Aacimotaatiiyankwi

Sometimes, when we learn a simple word for an ordinary object in Myaamiaataweenki, we end up unraveling fascinating historical threads. Consider kweetaapiikinamaani ‘I use a tape measure’. Want to find out how far back this word stretches? Well, let us rope you in!

People have been using this word in much the same way for hundreds of years, since way before the invention of the modern, spring-loaded contraption we now know. How is that possible? 

The answer is in the word itself. We won’t keep you in suspense any longer – here’s the breakdown:

More literally, we could say this word means ‘measure it using something string-like’ (or ‘measure something string-like’) – which lets us see why people were already using this word hundreds of years before modern measuring tape was invented.

People have been using string to measure stuff for as long as there has been string and stuff to measure. Actually, people like surveyors, still do use very string-like tools when they need to conduct precise measurements!

As technology changed, newer tools replaced older ones, but they were doing the same job in much the same way, so the older words stuck around. The words we use carry those stories along through time.

Can you find any other words that begin with kweet– that might have something to do with measuring, testing, or trying things out? Let us know in the comments! (Hint: Try searching for kot-) 

(Bonus challenge! The word for ‘measuring tape’ is kweetaapiikinaakani – that -aakani at the end of the word turns verbs into nouns. What other –aakani words can you find in the dictionary? Can you tell what verbs they’re related to?)