Reimagining the Role of ‘Family Support Worker’
Reimagined role-name in Biigtigong’s dialect of Nishnaabemwin:
- Wdoodegzii-wiijgaabwitaagewin Gaa-nokiitaaged
Wdoodegzii-wiijgaabwitaagewin Gaa-nokiitaaged ~ Family-support Worker
Morphemes (building blocks of each word):
- Wdoodegzii-wiijgaabwitaagewin ~ “family-support”
- Wdoodeg ~ “family-like”
- zi(i)- ~ “someone is in a state or condition”
- wiij ~ “with, accompany”
- gaabwi ~ “someone stands”
- taa ~ “act in relation to someone”
- ge ~ “someone acts (on an unspecified object)”
- win ~ “-ness”
- Gaa-nokiitaaged ~ “worker [for people]”
- Gaa-…d ~ “someone who…”
- nokii ~ “work”
- taa ~ “act in relation to someone”
- ge ~ “someone acts (on an unspecified object)”
A translation of the morphemes:
- family–supporting-ness someone-who-works-for-people
A plainer, more free-form English translation:
- family-support worker
A formal-English translation:
- Family-support Worker
Montano, J. P., & Michano, A. R. “Reimagining Health Centre Roles in Biigtigong Nishnaabemwin” biigtigong.com. Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, 14 Jul 2017. Web.