Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/name·wa

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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

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Etymology

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Proto-Algonquian has a number of fish-related terms which begin with name·-; see *name·ʔsa (fish) for more.

This word has been compared to Yurok nepuy (salmon), but Goddard argues that that Yurok designation is merely a derivative of the Yurok word for "eat" (compare nepu' (it is eaten).[1] Yurok also has a word me'woo (fish). Wiyot, which hardened Proto-Algic's nasals (see e.g. b- vs *me-), has ba·'m (sturgeon).

Noun

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*name·wa

  1. sturgeon

Descendants

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  • Cree: namew/ᓇᒣᐤ (namew, sturgeon)
  • Northern East Cree: ᓂᒫᐤ (nimaaw, sturgeon, lake sturgeon)
  • Southern East Cree: ᓇᒣᐤ (namew, sturgeon, lake sturgeon)
  • Montagnais: nameu (sturgeon, atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus))
  • Miami: nameewa/mameewa (sturgeon)
  • probably Ojibwe name (sturgeon, lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens))
  • probably Ottawa nme (sturgeon)

References

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  • Bloomfield (1946)
  • Costa, David J. (2003) The Miami-Illinois Language (Studies in the Native Languages of the Americas), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN
  1. ^ Ives Goddard, Algonquian, Wiyot, and Yurok, in Linguistics and Anthropology: in Honor of C. F. Voegelin →ISBN, pages 256–7: "Yurok nepuy 'salmon' has been compared with Algonquian *name·wa 'sturgeon'. The Algonquian word is related to a number of other forms referring to fish, e.g. *name·ʔsa 'fish', *name·kwa, *name·kwehsa 'lake trout'. The Yurok word, however, seems to be related to nep- 'to eat', [... compare how] in Wiyot the word bołàk 'salmon' is a verbal derivative which literally means 'one feasts'."