A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

to spatially locate objects (especially when pointing to them so as to leave no doubt about
their selection). This demonstrative vs. determiner function is similar to the use of
demonstratives in English (though English has no other specifier that adds the focusing
power that mii does in Ojibwe), since they too may stand alone (as pronouns), or act as
modifiers (determiners) of other elements, such as in the following English examples
involving the English demonstrative that: 1) that is red, and 2) that car is red. In the
first example, that is a pronoun, but in the second example, that modifies the noun car.
Such is the case with mii in (43c). When it appears by itself, it stands in for objects (as a
pronoun), but with the additional ability to stand in for time frames as well. When it
functions as a determiner (or specifier), as in mii a’aw Jaaj above, mii contributes a more
exacting meaning to the demonstrative pronoun a’aw ‘that one’, getting a more exacting
meaning: ‘that very one’.
As an aspectual marker, mii marks what I have termed IMMEDIACY ASPECT.
Immediacy aspect expresses the “immediate phasal change of a temporal event or
condition, typically showing either the immediate completion of an event, or its
immediate inception (Fairbanks 2008, forthcoming). Many times, expressions containing
aspectual mii are translated by speakers using the English temporal adverb now.
(44) Aspectual use of mii (examples adapted from Fairbanks 2008, forthcoming)
a) Iskigamide. b) Mii iskigamideg. (completive)
boil down/INDEP ASP boil down.0/CONJ
‘It’s boiling down.’ ‘It’s boiled down.’
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