Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/mo·swa

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

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Etymology

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Literally "it strips", referring to the way the animal eats (by stripping bark off trees).

Noun

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*mo·swa

  1. moose

Descendants

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  • Plains Algonquian:
    • possibly Cheyenne mō'e (elk); compare mehe (cow, doe (female buffalo or deer))
  • Central Algonquian:
    • Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi:
      • Cree:
        • Plains Cree: môswa, ᒨᔁ
        • Woods Cree: ᒨᔁ (mōswa)
        • East Swampy Cree: ᒨᐢ (mōs)
        • West Swampy Cree: ᒨᔁ (mōswa)
        • Atikamekw ᒧᔅ (mos)
      • Montagnais-Naskapi:
        • East Cree:
          • Northern East Cree: ᒨᔅ (moos)
          • Southern East Cree: ᒨᔅ (moos)
        • Montagnais: ᒧᔥ (mush)
        • Naskapi: ᒧᔅ (mus)
    • Menominee: mo·s
    • Eastern Great Lakes:
  • Eastern Algonquian:
    • Abenaki: moz
    • Penobscot: mos
    • Malecite-Passamaquoddy: mus
    • Massachusett: moos, mws
    • Narragansett: moos
    • Mohegan-Pequot: mos
    • Mahican: mo-ose
    • Lenape/Delaware:
    • English: moose (from one of the Eastern Algonquian languages) (see there for further descendants)

References

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  • Siebert (1967)
  • 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
  • Hewson (1993)
  • Costa, David J. (2003) The Miami-Illinois Language (Studies in the Native Languages of the Americas), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN
  • Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “moose”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.