LANGUAGLE

Languagle #29: Ojibwe

September 13, 2026 · spoken in Canada, United States

Aaniin endaso-biboonagiziyan?

aa-NEEN en-da-so-bi-boo-na-GI-zi-yan

"How many winters are you? The Ojibwe way of asking your age."

What it means

Literally "how many winters are you?" Ojibwe counts a person’s age in winters rather than years, which tells you something about which season you measure your survival by.

What kind of saying it is

Everyday speech. Not a proverb — something people actually say day to day.

Worth knowing

Written in the double-vowel spelling system used for Anishinaabemowin today, where a doubled letter marks a long vowel.

Source

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