cut (1)

verb physical_contact_deformation

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *-ká (?)

Proto-Mississipi-Valley -ká

Proto-Dakota

Lakota ká, pa- ‘push down or break down e.g. ribs of an animal’ [nasalized A] EB:427b , ka, ipá- ‘draw back, as meat from ribs when cooked, or as husks of corn when ripe; prop up (with a stick)’ EB:230b, EJ , ká, pa- ‘split or cut a slit in for an arrowhead’ EB:427b , ká, wa- ‘cut or strip, as the feather from a quill; to cut off e.g. the ribs of an animal; to split a quill in the middle’ EB:523b , káhA, wa- ‘split, as the feather end of a quill’ EB:524a , ká, ya- ‘split with the mouth, as the feather end of a quill’ EB:622a , ká, yu- ‘strip off e.g. the feather part of a quill’ EB:641a

Proto-Dhegiha *-ka

Omaha-Ponca ága-’cut into slices’

Kanza/Kaw wágaye ‘cut off in strips’ RR , gá, yu- ‘husk corn, hull nuts’ RR

Osage ága , †áka ‘slice meat for drying’ LF:7b

Quapaw áka ‘cut, slice on something’ JOD , ká, di- ‘strip off, as leaves’ RR

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo

Biloxi akĕ´ ‘use a knife, (i.e., to cut with it)’ D&S:170b

General comment

This is one of a number of verbs we would expect to show aspiration, as it is normally used with prefixes that place the root in second syllable position. Cf. ‘see (2)’, which also lacks expected aspiration. The putative Biloxi cognate, while possibly related, should have -a, not -e. The semantics makes the match attractive, but it is nonetheless irregular. Cf. ‘tear

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources