blow (2)

verb natural_force_weather

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *puxą́he

Pre-Mandan *puxąh-

Mandan puxą́hoʔš ‘he blew on it’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *póɣą

Proto-Dakota *póɣą

Lakota *póɣą ‘blow on something’ RTC

Dakota ipoġaŋ , †ipoɣą ‘blow’ WM:19b

Stoney boɣą ‘blow’ PAS

Proto-Dhegiha *piɣą́

Omaha-Ponca bixą́ ‘blow’ MAS:20

Kanza/Kaw biɣą́ ‘blow, fart’ RR

Osage bíxoⁿ , †píxą ‘make a fire burn by blowing’ LF:27b

Quapaw biɣǫ́ ‘blow on something’ JOD

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *puxuhi (?)

Biloxi apúx hoⁿní , †apúx hǫ́ni ‘blowgun’ D&S:249b , pxuhiⁿ´ , †pxuhį ‘blow a fire’ D&S:249b

Ofo pû´suhi , †púsuhi ‘blow’ D&S:328b

Proto-Catawba

Catawba pu•- ‘blow’ FS, KS , pu•su•ʔ ‘shoot with blowgun’ FS

General comment

DH bi- may reflect unrounding of *pü- preaccentually. This u plus those in Biloxi, Ofo, and Mandan leads us to reconstruct Proto-Siouan*puxą. In Dakotan, the *pu- has been reshaped under influence of the (archaic) po- ‘by blowing’ prefix. There is a strong element of phonosymbolism in this set; the archetype pu(S) is common for ‘blow, puff’, etc. worldwide. There are several ‘blow’ sets in Siouan that are related by such symbolism. Cf. ‘foam, boil’. There is a possibility that this set represents a fused compound of Proto-Siouan *puxE ‘blow’ and *ʔų́ ‘do, make’. This is clearly the case for Biloxi †apúx hǫ́ni ‘blowgun’.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources