Ojibwe has a copula, in some situations, which has a verb (several, in fact) that can be translated as "to be" and used in situations to equate one thing with another. However, a copula is not always used in Ojibwe, such as if demonstrative pronouns are used (jiimaan o'ow, "this is a canoe"). Adverbs Particles Ojibwe language with its iambic accent system and relatively atonal word stresses, has any nuance of expressing word emphasis, stress, mood, etc., being expressed by particles like these: mii — discourse sequencer, topical focuser (i)dash — topical shift indicator; may even appear as -sh (i)go — emphasises heightened assertiveness (i)sa — emphasises novelty (i)sha — emphasises contradiction (i)maa — emphasises cooperation (either actual or desired) (i)naa — emphasises evaluative information wii — unexpectedness indicator The short initial 'i' is omitted typically when following a word or particle ending in a vowel or ending in 'n'. Other particles may be interjections like these: ambe — "come on..." (a)tayaa — "indeed" (a)was — "go away" boozhoo — "hello" enh — "yes" gaawiin — "no" (i)kawe — "hold on..." miigwech — "thank you" The short initial vowel may be omitted typically in excited speech. Counting Ojibwe numbers are classified as a biquinary base-10 system. 1 In theory 2 Historically, either niizh midana or niizhidana. 3 Many speakers omit the initial n (shown in parentheses). 4 In Algonquin and Algonquin-influenced communities, new and newin midana are used instead of niiwin and niimidana, respectively. 5 In Northwestern Ojibwe, Oji-cree, and Algonquin, o is used instead of i as the connector vowel for the suffixes -midana and -midanaak. 6 In some dialects, such as in parts of Eastern Ojibwe, zhaang is used instead of zhaangaswi; the shorter form was historically recorded as being the more pervasive form, but it now is rarely used. 7 Richard Rhodes reports that some Algonquin speakers use a connector, -di, before -swi, -somidana, and -somidanaak. 8 (n)ingod is "one" in Potawatomi but "something" in Ojibwe. Modifications of sound Ojibwe initials of words may experience morphological changes under three modification strategies: initial consonant change, initial vowel change and initial syllable reduplication. Initial consonant change Ojibwe consonants are divided into lenis and fortis values: lenis-fortis pairs: ′ – h, b-p, d-t, g-k, j-ch, z-s, zh-sh unpaired fortis: m, n, w, y When either the past tense preverb gii'- or the desiritive future tense wii'- is added to a