Introduction

This chapter presents a dissertation work which is based on data primarily from the dialect of Ojibwa spoken on the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve, situated on the eastern end of Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. Some data was also elicited from a speaker of a Western dialect of Ojibwa and occasionally illustrative material will be cited from this source. Data from other dialects will also be cited and the sources will be credited in the appropriate places. Dialect variations will be cited primarily for what these can contribute to the understanding of a particular phonological process, historical or synchronic. Odawa is a dialect of Ojibwa. Ojibwa is itself a member of the central group of Algonquian languages. In Eastern dialects of Ojibwa, the form okiman is ambiguous, since the referent could be either singular or plural. Northern dialects show, phonetically, strongly pre-aspirated fortis obstruents where other dialects show no pre-aspiration.