Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/maθkwa

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.

• *maɬkwa (alternative orthography)

From Proto-Algic ; probably cognate to Wiyot bókw (“black bear (Ursus americanus)”).

Guillaume Jacques speculates that Proto-Siouan *wątxó is a borrowing of this word, either from Proto-Algonquian per se or from a predecessor of it (Proto-Algic). (Note that "Proto-Siouan did not have a contrast between oral and nasal consonants: *wą was realised *."^[1]) Compare Mandan wątóʔ (“bear”), Lakota matȟó, mątȟó (“bear”), Chiwere mąthó (“grizzly bear”), Winnebago mąčó (“grizzly bear”), Omaha-Ponca mąčhó (“grizzly bear”), Kansa mičhó (“polar bear”), Osage mįchó (“grizzly bear”), Quapaw mąthó/mąčhó (“grizzly bear”).^[1] The apparent oddity of Siouan (which is now concentrated in the west) borrowing a term for a western animal from Algonquian (now concentrated in the east) is explained by the location of the languages at the time of the borrowing; the Proto-Siouan Urheimat was in the east, while the Proto-Algic Urheimat was in the west.^[1]

*maθkwa

1. bear

• *wa·paθkwa (“white bear, polar bear”)
• *na·pe·θkwa (“male bear”)

• Plains Algonquian:
  • Arapaho: woxᵘ/wox (“bear”)
  • Gros Ventre: was (“bear”)
• Central Algonquian:
  • Eastern Great Lakes:
    • Algonquin: makwa (“bear”)
    • Miami: mahkwa (“bear”)
    • Ojibwe: makwa (“bear, black bear (Ursus americanus)”)
    • Ottawa: mko (“bear, black bear (Ursus americanus)”)
  • Shawnee: m'kwa
  • Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi:
    • Cree:
      • Plains Cree: maskwa, ᒪᐢᑿ (“bear”)
    • Montagnais-Naskapi:
      • Southern East Cree: ᒪᔅᒄ (maskw)
      • Montagnais: mashkᵘ
      • Atikamekw: masko
    • Fox: mahkwa (“bear”)
• Eastern Algonquian:
  • Massachusett: moshq / moskq / masq (“bear”)
  • Delaware:
    • Unami: màxkw (“bear”)
    • Munsee: máxkw (“bear”)
  • Mahican: muxkw (“bear”)

• Siebert (1967)
• Guillaume Jacques, A Siouan-Algonquian Wanderwort: the name of the bear (2012; Amerindia, 36)
• 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
• Rhodes, Richard A. Eastern Ojibwa-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary (1985)