Richard A. Rhodes

Eastern Ojibwa-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary - Trends in Linguistics. Documentation [TiLDOC] Richard A. Rhodes Reprint 2011 edition

Chicago (see Zhgaagong, which may mean "Place of the Skunk"). Kemo Sabe (see Giimoozaabi, which may mean "he looks out in secret"), and Giche-gumi (from Longfellow?s poem, see gchigami) are all words that came originally from algonquian languages and can be found in this dictionary. These languages have also given English such words as "moccasin" and "wigwam". In addition, words such as "fire water" (for hard liquor or whiskey) are direct translations from Algonquian languages.

This 9,000 word dictionary gives information on the Ojibwa language, which is still spoken by over 45,000 people in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota. In Canada, the Ojibwa people live in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba. This work contains data from Eastern Ojibwa and Ottawa, two distinct dialects of the Ojibwa language. (Ottawa is known locally as Chippewa in Michigan and Southern Ontario.)

In addition to the English-Ojibwa and Ojibwa-English dictionaries, information on dialects, variation, and borrowing is given, and a lengthy guide to pronunciation is included.

The author, Richard A. Thodes, is a professor of linguistics. Formerly at the University of Michigan, he is now at the University of California at Berkeley.