Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/šeka·kwa

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.

From *šek- (“to urinate”) (in reference to the animals' spraying of stinky musk) + *-a·kw- (“bushy-tailed animal, fox”) (compare *wa·kwehsa (“fox”)).

*šeka·kwa

1. skunk

• Plains Algonquian:
  • Arapaho: xou, xoo (“skunk”) (older orthography: xouhu)
  • Nawathinehena: saoθ (“skunk”)
  • Gros Ventre: θouu (“skunk”)
  • Cheyenne: xāō'o (“skunk”)
• Central Algonquian:
  • Cree: sikâk / ᓯᑳᐠ (sikaak, “skunk”)
  • Menominee: sekāk (“skunk”)
  • Ojibwe: zhigaag (“skunk”)
  • Algonquin: cigàg (“skunk”)
  • Atikamekw: cikakw
  • Potawatomi: shkak (“skunk”)
  • Fox: shekâkwa (“skunk”)
  • Kickapoo: sekaakwa (“skunk”)
  • Miami: šikaakwa (“skunk; wild leek”)
    • → French: Chécagou
      • → English: Chicago
• Eastern Algonquian: *šəkākʷ (“skunk”)
  • Abenaki: segôgw (“skunk; it squirts”)
    • → English: skunk (see there for further descendants)
  • Penobscot: nsč̀kαkʷ (“skunk”)
  • Mohegan-Pequot: skôks (“skunk”)
  • Unami: shkakw (“skunk”)
  • Munsee: shkáakwus (“skunk”)

• Siebert (1967)
• Costa, David J. (2003) The Miami-Illinois Language (Studies in the Native Languages of the Americas), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN
• “skunk”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.