Yesanechi Word Pick

The Yesanechi Word Pick group on Facebook is active again after a six month break. William Meuse administers the group, posting proto-Dakotan words and their versions in several Eastern Siouan and Western Siouan languages.

I was out watering the sweet grass patch I started at my sister’s place last year thinking it will be long enough to braid this year. Then came in to see two new posts in the Yesanechi Word Pick group; Waxinkan, rope and Sunthangeeska, grass. 🙂

From today:

Proto-Dakotan Swadesh list word #60

*Waxinkan, rope

Several of the languages have obvious cognates for ‘rope’ or ‘cord’ – Yesan /Waquk/ as well as the Biloxi, Quapaw, Hochak (b), Mandan, Dakota and Nakota forms, can all easily be connected and traced back to *Waxinkan, as shown below.

Of the remaining words, a few of the others could also certainly be cognate with this as well, while others seem harder to connect or even entirely different. In particular, Omaha /Miinazhiiha/ and the Crow word /Dashiiya/ seem possibly related to one another.

1 WOCCON /Traw-hee/

2 CATAWBA /Wuye/

3 YESAN /Waquk/ <*Waxuk <*Waxink <*Waxinkan 4 OFO /Atkate/ 5 BILOXI /Iinkan/ <*Xinkan <*Waxinkan 6 QUAPAW /Kan/, /Wahiiyon/ <*Wahinkan <*Waxinkan ^ 7 OMAHA /Miinazhiiha/ 8 KAW /Wabeesan/ 9 OSAGE /Weethiin/ 10 HOCHAK /Cheeksun/; /Wagiinan/ <*Waxiinan <*Waxinkan ^ 11 CHIWERE /Haweebriin/ 12 MANDAN /Hiinkarankan/ <*Hinkan <*Xinkan ^ 13 DAKOTA /Wiiqan/ <*Winkan ^*Wahinkan ^ 14 NAKODA /Winkan/ ^ 15 HIDATSA /Ashu/ 16 CROW /Biishiiyaxpa/, /Dashiiya/ Rankin’s model reconstructs two proto-Siouan terms – *Ihkan “cord, sinew, vein” where he includes Quapaw /Kan/, Biloxi /Inkan/, and Mandan /Hinkanran/ for support, and *Anka “cord, string” where he again mentions Mandan /Hinkanran/. Proto-Dakotan Swadesh list word #60 *Sunthangeeska, grass This one is more uncertain than most, because of confusion as to which of the following terms for “grass” are cognate. … Note Osage has three of the terms side by side: Osage 1) /Monhiin/ is clearly related to Kaw and Quapaw and may represent *Amanxan-hin, Earth + hair. (Does this *Amanxan-hin also explain Hochunk /Xanwin/?) Osage 2) /Peeshee/ is related to Omaha and Dakota/Nakota, and all these seem to come from *Pezhee. Osage 3) /Xadsee/ seems related to Hochunk /Xanwin/, Chiwere /Xame/, Mandan /Xanh/. All of these would point to *Xanzhee, of which *Pezhee could be a variant. If /Xanwin/ is also connected with the first root we may be looking at *Amanxan-zhin (rather than *-hin) as ancestor of all three Osage forms and the other western (Miss. Valley) languages. As for the east: Hale usually wrote the Yesanechi (Tutelo) word for grass as “Sunktagi” or “Sunktaki” (however it once appears on one page as “Muktagi”, which could be an error or misprint). The first syllable /Sunk-/ is reminiscent of Catawba /Surek/, while the remaining /-tagii/ looks akin to Biloxi /Tansii/ and the /Akii-/ in Ofo /Akiiska/. The Yesan word /Sunktagii/ could then possibly be the missing link between these eastern forms, indicating a possible original such as *Suntangiiska. Finally there are the northern forms, Crow /Biika/ and Hidatsa /Miika’/ which could conceivably connect with the last part of *Suntangiiska. If the forms /Xanh/, /Xame/, /Xanwin/, and /Xadsee/ rather come from something like *Xangee, instead of as above, then they also might represent a piece related to the middle part of *Suntangiiska, gravitating the original over toward *Sunthangeeska. But this is only a conjecture considering several possible solutions, and it may be that these are just several unrelated words. 1 WOCCON ? 2 CATAWBA /Surek/ 3 YESAN /Sunktagii/ 4 OFO /Akiiska/ 5 BILOXI /Tansii/ 6 QUAPAW /Monhin/ 7 OMAHA /Peezhee/ 8 KAW /Manhiin/ 9 OSAGE /Monhiin/, /Peeshee/, /Xadsee/ 10 HOCHAK /Xanwin/ 11 CHIWERE /Xame/ 12 MANDAN /Xanh/ 13 DAKOTA /Phezhii/ 14 NAKODA /Pezhii/ 15 HIDATSA /Miika’/ 16 CROW /Biika/ Rankin gives two proto-SIouan words for grass: *Xanhe (which he derived from #10, 11, 12), and *Xate ( from #9 c). He also mentions #7, 9 b , and 13 as from the “old reconstruction” *Peeshi, meaning he later discarded it as not found outside of Proto Miss. Valley (PMV); and #6, 8, and 9a from PMV *Monhiin, which he suggests is borrowed from Cheyenne (Algonquian) /Mo’e/ but then folk-etymologized as “earth-hair”.