wild cat (1)

noun animal_mammal

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *itapu• (?)

Crow iishpíiwishka ‘cat’ GG

Hidatsa ítupa• ‘wild cat, tiger, lion’ J

Proto-Mississipi-Valley

Proto-Dakota *ikmų́

Lakota igmų́ ‘cat’ EB:215a , igmú ‘cat’ EJ

Dakota ínmu ‘cat, generic’ [inmú- in compounds] SRR:200b

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *-twą

Chiwere udwą́ GM

Hoocąk wiičą́wą KM:3648 , wiicąwą

Proto-Dhegiha *įkrǫ́

Omaha-Ponca iⁿgthúⁿ , †įgðǫ́ F&LF:103

Kanza/Kaw ilǫ́ga ‘bobcat’ RR , ilǫ́žįga ‘domestic cat’

Osage iⁿgthóⁿga , †įlǫ́ka ‘puma’ LF:75b

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo

Biloxi tmotcká, tûmótcka, tûmotck , †tmǫ́•- ‘wildcat’ D&S:277a , tmó̄tc kdĕxí , †tmǫ́•- ‘spotted wildcat’

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo dalúsgịk’ , †talúskik ‘cat’ ES

General comment

Technically it might be possible to reconstruct a Proto-Siouan term for ‘bobcat’ from this set. In fact, this is almost certainly a diffused form and a widely diffused one at that. Given the ‘squash, pumpkin’ set, q.v., which certainly appears to contain a borrowing from an Algonquian sequence something like -kwa•n-, this set might potentially be reconstructed approximately *kwų́• with the usual dissimilation of the unacceptable *wų cluster. In this instance however, the apparent tyų of Yuchi šatyone ‘fox’ or šatʔanę ~ šatyʌ̨ne ‘wildcat’ (LB) and the Iroquoian forms cited below cause us to favor a prototype (i.e., not a reconstruction) with a dental rather than a velar stop. Thus the form that has diffused in Siouan would have likely been something like †twų́•. Cf. also Iroquoian: Moh.

atì:ru; Oneida atì:lu; H. tiron; Wy. atí:roⁿ; Tusc. néʔrvʔ.

(Mithun, Extending the Rafters, p.265). V. also ‘raccoon’ (p. 266, same entries). Also cf. Hoocąk -kųnų́k ‘bobbed, cut off clean’ KM-1922. If Hidatsa belongs in this set at all, it suggests rightward vowel exchange from an earlier †itapu•, where length is a syllable feature, not a vowel feature.

This in turn may correspond to our proposed diffused form. The Crow form, if it is cognate with the Hidatsa, might reflect loss of a and assimilation of u• to the following i of the compound. Tutelo has reflexes of t, r and u, but little else can be said about it. The prefix i- suggests that this may be a term that was once marked with a reflex of the the Proto-Siouan animate classifier, *wi- in some of the languages, but this is uncertain.

Other languages

  • Cf. Yuchi catione ‘fox’, šatyʌ̨ne ‘wildcat’ LB
Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources