acorn

noun plant_part

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *ú•te

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *ú•te

Proto-Dakota *úta

Lakota úta ‘acorn’ RTC

Dakota úta SRR

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *-ú•te (?)

Chiwere bú•ǰe RR

Hoocąk húuč KM:1602 , huuc

Proto-Dhegiha *púte RR

Omaha-Ponca búde hi ‘red oak’ MAS:128

Kanza/Kaw mą́büǰe ‘sumac’ RR

Quapaw ppíde ‘acorn’ JOD

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *u•ti(-hu)

Biloxi utí D&S:283a

Ofo ū´tu , †ú•tu ‘oak’ D&S:331b, JSS

General comment

Omaha-Ponca should have i < *u. Quapaw should have *píte to match the Omaha and Kanza/Kaw forms, so this is probably a JOD transcription error, but cf. Quapaw ppi ‘seed’. Gilmore has Omaha buude ‘Quercus rubra’; this suggests length (1919:147). Despite the numerous irregularities in this set, the proto term appears to be reconstructible. In Chiwere and DH the root is compounded or prefixed with another element. Ordinarily we might reconstruct this element as absolutive *wa- with normal vowel syncope and obstruentization of the w. Here, however, there does not appear to be any root-initial contoid to cause obstruentization, and the forms remain unexplained. Chiwere also uses ‘acorn’ for ‘glans’ so this word may be especially subject to taboo replacement. Hidatsa ú•tiška ‘cowry shell’ may be a borrowing from Lakota: “white acorn” (?). Cf. Choctaw oti, uti ‘chestnut’ By-307b suggesting that some of the irregularities in this set may be due to widespread borrowing.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources