Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

debwe vai gh
Listen

s/he tells the truth, speaks the truth



indebwe 1s ind; nindebwe 1s ind; nidebwe 1s ind; debwe 3s ind; debwed 3s conj; dayebwed 3s ch-conj; Stem: /debwe-/

indebwe1s ind gh
Listen

nidebwe1s ind es
Listen

debwe 3s ind gh
Listen

es
Listen

debwed3s conj gh
Listen

es
Listen

dayebwed3s ch-conj gh
Listen

Geget sa naa debwe awe inini.

That man was right.
 rg
Listen

Gidebwe na?

Are you telling the truth?
 es
Listen

debwe /debwe-/: /deb-/
enough, adequate, reach
; /-we/
h/ acts (on an unspecified animate object)
Reduplicated Form: dedebwe

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.

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.