Reconstruction:Proto-Siouan/Wa·si

This Proto-Siouan entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Siouan

Etymology

Possibly from *wa- (absolutive prefix) +‎ *wa·si through a process analogous to Holtzmann's law: **wa-wá·si > **w-wá·si > *Wá·si. The initial *W- and accent/length patterns support this reconstruction, though direct evidence for *W- outside Mississippi Valley languages is lacking.

Some forms also show compounding with *-hú·(-re) (“tree, stalk”), including Omaha-Ponca mázi (possibly from *másaⁿ hi) and Biloxi ąsu (the final vowel from Proto-Ofo-Biloxi *hu).

Folk etymology by Washington Matthews interprets this as “yellow wood”, which reflected later semantic associations between yellow/pine colouring.

Noun

*Wa·si

pine

Reconstruction notes

An anomalous vowel vowel length in Omaha first syllable, the unexpected ą in Biloxi, the intrusive -t- in Tutelo, the unexplained -hc- cluster in Hidatsa and irregular vowels in Quapaw, Osage and Kanza/Kaw second syllables make this reconstruction uncertain.

Descendants

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa: *wá·ci
- Crow: báachii
- Hidatsa: wáahci, máahci
Proto-Mississippi-Valley: *Wá·zi
- Proto-Dakota: *wazí
  - Lakota: wazí
  - Dakota: wazí
- Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere: *Wá·zi
  - Chiwere: baaðí (“cedar”)
  - Winnebago: waazí
- Proto-Dhegiha: *Wá·zą(-hü)
  - Omaha-Ponca: mázi (“cedar, pine”)
  - Kansa: bázaⁿhu
  - Osage: 𐓬𐓘́𐓺𐓟
  - Quapaw: pásą
Proto-Ohio-Valley: *wa·si·-(hu)
- Proto-Ofo-Biloxi:
  - Biloxi: ąsu
- Proto-Tutelo-Saponi:
  - Tutelo: wa·sti

References

Robert L. Rankin, Richard T. Carter, A. Wesley Jones, John E. Koontz, David S. Rood, Iren Hartmann, editors (2015), “Entry #487”, in Comparative Siouan Dictionary‎^[1], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology