Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/mi·na

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

Alternative forms

• *mi·ni, *mini
• (in compounds) *-min- (*-mina, *-imin-)

Etymology

From Proto-Algic *mene (“berry”).

Noun

*mi·na

1. berry; small fruit

Derived terms

• *wete·himini (“strawberry”)
• *ka·wimina (“thorny berry”)

Descendants

• Plains Algonquian:
  • Blackfoot: min' (“berry”)
  • Cheyenne: mene (“berry; fruit”)
• Central Algonquian:
  • Cree: mînis / ᒦᓂᐢ (miinis, “(wild) berry or fruit”)
    • Plains Cree: mînis, ᒦᓂᐢ (“berry”)
  • Ojibwe: -min (“berry”), miin (“berry, blueberry”)
  • Menominee: -men- (“berry, fruit, grain”)
• Eastern Algonquian:
  • Mi'kmaq: minijg (“berry; fruit, nut”)
  • Abenaki: min- (“berry; fruit, seed”)
  • Malecite-Passamaquoddy: mins (“berry”)
  • Mahican: men (“berry”), Mahican: meen (“blueberry”)
  • Unami: min (“berry”)

References

• Goddard (1982)
• Costa, David J. (2003) The Miami-Illinois Language (Studies in the Native Languages of the Americas), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN
• Berman, Howard (1992) “A Restriction on the Shape of Proto-Algonquian Nouns”, in International Journal of American Linguistics, volume 58, number 3, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, →JSTOR: "*mi·na 'berry'"
• L. Campbell, The Languages of Native America: Historical and Comparative Assessment