six

numeral abstract_number

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *aká•we

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *aka•wa

Crow akaawá ‘six’ GG:4, RGG:80

Hidatsa aká•wa ‘six’ J

Pre-Mandan

Mandan kí•wą ‘six’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley (*šák +) *akwe

Proto-Dakota *šákpe

Lakota šákpe ‘six’ RTC

Dakota śák-pe , †šákpe ‘six’ SRR:440b

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *akwe

Chiwere šákwe ~ sákwe ‘six’ RR , θágwe ‘six’ RTC

Hoocąk hakewé ‘six’ KM:597 , hakewe

Proto-Dhegiha *šáhpe

Omaha-Ponca šáppe ‘six’ RTC, RR

Kanza/Kaw šáppe ‘six’ RR

Osage šáhpe ‘six’ RR

Quapaw šáppe ‘six’ RR

Proto-Southeastern *aká•pe (?)

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo

Biloxi akŭxpĕ´ , †akəxpé ‘six’ D&S:172b

Ofo akạpĕ´ , †akəpé ‘six’ D&S:319b , akApê´ , †akapé ‘six’

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo agās, akás, akāsp, akáspē, akaspé, akāspei, agùs , †aká•spe ‘six’ N, H , āg’´sp , †aká•spe ‘six’ HW

General comment

This set, like the other second quine numerals, exhibits considerable irregularity, the Mandan being especially problematic. OVS and MRS clearly represent the older structure. Hoocąk, too, seems to preserve an old form, but it, like the other MVS language, has undergone syncope, the pre-Hoocąk being *akwe with the lost vowel subsequently replaced by Dorsey’s law. If we assume that this syncopated form was the old form in Pre-Proto-Mississipi-Valley, then MVS has reanalyzed the numeral as *ša•k- ‘hand’ plus the remainder of the original form, perhaps in accordance with sign language symbology. Cf. ‘seven’ and Lakota šaglóɣą ‘eight’. Though the change from Proto-Siouan *aká•we to Proto-Mississipi-Valley *akwe is not motivated, such syncope is attested elsewhere in the family. In Proto-Mississipi-Valley *kw was not a permitted cluster. Its replacement is evidently *kp; the clusters of Chiwere and Hoocąk resulted from the secondary development of post-accentual p to w generally in those languages.

Just as with the numeral ‘three’, there has been interaction between Tutelo and the Illinois Algonquian dialects. Proto-Algonquian ‘six’ is reconstructed as *nekwetwa•ši, but Miami-Illinois has a basically unrelated †kaakaatswi (Costa MS 1991), which is clearly comparable to Tutelo †aka•spe. The interaction may have been mutual however, as the Algonquian ending is necessary to account for Tutelo -s-. We are unable to account for the x (preaspiration?) in Biloxi.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources