Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/maneto·wa

This Proto-Algonquian entry contains reconstructed words 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

Noun

*maneto·wa

a supernatural being (a god or a supernaturally powerful person or animal)

Descendants

Central Algonquian:
- Cree: manitow / ᒪᓂᑐᐤ (manitow, “spirit, god”)
- Montagnais: manitoːw
- Menominee: manɛ·to·w (“game animal (other than a bird)”)
- Ojibwe: manidoo (“spirit, god”)
- Fox: manetôwa (“snake; spirit or god”)
- Shawnee: maneto (“snake; supernatural being”)
- Miami: manetoowa (“devil, evil spirit, monster”), and possibly also manetwa, minetwa (“falling snow”)
Eastern Algonquian:
- Mi'kmaq: məndu
- Mohegan-Pequot: manto
  - → French: manitou
- Munsee: manutoow (/manə́toːw/)
- Unami: manëtu (/manətːu/)
  - Pidgin Delaware: Manétto
    - → English: manitou

References

Goddard (1982)
Costa, David J. (2003) The Miami-Illinois Language (Studies in the Native Languages of the Americas), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN
Algonquian Spirit, edited by Brian Swann (2005)