bulrush, cane (plant)

noun plant

Proto-Siouan-Catawba *wasá, *wąsá

Proto-Siouan *wasá

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *psá

Proto-Dakota *psá

Lakota psá ‘rush, water grass’ EB:446

Dakota psa ‘rush, water grass’ SRR:425b

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Hoocąk sáa ‘woven reed mat, rug’ KM:2782 , saa ‘reed’ KM:3229 , waaxsá , waaxsa

Proto-Dhegiha *sá

Omaha-Ponca sa

Kanza/Kaw sa ‘rush, mat material’ RR

Osage sa ‘rush, mat material’ JOD

Proto-Catawba

Catawba wąsa ‘reed’ KS

General comment

Here we are in the enviable position of being able to reconstruct a Proto-Siouan form when the cognate set itself is restricted to one subgroup. The Catawba term implies that the Proto-Siouan form must have existed. The only imponderable is nasality in the initial syllable.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources