Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/-ehs

This Proto-Algonquian 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.

Proto-Algonquian

Suffix

*-ehs

1. suffix used to form diminutives; also found in certain kinship terms

Usage notes

• The suffix could just as well be written *-ehs- or *-ehsa because it was usually followed by the final animate marker -a.
• Several languages suggest a form with initial -s-, i.e. *-sehs (*-sehs- or *-sehsa).

Descendants

descendants of *-ehs and *-sehs

• Central Algonquian:
  • Cree:
    • Plains cree: Plains Cree: -(V)sis, -is, -s
  • Menominee: -e·hsɛh
  • Miami: (older form) -eehsa, (now more common) -eenhsa
  • Ojibwe: -s
• Eastern Algonquian:
  • Abenaki: -is, -sis
  • Penobscot: -is, -sis
  • Malecite-Passamaquoddy: -ehsis (ahtulhaw(ehsis)), -ahsis (mimey(ahsis)), -sis (askat(sis)), -is, -es
  • Mohegan-Pequot: -ihs, -sihs, -ohs (as in ayumohs (“little dog, puppy”))
  • Unami: -tët

References

• Willard Walker, The Proto-Algonquians (1975)
• James Wherry, Eastern Algonquian Relationships to "proto-Algonquian" Social Organizations (1979)
• Paul Proulx, Hypotheses in diachronic linguistics, in In Honor of Mary Haas: From the Haas Festival Conference On Native American Linguistics, edited by William Shipley (1988)
• Paul Proulx, Proto-Algic IV: Nouns, in Studies in Native American Languages VII, volume 17, number 2 (1992)
• Anthropological Linguistics (journal of Indiana University's Department of Anthropology), volume 39, issue 1 (1997)