Iroquoian bows

[BARudes at aol.com]

Initial /m/ exists only in Wyandot, where it is the reflex of a *w before a
nasal vowel.  Initial *w before a noun root is the third person singular
neuter agent prefix (it).  It comes from Proto-Iroquoian *w.  Initial *w is
dropped in Huron and in Wyandot (unless nasalized to /m/), and in Cherokee.
Huron, Wyandot and Cherokee develop new cases of initial /w/ from the
fricativization of the Proto-Iroquoian labiovelar *kw.

Blair