bow

noun physical_artefact_tool_weapon

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan

Proto-Mississipi-Valley

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *mą́•tku

Chiwere mą́hdu RR

Hoocąk mąąčgú ‘bow (for shooting)’ KM:1942 , mąącgu

Proto-Dhegiha

Omaha-Ponca mą́de ‘bow’ RR

Kanza/Kaw mį́ǰe ‘bow’ RR

Osage mį́ce ‘bow’ RR

Quapaw mą́tte ‘bow’ RR

General comment

Terms with initial mą- may contain the root for ‘arrow’, q.v. All terms are ultimately borrowed directly or indirectly from Algonquian languages. The Dakotan term has lost its initial m-, perhaps because with it, the term was interpreted as possessed by a 1st person, one of the prefixes for which is mi-; note the possessed form mitinazipe ‘my bow’ in Dakota. Cf. Algonquian: PA *me’tekw-a ‘wood, an.’; Menominee: (ne)-mɛɛ’tek ‘my bow’; Fox: méytä ‘bow’; Sh.: mytekw-a ~ meytekwa ‘bow’; Miami: mitékopa ‘bow’; Chey.: ma’tahke ‘bow, archaic term’, Kickapoo: mehteeha ‘bow’ Voorhis-65. This term is not likely reconstructible beyond the lowest level subgroups, as the bow does not appear in the archaeological record for most of the Mississippi valley until after the 6th century A.D. and may well not have penetrated Siouan-speaking areas until somewhat later.

Other languages

  • JEK: Cf. Algonquian: PA *me’tekw-a ‘wood, an.’; Menominee: (ne)-mɛɛ’tek ‘my bow’; Fox: méytä ‘bow’; Sh.: mytekw-a ~ meytekwa ‘bow’; Miami: mitékopa ‘bow’; Chey.: ma’tahke ‘bow, archaic term’, also Kickapoo: mehteeha ‘bow’ Voorhis-65.
Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources