Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/mi·na

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

Alternative forms

*mi·ni, *mini
(in compounds) *-min- (*-mina, *-imin-)

Etymology

From Proto-Algic *mene (“berry”).

Noun

*mi·na

berry; small fruit

Derived terms

*wete·himini (“strawberry”)
*ka·wimina (“thorny berry”)

Descendants

Plains Algonquian:
- Blackfoot: min' (“berry”)
- Cheyenne: mene (“berry; fruit”)
Central Algonquian:
- Cree: mînis / ᒦᓂᐢ (miinis, “(wild) berry or fruit”)
  - Plains Cree: mînis, ᒦᓂᐢ (“berry”)
- Ojibwe: -min (“berry”), miin (“berry, blueberry”)
- Menominee: -men- (“berry, fruit, grain”)
Eastern Algonquian:
- Mi'kmaq: minijg (“berry; fruit, nut”)
- Abenaki: min- (“berry; fruit, seed”)
- Malecite-Passamaquoddy: mins (“berry”)
- Mahican: men (“berry”), Mahican: meen (“blueberry”)
- Unami: min (“berry”)

References

Goddard (1982)
Costa, David J. (2003) The Miami-Illinois Language (Studies in the Native Languages of the Americas), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN
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: "*mi·na 'berry'"
L. Campbell, The Languages of Native America: Historical and Comparative Assessment

Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/mi·na

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