bewitch

psychic_emotion_caus

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *kwų́(-xe)

Proto-Dakota *xmų́ɣa

Lakota xmų́ ‘buzz, hum’ EJ , xmų́ɣa ‘bewitch, sorcerize’ RTC , thuxmų́ɣa ‘bees, flies’ , thexmų́ɣa ‘horseflies’

Dakota hmuŋġa , †xmų́ɣa ‘bewitch’ WM:17b

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *wa-kwų́(-xe)

Chiwere grún, wagrún , †grų, †wagrų́ ‘curse’ JGT:126

Hoocąk wakąwą́x, waką́ąx ‘witch, witchcraft’ KM:3348 , wakąwąx, wakąąx

Proto-Dhegiha *hki-krǫ́(-ɣe)

Omaha-Ponca kigthoⁿ´xe F&LF:106

Kanza/Kaw kkilǫ́ɣe ‘sorcery’ RR

Osage ḳigthóⁿxe , †hkilą́ɣe ‘practice magic upon each other’ LF:86a , ḳigthóⁿxe umoⁿ , †hkilą́ɣe umǫ ‘the bee’ LF:86a

Quapaw knǫ ‘curse, revile’ JOD

General comment

Sorcery was typically accomplished by projectiles, often described as ‘humming’ during their progress through the air. Hence, the connection with ‘bee (2)’. The DH form, if cognate, would derive from *krǫ́ɣe, a dissimilation from *kwų́x. The opposite dissimilation > *kwą-, with vowel unrounding, appears in Hoocąk. In the Dakotan forms, x for expected *k is unexplained.

For parallel dissimilations, see ‘lie’, ‘ask’.

Other languages

  • JEK: Cf. Swadesh 44(?) *mə or *muu? Atakapa min, muŋ; Chitimacha hihmu both meaning ‘bee’.
Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources