Reimagining the Role of ‘Staff Room’
Reimagined role-name in Biigtigong’s dialect of Nishnaabemwin:
- Gaa-nokiitaagewaad Bkesaagan
Morphemes (building blocks of each word):
- Gaa-nokiitaagewaad ~ “staff”
- Gaa-…waad ~ “they who…”, “those who…”
- nokii ~ “work”
- taa ~ “act in relation to someone”
- ge ~ “someone acts (on an unspecified object)”
- Bkesaagan ~ “room”
- Bke ~ “off to the side, diverge”
- saa ~ “structure unit”
- gan ~ “instrument, made thing”
A translation of the morphemes:
- those-who-work-for-people room
A plainer, more free-form English translation:
- staff room
A formal-English translation:
- Staff Room
Montano, J. P., & Michano, A. R. “Reimagining Health Centre Roles in Biigtigong Nishnaabemwin” biigtigong.com. Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, 14 Jul 2017. Web.