Western Ojibwa | |
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Nakawēmowin ᓇᐦᑲᐌᒧᐎᓐ |
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Native to | Canada |
Region | southern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan |
Native speakers
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Unknown (date missing) |
Algic
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
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Glottolog | west1510 |
Western Ojibwa (also known as Nakawēmowin (ᓇᐦᑲᐌᒧᐎᓐ), Saulteaux, and Plains Ojibwa) is a dialect of the Ojibwe language, a member of the Algonquian language family. It is spoken by the Saulteaux, a sub-Nation of the Ojibwe people, in southern Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan, Canada, westward from Lake Winnipeg.Saulteaux is the generally used term by its speakers while Nakawēmowin is the general term in the language itself.
Genetically, Ojibwa is part of the Algonquian language family. This language family includes languages like Mi'kmaq, Abenaki, Malecite, Potawatomi, Delaware, Montagnais-Naskapi, Cree, and Blackfoot in Canada. In the U.S., are languages such as Menomini, Fox, Shawnee and Cheyenne.Yurok and Wiyot, also known as the Ritwan languages in old literature, that were once spoken in California are also relatives with Algonquian language family. Despite the geographic distance, these two languages make part of the Algic language family with the Algonquian languages.
Randolph Valentine (1994) divides Ojibwa into two major dialect groups: a southern group and a northern group. The southern dialect group includes Saulteaux in southern Manitoba and southern Sasketchewan; Ojibwa in most of Ontario, Manitoulin Island and Georgian Bay; Ottawa or Odawa in southern Ontario; and finally Chippewa in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The northern dialect group includes Oji-Cree in northern Ontario and Algonquin in Western Quebec.