arrowleaf (Sagittaria latifolia)

noun plant

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *psį• < **wa-sį•

Proto-Dakota *psį ~ *pši

Lakota pšithóla ‘broad-leaved arrowhead’ EB:447a , šiptola ‘bulbous esculent root’ SRR:426a

Dakota psiŋćíŋća ‘bulbous esculent root’ SRR:426a , psiŋćá ‘bulbous esculent root’ SRR:425b

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Hoocąk sįįpóro ‘arrowhead lily’ KM:2858 , sįįporo

Proto-Dhegiha *sį RR

Omaha-Ponca sį ‘Sagittaria latifolia’ MRG:91

Osage çiⁿ , †sį ‘Sagittaria latifolia’ LF:30b

General comment

Cf. ‘onion’ and ‘rice, wild, Zizania aquatica’. Here Dakotan and Hoocąk/DH have unexplained differences in the fricative. While this is not the kind of semantically “graded” root that normally shows fricative symbolism, perhaps it does occur here.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources