-gamaa

Ojibwe

Etymology

-gam- + -aa

Final

-gamaa

1. lake

Usage notes

-gamaa is not a word in Ojibwe, nor a single morpheme. It is made up of the medial -gam- (body of water) and the final -aa (to be - for something inanimate) and so together is often glossed to mean lake in English. In Ojibwe, it is preceded by an initial (root) that acts like an adjective in English. For example:

1. ginoogamaa — the lake is long

   mangigamaa — the lake is large

See also

• gichigami
• zaaga'igan