PS *waNtho' 'grizzly'

[David Costa]

> I recently had occasion to notice again Proto-Algonquian *ma0kw-a 'bear' +
> ANIMATE, in which 0 = theta, initially an abstract symbol for an unknown
> cluster initial leading to preaspirates some places and fricatives others.

Right. But PA */0k/ is just one of seven different k-clusters that have been
securely reconstructed for Proto-Algonquian. Many of these clusters most
typically appear as /hk/, /$k/ or /sk/ in various daughter languages.

> I think it is sometimes suggested it might be a voiceless l.

Sometimes. There are prominent Algonquianists who argue it's voiceless /l/,
and others who argue it really was theta. It's still theta in Arapaho (when
not in clusters).

> Under this are collated (per Aubin)
> 
> Fox      mahkwa
> Cree     maskwa
> Odawa    mko, mkwa (these from Rhodes)
> Shawnee  mkwa
> 
> etc., including Arapaho and Eastern Algonquian reflexes.

More for the collection:

Miami mahkwa
Ojibwe makwa
Munsee Delaware maxkw
Massachusett mashq
Arapaho wóx

> My main source Aubin also lists Proto-Algonquian maxkw-a, which I take it
> means that there are some awkward reflexes around for 0k, though these are not
> indicated.

No, it's not PA */maxkwa/, it really is */ma0kwa/. Proto-Algonquian 'bear'
reconstructs pretty cleanly.

> Aubin also offers *naapee0kw-a 'male bear', in which I think *naapee- is
> 'male', 

Right.

> and a medial *a0kw-a 'bear', underlying these two forms.

No, in this case, it's a final, and it's just *-a0kw-. The /a/ is not part
of the final, it's just a gender marker.

> I believe that from the Algonquian perspective m- is essentially an initial
> for making medials into forms capable of standing alone.

Other way around. Many Algonquian nouns with initial */w/ or */m/ can form
final or medial allomorphs by dropping the */w/ or */m/. Weirdly however,
this doesn't work for most other initial consonants. Either way, no
Algonquianist would say you can segment off the /m-/ from the front of
*/ma0kwa/.

> I have taken the liberty here of segmenting -a, which I hope is correct.

Right, it's just the animate singular marker.

> What I've noticed is a degree of parallelism with the 'bow' term.  This is
> in the nature of exploring a hypothesis.  I am not yet ready to insist
> that PA *m-a0kw- is the source of PS *waNtho'.  It's just that there are
> some similarities, and both forms appear to be somewhat vexed.

It is an intriguing similarity, but the absence of a /k/ in any of the
Siouan 'bear' words is not something I'd expect if this was an Algonquian
loan. At least the Winnebago 'bow' word preserves a direct reflex of a /k/,
if I'm reading your tables right. Of course, I can't speak to the Siouan
forms beyond that.

Dave