2nd singular patient clitic

pronoun n/a

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *yi• ~ *yį•

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *ri•-

Crow dii-

Hidatsa ri•- J , ni•-

Pre-Mandan

Mandan rį- ‘2nd person stative’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *ri•- ~ *rį•

Proto-Dakota ni-

Dakota ni [all forms and comb. with -ki, -i]

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Chiwere ri•- RR

Hoocąk nį- MM:103 , nį-

Proto-Dhegiha *ri- RR

Omaha-Ponca ði-

Kanza/Kaw yi-

Osage ði-

Quapaw di-

Proto-Southeastern *yi- ~ *yį-

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *yi-

Biloxi yi-

Ofo či- [written “tci-”, not “*tchi” by Swanton]

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo yi-, hi-, yį- H

Proto-Catawba

Catawba yV- [vowels are various]

General comment

The *yi•- variant in MVS appears as a relic in Dakota čhi- ‘I/you’, q.v. So the Proto-Mississipi-Valley reconstruction here is an artifact of the decision to reconstruct the allomorphs separately. The fact that the patient pronominals do not undergo syncope suggests that their status as true prefixes in the proto-language is questionable; they show a more clitic-like behavior generally. Compare the behavior of the actor prefixes which undergo syncope regularly in certain environments. A thorough study of the variable nasality of these prefixes is needed. The nasality extends to all three persons and is found in virtually all subgroups. Siebert (1945) believed it related to particular noun classes in Catawba.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources