Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/wa·panki

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

Noun

*wa·panki

1. dawn

Descendants

• Plains Algonquian:
  • Blackfoot: appinok'kuyi (“dawn”)
  • Cheyenne: é-vóonā'o (“it's morning”)
• Central Algonquian:
  • Cree: wâpan/ᐋᐧᐸᐣ (aaypan, “dawn”)
  • Naskapi: ᐛᐱᓐ (waapin, “it is dawn”)
  • Ojibwe: waaban (“it is dawn”)
  • Fox: wâpanwi (“it is dawn”)
• Eastern Algonquian:
  • Mi'kmaq: wŏbŭn (“daybreak”)
  • Abenaki: wôban (“dawn”)
  • Mohegan-Pequot: wôpan (“it is sunrise, it is dawn”)
  • Mahican: wāpănáāk (“the east; the white of dawn; morning”)
  • Unami: òpàn (“it dawns, is morning”)
  • Munsee: wáapan (“it is dawn”)

The Abenaki autonym Wôbanaki and the English designation Abenaki are ultimately descended from this word.

References

• Cheyenne Dictionary of Fisher, Leman, Pine, and Sanchez
• Anthropological Linguistics, volume 15 (1973), page 158