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Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/nye·wi

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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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Proto-Algonquian cardinal numbers
 <  3 4 5  > 
    Cardinal : *nye·wi

Etymology

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Compare Wiyot ram- (four), riyáʔw- (diyáʔw-) (?) and Yurok cho'one'- (four), to'on- (four) (chr'rnr'ryhl (four (animals or birds)), chr'rnr'r'y (four (animals of birds)), tr'rnrpi' (four (tools, etc.))).

It has been observed that "the numbers from ‘one’ to ‘five’ all contain a semantically empty initial (root) *ny-, realized as *ne- before a consonant".[1]

Numeral

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*nye·wi

  1. four (4)

Descendants

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  • Abenaki: iaw (four)
  • Arapaho: yein (four)
  • Cheyenne: neve (four)
  • Cree: nêwo / ᓀᐓ (newo, four)
  • Fox: nyêwi (four)
  • Gros Ventre: yāni (four)
  • Malecite-Passamaquoddy: new (four)
  • Menominee: ni·w (four)
  • Miami: niiwi (four), niiyanwi (four times)
  • Mohegan-Pequot: yáw (four)
  • Ojibwe: niiwin (four)/niiyin (four)
  • Powhatan: yowgh, yeough (four)
  • Unami: newa (four)

References

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  • Hewson (1993)
  • Costa, David J. (2003) The Miami-Illinois Language (Studies in the Native Languages of the Americas), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN
  1. ^ Essays in Algonquian, Catawban, And Siouan Linguistics →ISBN, 2003), page 98: "the numbers from ‘one’ to ‘five’ all contain a semantically empty initial (root) *ny-, realized as *ne- before a consonant (PA *nye- and *ni- do not occur), and *-w-i is descriptively segmentable."