Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

bwaanawitoon vti2

be unable to do or manage it

Paired with: bwaanawi' vta



imbwaanawitoon 1s - 0s ind; nimbwaanawitoon 1s - 0s ind; nibwaanawitoon 1s - 0s ind; obwaanawitoon 3s - 0s ind; bwaanawitood 3s - 0 conj; bwayaanawitood 3s - 0 ch-conj; bwaanawitoon 2s - 0 imp; Stem: /bwaanawit-/

Baapiniziwaagan. Nibwaanawitoon wii-tiba'igeyaan imaa ogimaanaang.

It's a problem. I'm not able to pay (taxes to) the government.
 es
Listen

Nibwaanawitoon aana-wiikobidooyaan. Indaga ombidiyenin.

I can't pull it out. Please raise your butt [off it].
 es
Listen

bwaanawitoon /bwaanawit-/: /bwaanaw-/
unable
; /-t/
cause it to be or to act

The Ojibwe People's Dictionary is developed and maintained by:
Nora Livesay, Editor
John D. Nichols, Founder and Linguistic Editor

with support and collaboration from the University of Minnesota's Department of American Indian Studies and University Libraries.

Word Family

bwaanawitoon vti2 be unable to do or manage it
(detransitive) bwaanawichige vai s/he is unable (to do something)

Additional Resources

Many of the words in the Ojibwe People's Dictionary have related resources. Click through to the full dictionary entry to hear audio recordings, see images, read documents and watch videos. Here's a key to resource icons.

  • Audio recordings
  • Images
  • Video
  • Documents

Speakers & Regions Key

Individual speakers and speakers from different regions use different words when speaking. Each audio recording is marked with the initials of the Ojibwe speaker. Click on a speaker's initials to go to the speaker's bio page. If an Ojibwe word is particular to a certain region, it will be marked with a region code. Click on the region code to go to the Regions page.