The Ojibwe language, a member of the Algonquian linguistic family, is the language of the Anishinabe Indians. The Anishinabe are also known as Ojibwe and Chippewa, but they themselves prefer to be called Anishinabe or 'Original People'. The word Ojibwe refers to the distinctive puckered moccasins worn by these people and the word Chippewa appears to have arisen from French mispronunciation of Ojibwe.
As it is spoken by the Anishinabe, the Ojibwe language is also called Anishinaabemowin, Anihshininiimowin or Ojibwemowin. This is how the Anishinabe themselves refer to it.
The Anishinabe lived in the Great Lakes Region, with tribes spread out across the area between Michigan and Ontario. As there were many different Anishinabe tribes - due to different locations as well as different politics - different, mutually understandable dialects arose. Some of these dialects are -
- Eastern Ojibwe
- Western Ojibwe
- Southwestern Ojibwe
- Northwestern Ojibwe
- Severn Ojibwe
- Ottawa
- Algonquin
The Ojibwe language is one of the most widely spoken of the Native American Indian languages. It has been used over the years as a common trade language by other Native Americans and non-Indians as well. A pidgin form of Ojibwe known as Broken Oghibbeway was also used.
