think (3)

verb psychic_cognition

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *-ʔį

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *e(-ya-)ʔį

Proto-Dakota *ečhá_į

Lakota ečhį́ ‘think something’ [1s ečhámį, 2s ečhánį, 1du ųkéčhį] RTC

Dakota ećíŋ , †ečhį́ ‘think’ SRR:113a

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *-į

Chiwere iráyį , †iráyį ‘think’ JGT:256

Hoocąk wewį́ ‘think about; ponder’ [1s pewį] KM:3627 , wewį , 1s peewį́

Proto-Dhegiha *áža-ʔį

Kanza/Kaw ažį́ ‘think, suppose’ [1s ažamį, 2s ažažį] JOD

Osage ázhiⁿ , †ážį ‘think, suppose’ [1s ázhami, 2s ázhazhiⁿ] LF:17b

Quapaw ážį ‘think’ [1s ážąmį́, 2s ádažą (mixed conjugation)] JOD

Proto-Southeastern *-(h)į

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo

Biloxi yandíhiⁿ , †-hį ‘think of him or it continually’ [yandi = ‘heart’] D&S:288a

Ofo hĕ´tani , †hétani ‘think’ D&S:323b

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo opemíha , †-mi- H

General comment

*-ʔį is conjugated as a glottal stem, cf. ‘wear about the shoulders’; Hoocąk/Tutelo suggest a W-stem, cf. ‘ask’. There is evidence for an initial vowel throughout MVS. If, as some feel, Chiwere/Hoocąk are closer to DH than to Dakota, and both Chiwere/Hoocąk and Lakota show e-, then it seems likely that DH has replaced this vowel with á-. The spatially least marked demonstrative has the form e- and this demonstrative is the most likely source of the prefix here. Reflexes of Proto-Siouan *ya are found in other constructions with demonstratives and an approximate meaning of ‘thus, in that way’, cf. Lakota ečh-ų́ ‘do, work’, which is conjugated analogously. This is one of a number of Biloxi forms in which Proto-Siouan *ʔ has the reflex h, cf. *ʔų ‘do, make’. Cf. ‘think (2)’

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources