metal, copper, iron

noun physical_material

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *awą́•se

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *ú•waca

Crow ú•wata ‘iron, metal’ RG, GG:58, RGG:92

Hidatsa ú•waca ‘iron, metal’ J

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *mą́•ze

Proto-Dakota *máza

Lakota máza ‘metal’ RTC

Dakota máza ‘metal’ SRR:309b

Sioux Valley máza PAS

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *mą́•ze

Chiwere mąðé, mą́ðe ‘metal’ RR , mąðéθka, mą•ðéθka ‘money’ RR

Otoe mą́ze- RR

Hoocąk mą́ąs ‘metal, axe’ KM:2008 , mąąs

Proto-Dhegiha *mą́•ze

Omaha-Ponca mǫ́•ze ‘metal’ RTC

Kanza/Kaw mą•ze ‘iron, metal’ RR

Osage móⁿçe , †mą́ze ‘iron, any kind of metal’ LF:96a

Quapaw mą́ze, mǫ́ze, mazé ‘iron’ RR

Proto-Southeastern *amą́•si

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *amą́si

Biloxi másạ, mas, mási, masĭ´, amasí, hamásạ , †mąsi ‘iron, metal’ D&S:229b

Ofo amô´ⁿfi, amófi , †amą́fi ‘iron, a pot, pottery’ D&S:320b

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo mañs, mās, masīqorak , †mą•si ‘metal’ H

General comment

The original meaning of this form is presumably ‘metal’, probably with specific reference to copper. This raises the possibility that in pre-Proto-Siouan this root was actually bimorphemic, a compound of *amą́ ‘earth’ with *Sá ‘red’. It is interesting that all of the daughter languages show a common semantic drift to the meaning ‘iron’, frequently forming a new compound with ‘red’ to denote copper, as in Lakota máza-ša ‘copper, penny’.

The Proto-Crow-Hidatsa initial *ú•- is unexplained, as is the absence of length in the second syllable.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources