Reconstruction:Proto-Siouan/awą́·se

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 *awą́· (“earth”) +‎ *Sá (“red”), literally “red earth”.

Though all descendant languages use this term for iron, the original meaning was likely “metal” with specific reference to copper, being the first metal widely used by Siouan-speaking peoples; iron came into use much later following European contact.[1]

Some descendant languages later developed new compounds to distinguish copper from iron, such as Lakota mázaša (“copper, penny”) (from máza (“metal”) +‎ ša (“to be red”), literally “red metal”).

Noun

*awą́·se

  1. metal, possibly copper

Reconstruction notes

The shift and lengthening of initial *a- to *ú·- in Proto-Crow-Hidatsa remains unexplained, as does the vowel shortening in the second syllable.

Descendants

  • Proto-Crow-Hidatsa: *ú·waca
    • Crow: úuwata (“iron, metal”)
    • Hidatsa: úuwaca (“iron, metal”)
  • Proto-Mississippi-Valley: *mą́·ze
    • Proto-Dakota: *máza
    • Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere: *mą́·ze
      • Chiwere: madhé, maⁿdhé
      • Winnebago: mąąs (“metal, axe”)
    • Proto-Dhegiha: *mą́·ze
      • Omaha-Ponca: mǫ́·ze
      • Kansa: mą·ze (“iron, metal”)
      • Osage: 𐓨𐓘́͘𐓺𐓟 (“iron, any kind of metal”)
      • Quapaw: mą́ze, mǫ́ze, mazé (“iron”)
  • Proto-Ohio-Valley: *amą́·si
    • Proto-Ofo-Biloxi: *amą́si
      • Biloxi: amasa, amasi, masa, masi (“iron, metal”)
      • Ofo: amą́fi (“iron, pot, pottery”)
    • Proto-Tutelo-Saponi:
      • Tutelo: mą·si

References

  1. ^ Robert L. Rankin, Richard T. Carter, A. Wesley Jones, John E. Koontz, David S. Rood, Iren Hartmann, editors (2015), “Entry #578”, in Comparative Siouan Dictionary‎[1], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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