Where does “wëli katënami” come from?

wëli katënami (Unami) comes from Unami wëli, from Proto-Algonquian *melwi- — good, well.

wëli katënami (Unami): happy birthday!

Definitions

  1. happy birthday!

Ancestry of “wëli katënami”, step by step

wëli katënami traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Unami wëli

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Unamiwëligood, well
2Proto-Algonquian*melwi-good, well

via Unami katënami

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Unamikatënami—
Every word from Proto-Algonquian *melwi- →Every word from Unami wëli →