bizhiki
/bɪʒɪkʰɪ/
The English word bison is translated into Ojibwe as bizhiki. Wiktionary also lists ᐱᔑᑭ and mashkodebizhiki.
Meaning: American bison, Bison bison (noun)
Ways to say it
| Ojibwe | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| bizhiki | /bɪʒɪkʰɪ/ | |
| ᐱᔑᑭ | ||
| mashkodebizhiki | ||
| ᒪᔥᑯᑌᐱᔑᑭ | mashkodebizhiki |
The term refers to the American bison (Bison bison).
How do you pronounce it?
/bɪʒɪkʰɪ/
Did you know?
- The word bizhiki is often mentioned in traditional stories as a 'grandfather' figure, reflecting a kinship system that extends to animals.
- The syllabics used for ᐱᔑᑭ represent a phonetic system that was adapted to represent the sounds of Indigenous languages, which sometimes differ significantly from English.
- Because the bison was central to survival, Ojibwe has many specialized terms for different parts of the bizhiki that have no single-word equivalent in English.
Example sentences for Ojibwe are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Nibi and Migizi are looking at a picture book.
- NibiBizhiki nimoomaa!Look at the bison!
- MigiziAandaa bizhiki?Where is the bison?
- NibiBizhiki wiisin.The bison is eating.
- MigiziBizhiki gaa-zhibiki.The bison is big.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bison” translations and entries bizhiki, mashkodebizhiki, ᒪᔥᑯᑌᐱᔑᑭ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
