Written and published by Linden Alexander Pentecost. This publication is unrelated to and separate from any and all of my other publications, it was published in the UK and no AI was used in this nor in any of my publications. This article/blog post contains some sensitive topics and reader discretion is advised. This blog post or article contains a total of 1023 words.
The following is a discussion of certain Wakashan root words, somewhat in continuation of some of the other topics I have recently discussed in blog posts, wherein I also briefly discuss other aspects to Wakashan languages. I begin by discussing a number of root words in reconstructed forms of Proto-Wakashan, Proto-Kwakiutlan and Proto-Nootkan, three hypothetical earlier forms of Wakashan languages, Wakashan languages being a family of Indigenous American languages spoken in the Pacific Northwest, generally being more westerly in their geographic location than Salishan languages are. The two families are very different, but languages from both families do share many similarities, including certain words, and a tendency towards VSO word order, and various other grammatical features somewhat comparable to certain languages in the Old World. I have discussed these possible connections much elsewhere a lot in other publications, but to a greater extent in relation to Salishan languages. After this I discuss briefly something of some other languages in Canada. The references are at the end of this blog post. Below is a list of discussed Wakashan word points, with discussions:
1. A word for a type of tree, Proto-Nootkan *suč’(as) - "tree", compare Quechua sach'a - "tree" or "bush forest", and to many other words across a wide variety of languages, including in Uralic languages.
2. A word for for a spider, Proto-Kwakiutlan: *humaχa - "spider", compare for example Finnish hämähäkki - "spider".
3. A word for "rain", Proto-Kwakiutlan: *y̍ugʷ- - "rain", compare Quechua yaku - "water" and for example Latin aqua - "water", a very widely spread root, albeit often not in a specific way.
4. Proto-Wakashan: *k’ulm - "tongue", compare for example Finnish kieli - "tongue" or "language", Mongolian хэл [xeɮ] - "language", Haida kíl - "language", Quechua qallu - "tongue" or "language".
5. Proto-Kwakiutlan: *m̍χʷ- - "wet", perhaps connected to Welsh mign - "bog", likely connected to words meaning "slippery" or "slime" in other Indo European languages.
6. Proto-Nootkan *kac- "hail", perhaps connected to English "hail", German Hagel etc.
7. Proto-Kwakiutlan: *xʷlp- "hollow" or "open", compare the English word "gulp" and the Orkney word gloup - "a collapsed sea cave and subsequent chasm", Old Norse gloppa - "chasm" or "hole".
8. Proto-Nootkan *kas- - "to glance from the corner of the eye", and Proto-Wakashan *ğas- - "eye", perhaps show a connection to Finnish katsoa - "to see", Northern Sámi geahččat - "to look", etc.
9. Proto-Kwakiutlan: *w̍anak - "lover" and *w̍an- "to exchange", perhaps both connected to Old English wynn - "joy" or "delight", and Old Norse vinr - "friend", and Latin venus - "beauty", "elegance".
10. Proto-Kwakiutlan: *tanis - "cannibal dancer", compare English "dance", Icelandic dansa - "dance", with many other Germanic forms, also found in Celtic and Romance languages. Note that Wakashan speakers were not themselves in any way cannibals, rather the "cannibal dance" was a symbolic representation of taming a cannibal spirit and did not involve any actual cannibalism whatsoever.
12. Proto-Nootkan: *qʷaliː/qʷalali - "seagull", perhaps connected to Quechua qiwlla - "seagull", and by letter re-arrangement to Cusco Quechua liwqi - "seagull" and to Finnish lokki - "seagull".
13. Proto-Nootkan *wiki(ː)c’aχ(akʷ) - "stormy weather", perhaps connected to Finnish väki - "spirit guardian or force of a particular locate", Quechua waka - "temple", "pyramid" or "deity/spirit/force occupying a temple, shrine, or pyramid", and to Sioux wakaŋ - "sacred" and to Sioux wakíŋyaŋ - "thunderbird".
14. Proto-Kwakiutlan: *k’ʷl- - "for a fish to swim", perhaps connected to Finnish kala - "fish", Quechua challwa - "fish", etc.
15. Proto-Kwakiutlan: *s(i)n- - "to think", compare English "sense", Proto-Germanic *sinnaz - "meaning" or "reason".
16. Proto-Kwakiutlan: *luʔχʷk’ʷs - "rocks", perhaps connected to Gaelic leac - "stone", Engllish "flake" etc.
I would also like to discuss a few words from the Abenaki language, a language once widely spoken across parts of what is now the Atlantic Northeast of the USA. Whilst from my experience, Algonquian languages share far fewer similarities with the root word "pools" that I in part discuss above, there are nevertheless a small number similarities. I would like to discuss a few below.
For example, Abenaki maksa - "a blanket". This word may connect to words like English "mat", Finnish metsä - "forest", Quechua mast'a - "carpet" etc, and ultimately perhaps to Ojibwe mitig - "tree", Cheyenne ma'ta - "bow" and to Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *ma/iṭw- ~ *may/wṭ- "stick, branch of tree", and to English "mat" and with similarities to many other words. Another example is Abenaki kizos - "sun". This word is I think related to many others across language families, including to Finnish kesä - "summer", and to Beothuk keeose - "moon", and many others.
Algonquian languages do deeply fascinate me too, as does the northeastern side of the Americas, which I have researched and written about much less. The only part of Canada I have ever been to some years ago, was an area where the Algonquin and Ojibwe languages were spoken, and also Mohawk and Senaca are spoken, both Iroquoian languages. I know even less about Iroquoian languages though. But when I find some photos of my trip to Canada I may write some things about all of them.
I hope that this blog post was an interesting read, it is dedicated to all of the indigenous tribes mentioned, and to the good guardian ancestors of the Americas.
References:
-All Proto-Wakashan, Proto-Kwakiutlan and Proto-Nootkan root words are sourced from: Fortescue, Michael. 2007. Comparative Wakashan Dictionary. Lincom Europa
-The Proto-Afro-Asiatic root word in question was sourced from the starling.rinet.ru website, and was reconstructed by Alexander Militarev and Olga Stolbova.
-The Abenaki words were sourced from Malian’s Song – Abenaki Language Glossary By Marge Bruchac .
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