wetu

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Massachusett wetu.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

wetu (plural wetus or wetu)

  1. (US) A dwelling, a domed hut similar to a wigwam, used by some Native Americans in the northeastern United States, especially the Wampanoag.
    • 2001, Donald M. Silver, Patricia J. Wynne, The Pilgrims, the Mayflower & more; grades 1-3, page 17:
      Wetus ranged in size between about 10 to 15 feet in diameter. As many as ten people lived inside.
    • 2003, Janet Riehecky, The Wampanoag: The People of the First Light, page 13:
      To make a wetu, the Wampanoag set poles made from cedar saplings into the ground. They bent the poles over and covered them with cattail reeds or bark. A wetu was either circular or oval. Most wetu were about 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters) […]
    • 2005, Janey Levy, The Wampanoag of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, page 22:
      Wetus were commonly about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and 14 to 20 feet (4.3 to 6.1 m) long. Sometimes three or four families shared a single house. These wetus could be up to 100 feet (30.4 m) long and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide.
    • 2008, Frances H. Kennedy, American Indian Places: A Historical Guidebook, page 31:
      In one corner of the village a man is emerging from a sweat-house; in the village's center a child sleeps in a wetu while a little boy on the roof hides from his dog, their only domesticated animal. A woman in mourning speaks to the sachem.
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See also[edit]

  • traditional Native American dwellings:
    • hogan (used by the Navajo in the southwestern United States)
    • igloo (used by the Inuit, made of snow)
    • teepee (used in the Great Plains)
    • tupik (used by the Inuit during the summer)
    • wetu (used by the Wampanoag in the northeastern United States)
    • wickiup (used in the southwestern and western United States)
    • wigwam (used in the northeastern United States)

Massachusett[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Revived) IPA(key): /ˈwiːˈtʲuː/

Noun[edit]

wetu

  1. dwelling

Descendants[edit]

  • → English: wetu

Narragansett[edit]

Etymology[edit]

The word wetu has the form of a third-person verb; compare *wek and see the footnote for more.[1] Both are likely ultimately related to Proto-Algonquian *wi·kiwa·ʔmi, and hence English wigwam. Compare Massachusett wétu (“house”), wetuomash (“houses”).[2]

Noun[edit]

wêtu inan

  1. house
    Synonym: *wek

Declension[edit]

Declension of wetu (inanimate, 3 forms attested)
singular plural locative
unpossessed *-etu *-etu-omash *-etu-omuck
possessed forms
first-person (my) *netu *netu-omash *netu-omuck
second-person (your) *ketu *ketu-omash *ketu-omuck
third-person (his, her) wêtu *wetu-omash wetuômuck
wetuómuck

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ James Hammond Trumbull (1866), A Key into the Language of America (annotated edition), page 119, footnote: "Wétu has the form of a verb in the indicative, which may be nearly translated by he is at home, he houses. Wék […] is the regularly-formed subjunctive or conditional third person singular of this verb,—when (or where) he is at home, chez lui."
  2. ^ James Hammond Trumbull (1903) “wétu”, in Natick Dictionary, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 191

Further reading[edit]

Polish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈvɛ.tu/
  • Rhymes: -ɛtu
  • Syllabification: we‧tu

Noun[edit]

wetu

  1. dative singular of weto

Swahili[edit]

Adjective[edit]

wetu

  1. M class inflected form of -etu.
  2. U class inflected form of -etu.
  3. Wa class inflected form of -etu.
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