Inanimate or Animate?

In Anishinaabemowin, every thought and word is either inanimate or animate. Inanimate means it does not have life, and animate means we consider it to have life or a spirit. When we speak of “it” or “him or her”, the form of the word describes “it” or “him/her” as animate or having life or spirit. Anything can be animate or inanimate: foods, household items, clothing, numbers, and even body parts. When we speak of an apple, corn or potato we speak about them as someone alive. This is a great mystery in our language and sometimes people try to figure out why our language does this, but I don’t think it can be explained in English. Even some words in English are animate and inanimate. For example, when a fluent Anishinaabemowin speaker hears the word “spaghetti”, it is considered inanimate, but when the word “taco” is heard, it is considered animate.

Our language is a very spiritual language. Our ancestors lived a spiritual lifestyle and passed this lifestyle down through the language.

How do I know what is animate or inanimate?

One way to know what is animate or inanimate is to ask a fluent speaker of Anishinaabemowin. Ask the fluent speaker what the plural form of a word is and if it ends with a “k” or “g” sound. This indicates that the word is animate. If it ends with an “n” sound, it is inanimate.