basket

noun physical_artefact_container

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *htá•ška

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *thá•ške-hu

Chiwere thášku ‘burr oak’ GM

Hoocąk čaašgégu ‘oak’ KM:146 , caašgegu

Proto-Dhegiha *htáška

Omaha-Ponca ttáška hí ‘oak’ [Quercus macrocarpa] RTC

Kanza/Kaw ttáška hü ‘burr oak’ RR

Osage ṭáshka hi , †htáška ‘buckeye, white oak’ LF:138b

Quapaw ttašká hi JOD

Proto-Southeastern *ta•ska

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *-ta•ska

Biloxi aⁿtaská, ndaská, ndásk , †ąta•ska ‘basket’ [aⁿtaská seems the better word, and was obtained later than ndaská] D&S:178b , nda•skaʔ , †ąta•ska ‘basket’ MRH , nda•skaʔ , †ąta•ska ‘basket’ MS

Ofo atipoⁿ´tuska , †atipą́tuska ‘weave’ D&S:322 , ạtuphôⁿ´tuska , †atipą́tuska ‘basket’ D&S:322

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo taskahūi; tāskahōi , †ta•skahu•i ‘oak’ N, H

Proto-Catawba *tus

Catawba tus, itus ‘pot, kettle’ FGS

Woccon Tooseawau , †tusiwą ‘kettle’ JL

General comment

A widespread southeastern root. Baskets in this area were often made of white oak splints, hence the connection with that meaning; Tutelo clearly means “basket tree”. The Ofo word also contains a root for ‘bag, sack, container’, q.v. Catawban and OVS have the s-grade fricative, while Proto-Mississipi-Valley has the š-grade.

See ‘oak (1)’, essentially the same root, for a set of very similar southeastern terms from Muskogean, Yuchi and other languages. This term is best not reconstructed to Proto-Siouan. In fact, the individually reconstructible terms for OVS and MVS with their non-cognate fricatives may well be from distinct sources. The Catawban term appears to reflect the rounded vocalism common to several of the Muskogean terms.

Other languages

  • Cf. Yuchi y’ǫt’ašk’a ‘post oak’ Crawford
  • Creek tcoska ‘white oak’
  • Alabama tcisha ‘post oak’
  • Hitchiti tciski ‘white oak’ (JRS)
  • Tunica čuhki ‘oak’ (MRH)
Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources