Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/meʔtekwa·pyi

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

Etymology

A compound of *meʔtekwi (“stick”) or *meʔtekwa (“tree”) + *-a·py (“string”).

Bows probably postdate the breakup of Proto-Algonquian proper; this compound seems to have been formed at a later date (as is also suggested by its absence from Eastern Algonquian).

Noun

*meʔtekwa·pyi (plural *meʔtekwa·pye·ri)

1. bow (bowstring) (weapon)

Synonyms

• *aʔta·pya

Descendants

• Plains Algonquian:
  • Arapaho: beeté yook (“bowstring”)
  • Cheyenne: ma'tāno (“bowstring”) (from the plural)
• Central Algonquian:
  • Ojibwe: mitigwaab (“bow (weapon)”)
  • Menominee: maeqtekuap (“bowstring, bow”)
  • Miami: mihtekoop (“bow”)

References

• Ives Goddard (1974)
• Northeast Anthropology, issues 46-50 (1993), page 6:

  The existence of cognate terms for bow and arrow has been noted previously. Siebert (1975:319) cited only one instance of the Proto-Algonquian "bow" word, *aʔta·pya (literally, 'string set in place'), in Central Algonquian languages, namely Cree ahča·piy (or ašča·piy in the Montagnais dialect). […] The more common term in Central Algonquian languages is derived from 'wood' or 'stick' (e.g., Menominee meqteks Ojibwa mettikwap, and Fox mehtekwapi); Goddard (1974) reconstructs Proto- Algonquian *meʔtekwa·pyi "bowstring".

• Costa, David J. (2003) The Miami-Illinois Language (Studies in the Native Languages of the Americas), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN
• Ives Goddard, Pre-Cheyenne *y, in In Honor of Mary Haas: From the Haas Festival Conference, page 349
• Marc Picard, Principles and Methods in Historical Phonology: From Proto-Algonkian to Arapaho