A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE ...

1987:128). A quick scan of the Ojibwe narratives examined for this thesis show no such
frequency for miinawaa – not even close. In fact, the frequency of miinawaa appears to
be relatively small compared to the frequency of other sentence-initial markers such as
nashke, marker complexes based upon mii, or even asyndetic connection ‘zero’. This
ultimately speaks to the general optionality of discourse markers as noted by Schiffrin
(1987), which appears to be the case with miinawaa.
3.1.1.3 onzaam
In the dictionary, onzaam is listed as meaning ‘too much, excessively, extremely’
(Nichols and Nyholm 1995:109), e.g. onzaam gisinaa ‘it’s too cold’. This is, in fact, its
use within sentence grammars, and is well known. Its discourse function, however,
display a relation of causality between units of discourse, having the force of the English
because. The following shows this usage of onzaam (or zaam).
(38) onzaam (Staples 2007, unpublished transcription)
Apane-sa wiin-go ogii-ayaan aw gwiiwizens ge-miijid,
always him/her s/he had it that boy what s/he is going to eat
zaam odedeyan geget gii-wawiingezi gii-kiiwased naa gaye gii-wewebinaabiid.
because his father truly was skillful hunted and also fished
‘But the boy always had something to eat, because his dad was especially good at
hunting and fishing.’
In (38), there are two propositions: 1) the boy always had food, and 2) his dad was
especially good at hunting and fishing. The comma after the first clause indicates a
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