabe 'ordinary man,' which is widely used as a self-designation across the Ojibwa dialect continuum, is also used and accepted by Severn speakers.
The term Anishininiimowin is the general word used in Severn Ojibwa to refer to the language itself (noun Anishinini 'ordinary person,' suffix -mo 'speak a language,' suffix -win 'nominalizer'). A similar term Anishinaabemowin with the same structure would be expected but has not been documented in published sources.
Anishininiimowin was one of only six aboriginal languages in Canada to report an increase in use in the 2001 Canadian census over the 1996 census.
Although sometimes described as a separate language, Severn Ojibwa is most accurately described as a dialect of the larger Ojibwe language complex with a number of distinctive innovations in addition to an increment of vocabulary borrowed from Cree and a modest amount of Cree morphology.
Valentine has proposed that Ojibwe dialects are divided into three groups: a northern tier consisting of Severn and Algonquin; a southern tier consisting of "Odawa, Chippewa, Eastern Ojibwe, the Ojibwe of the Border Lakes region between Minnesota and Ontario, and Saulteaux; and third, a transitional zone between these two polar groups, in which there is a mixture of northern and southern features."
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Wikipedia