portative, comitative, have

n/a

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *ʔa-

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *Eʔ-k-

Crow aák- ‘with (comitative)’ RG , eé ‘have’ GG:47

Hidatsa aʔak- ‘portative, comitative (with motion verbs)’ J , eʔe ~ aʔa , †Eʔ ‘have’ AWJ

Pre-Mandan

Mandan á•- ‘portative (with motion verbs)’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley a-

Proto-Dakota a-

Lakota á- ‘portative (with motion verbs)’ RTC

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Chiwere añyi , †añi ‘have, hold’ JGT:3

Hoocąk hanį́ ‘own; have; take along’ KM:634 , hanį

Proto-Dhegiha *a-

Omaha-Ponca a-ðį́ ‘have’ JOD

Kanza/Kaw a-yį́ ‘have’ RR

Osage a-thíⁿ , †a-ðį́ ‘have’ LF:15b

Quapaw a-nį ‘have’ RR

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo a-

Biloxi a- , †a- ‘transitivizer’ PJE:111

Ofo áni , †a- ‘to take’ D&S:321a

General comment

Hidatsa and Chiwere suggest that the notion ‘portative’ developed out of the notion ‘having’. The DH forms cited mean have with a- but ‘be’ without the prefix. The innovated verbs ‘to have’ of Chiwere and DH are used with motion verbs as portative-comitative coverbs in a fashion paralleling the Crow-Hidatsa portative-comitative participial construction. The Omaha-Ponca reflexive possessive agðáðį ‘to have one’s own’ (JOD1890:183.17) and the cognate Chiwere égrañį ‘to take care of one’s own’ (JGT92-249), plus the lack of expected stress on a- in Hoocąk/Chiwere and DH show that this a- is not the locative a-. Lakota verbs with this element have irregular possessive and dative forms prefixed to the ‘portative’, making it look as though ‘portative’ may once have been an independent verb. The Lakota form is also unusual in that it is inherently stressed when used with yá ‘go’ (but not with ú ‘come’); when we compare this fact with the length in Mandan and the Vʔ of Hidatsa, it suggests that the inherent accent may be a trace of old vowel length. Cf. EB:94-95.

In Crow and Hidatsa -k marks subordination. The Crow aá-, Hidatsa aʔa are the verb Eʔ ‘have’ in participial form. Thus the construction is having, ą. The ‘have’ forms in Crow/Hidatsa are clearly independent verbs.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources