Reconstruction:Proto-Algonquian/ti·nti·wa

Etymology
It is not clear that a Proto-Algonquian term for “blue jay” actually existed or can be reconstructed. The most widely cited reconstruction, Siebert's *ti·nti·wa, does not account for the variety of forms attested in daughter languages (there are three variants in Ojibwe alone), and it is also phonologically unique in having (*t) rather than its usual allophone  (*č) before *i·. Pentland proposes the alternate reconstruction *tent(ay)ehsiwa for these reasons.

If a Proto-Algonquian term for “blue jay” did exist, it may have been borrowed into 🇨🇬 at an early date to give rise to 🇨🇬 and 🇨🇬; on the other hand, the Dakota term may simply derive from, a reduplication of (cognate to 🇨🇬).

Alternatively, the attested forms may all be onomatopoeic. (Compare the situation of 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, etc. — other synonymous words in related languages which yet do not derive from a common proto-language source.)

Noun

 * 1) the blue jay, Cyanocitta cristata

Descendants

 * Plains Algonquian:
 * possibly Arapaho: tiwitita, tewititi, tí'iihii
 * Central Algonquian:
 * , jiindiisi(inh), gwiingwi(ish) (compare Cree  /, Unami )
 * possibly
 * , possibly
 * Eastern Algonquian:
 * (older form/spelling teeteěs)
 * , possibly
 * Eastern Algonquian:
 * (older form/spelling teeteěs)

Compare Cree /.

Several terms which might superficially seem related can be shown to in fact be unrelated, e.g. Arapaho (in fact a simple compound of  and ), Cheyenne  (in fact a compound meaning "[one] marked around the neck").