Reconstruction:Narragansett/wek

This Narragansett entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Narragansett

Etymology

From Proto-Algonquian *wiᐧki (“tent, home, place”).^[1] According to Trumbull, the word *wek has the form of a third-person verb; compare wêtu and see the footnote there for more. Both are likely ultimately related to Proto-Algonquian *wi·kiwa·ʔmi, and hence English wigwam. Compare Massachusett wék, week (“(his) house”),^[2] Lenape wik (“house”), wikit (“his house”).^[3]

Noun

*wek inan

(his) house
Synonym: wêtu

Declension

Declension of wek (inanimate, 5 forms attested)

	singular	plural	locative
unpossessed	*-ek	*-ek-ash (-ass)	*-ek-ick
possessed forms
first-person (my)	*nek	*nek-ash (-ass)	nékick
second-person (your)	*kek	*kek-ash (-ass)	kékick
third-person (his, her)	*wek	*wek-ash (-ass)	wékick wêkick wk ick

Related terms

References

^ Hewson, John (2017) “*wiᐧki”, in Proto-Algonquian Online Dictionary, Carleton University, School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
^ James Hammond Trumbull (1903) “wék, week”, in Natick Dictionary, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 189
^ Eben Norton Horsford, editor (1887), Zeisberger's Indian dictionary, Cambridge, MA: John Wilson and Son, →OCLC, page 97