bird (2)

noun animal_bird

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *ré•ska

Biloxi kŭdĕská, kûdĕ´sk, kŭdĕskí , †kdé•ska ‘bird, birds, flea’ D&S:216a , kdɛ•skaʔ ~ kədɛ•skaʔ , †kdé•ska ‘bird’ MRH, MS

Ofo téska, deská, téskha , †téska ‘bird’ D&S:330b , tculéskạ , †čuléskə ‘Carolina wren’ D&S:329b , tĕ´fka , †téfka ‘bird, flea’ D&S:329a

General comment

Ofo téska has a variant tĕ´fka (the expected form) under the entry soᵐ´pka ‘wing, fin’ DS-329a. ‘Carolina wren’ in Ofo shows l in place of t. Ordinarily this would be the reflex of an older Cr cluster, so the Biloxi initial k- may be reconstructible in this set. Both the Ofo and Biloxi terms also mean ‘flea’, q.v., in which regard, cf. the Dakotan habit of calling small birds (wrens warblers, etc.) čhąhéyala ‘tree fleas’. Koasati tiska-homma ‘bird-red, cardinal’ (Geoff Kimball) suggests that this is a diffused term in the Southeast.

Other languages

  • Koasati tiskahomma ‘bird + red’ = ‘cardinal’ GK
Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources