Nouns can take a special ending which designates the noun in question as being particularly small, or a juvenile member of a species. Here are some examples:

jiimaan	'boat'	jiimaanens	'small boat, toy boat'
odaabaan	'car'	odaabaanens	'little car, toy car'
ma'iingan	'wolf'	ma'iingaans	'small wolf, wolf pup'
mooz	'moose'	moozoons	'small moose, young moose'

This type of form is called a diminutive.  The plural ending after it is always either -ag (animate) or -an (inanimate), depending on the gender of the noun.

jiimaanens	'small boat'	jiimaanensan	'small boats'
odaabaanens	'small car'	odaabaanensag	'small cars'
ma'iingaans	'small wolf'	ma'iingaansag	'small wolves'
moozoons	'small moose'	moozoonsag	'small moose (pl.)'

We have seen that the ending for the plural can show some variation. For example, while the plural suffix is -ag for the word ma'iingan, 'wolf,' it shows considerable variation, as the following examples demonstrate:

asab	'net'	asabiig	'nets'
amik	'beaver'	amikwag	'beavers'
mooz	'moose'	moozoog	'moose (pl.)'

As we know already, when you learn a new noun, it is important to learn the plural as well as the singular. This is because it is unclear from looking at the singular forms of these nouns what the plural is. However, compare the following plurals and diminutives:

Singular	Meaning	Plural	Diminutive
jiimaan	'canoe'	jiimaanan	jiimaanens
asab	'net'	asabiig	asabiins
amik	'beaver'	amikwag	amikoons
mooz	'moose'	moozoog	moozoons

In each case where the formation of the plural does not  involve the simple addition of -ag or -an to the basic stem, the diminutive does not involve the simple addition of -ens either. In most cases the relationship between the diminutive and the plural is straightforward, so keeping the plural in mind when you think about the diminutive will help you get the proper form.

Here are some more diminutives to help you determine patterns in their formation.

Nouns that end in short i:

inini	'man'	ininiins	'little man'
bizhiki	'cow'	bizhikiins	'calf'
waawaashkeshi	'deer'	waawaashkeshiins	'young deer'

Nouns that have an added w in plural, or a plural with oo:

amik	amikwag	'beaver'	amikoons	'young beaver'
akik	akikoog	'kettle'	akikoons	'little kettle'
mooz	moozoog	'moose'	moozoons	'little moose'

Nouns that have an ii in their plural:

asab	asabiig	'net'	asabiins	'little net'
asin	asiniig	'stone'	asiniins	'little stone'

Nouns that end in a long vowel just add /ns/:

ikwe	'woman'	ikwens	'little woman'
Anishinaabe	'Ojibwe'	Anishinaabens	'little Ojibwe'
zhooniyaa	'money'	zhooniyaans	'dime'

Nouns that end in /gan/ have a diminutive ending in gaans:

ma'iingan	'wolf'	ma'iingaans	'little wolf'
onaagan	'plate, dish'	onaagaans	'little dish, plate'
bakwezhigan	'bread'	bakwezhigaans	'cookie; cracker, roll'

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