Reimagining the Role of ‘Social Services Supervisor’
Reimagined role-name in Biigtigong’s dialect of Nishnaabemwin:
- Wiiji-dzhiikendiwni-wndinmaagewin Gaa-gnawendmaaged
Wiiji-dzhiikendiwni-wndinmaagewin Gaa-gnawendmaaged ~ Social-services Supervisor
Morphemes (building blocks of each word):
- Wiiji-dzhiikendiwni-wndinmaagewin ~ “social-services”
- Wiiji- ~ “with, accompany”
- dzh ~ “there, in a certain place”
- iik ~ “deal with it”
- e ~ “be with someone”
- ndi ~ [reciprocal], “to/with/for each other”
- wn ~ “-ness”
- i- ~ [prenoun connector]
- wnd ~ “from a certain place, for a certain reason”
- in ~ “act on it by hand”
- maa ~ “do it for someone”
- ge ~ “someone acts (on an unspecified object)”
- win ~ “-ness”
- Gaa-gnawendmaaged ~ “supervisor”
- Gaa-…d ~ “someone who…”
- gnaw ~ “care, attend”
- end ~ “act by thought on it”
- maa ~ “do it for someone”
- ge ~ “someone acts (on an unspecified object)”
A translation of the morphemes:
- social—obtain-things-from-a-certain-place-for-people–ness someone-who-takes-care-of-something-for-people
A plainer, more free-form English translation:
- social—provide-things-for-people–ness take-care-of-er
A formal-English translation:
- Social-services Supervisor
Montano, J. P., & Michano, A. R. “Reimagining Health Centre Roles in Biigtigong Nishnaabemwin” biigtigong.com. Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, 14 Jul 2017. Web.