Reconstruction:Proto-Siouan/wa-sápE

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

From *wa- (absolutive prefix) +‎ *isá·pE (“to be black”).

This euphemistic term for black bear only seems to appear in Mississippi Valley Siouan languages, likely spreading either through borrowing or parallel innovation. It eventually displaced the original term Proto-Siouan *wi-hų́te (“bear”) in these languages.

Noun

*wa-sápE

  1. black bear
    Synonyms: *wi-hų́te, *wąthó

Descendants

  • Proto-Mississippi-Valley: *wasápe
    • Proto-Dakota:
      • Stoney: wathaben
    • Proto-Dhegiha: *wasápe

References

  • Robert L. Rankin, Richard T. Carter, A. Wesley Jones, John E. Koontz, David S. Rood, Iren Hartmann, editors (2015), “Entry #1126”, in Comparative Siouan Dictionary‎[1], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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