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.

Proto-Algonquian

Etymology

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

Noun

*šeka·kwa

  1. skunk

Descendants

  • 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
  • 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”)

References

  • 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.
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