some, a little

particle abstract_amount

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan

Pre-Mandan *tu-

Mandan túʔš ‘there are some, he has some’ H:258

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *to-

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Chiwere dokhíla ‘few, less, a little’ GM

Hoocąk čoowéxǰį ‘just a little’ KM:274 , coowexjį

Proto-Dhegiha *tópa

Omaha-Ponca dóba RR

Kanza/Kaw dóba ‘some’ RR

Osage dúba , †tópa ‘some’ LF:40a

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *tu

Biloxi -tu ‘pluralizer, evidential’ D&S:281a

Ofo tu ‘pluralizer’

Proto-Catawba

Catawba tųʔ ‘little in size’ FGS:2

General comment

The Hoocąk initial consonant does not match; it should be ǰ. It is also hard to reconcile the vowels. Mandan and OVS clearly support u while MVS has o or o•. The clitic status in OVS might possibly have affected the vowel, but the Mandan form has the same lexical status as the MVS cognates. Cf. the DH forms w. ‘indefinite/interrogative (2)’

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources