Reconstruction:Proto-Siouan/wašų́ke

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

Alternative forms

*wi-šų́·ke

Etymology

The prefix is likely *wi- (animate absolutive prefix), as suggested by the Crow and possibly Ofo forms.

After European contact, many descendant languages adapted this term to refer to horses; in some cases, it came to refer to both animals or developed distinct derived terms for each.

Noun

*wašų́ke

dog
wolf

Reconstruction notes

Sporadic vowel length appears in descendant forms (cf. Chiwere, Winnebago, Ofo and Tutelo), but lack of consistent evidence prevents reconstruction of length in the proto-form.

Descendants

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa: *wašúka
- Crow: bishká
- Hidatsa: mashúga
Proto-Mississippi-Valley: *šų́kE
- Proto-Dakota: *šų́kA
  - Lakota: šúŋka
  - Dakota: šų́ka
  - Assiniboine: šų́ga
  - Stoney: shûga
- → Proto-Dhegiha:
  - Omaha-Ponca: šą́ge
  - Quapaw: šǫ́ke
  - Kansa: šǫ́ge
  - Osage: 𐓯𐓪́͘𐓤𐓟 (šǫ́ke)
- Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere:
  - Chiwere: šúnkeñi, shunkéñe (iowa), súkeñe (oto), sunkéñi
  - Winnebago: šų́ųk
Proto-Ohio-Valley: *ačhų́·ki
- Proto-Ofo-Biloxi:
  - Biloxi: acǫki, cǫki
  - Ofo: ačhų́ki
- Proto-Tutelo-Saponi:
  - Tutelo: čhų́ki (“dog, wolf”)

References

Robert L. Rankin, Richard T. Carter, A. Wesley Jones, John E. Koontz, David S. Rood, Iren Hartmann, editors (2015), “Entry #903”, in Comparative Siouan Dictionary‎^[1], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Douglas R. Parks; Robert L. Rankin, Siouan Languages, dans Raymond J. DeMallie (editor) Handbook of North American Indian, Volume 13, Part 1, Washington, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 94-114, 2001.