be

verb existence

Proto-Siouan-Catawba *rį

Proto-Siouan *rį

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *-ri

Crow -li- in: xapáalia ‘medicine’ GG:61, RGG:57

Hidatsa -ri in: xupa•ri ‘medicine’ J

Pre-Mandan

Mandan -rį ‘holy’ [e.g. in xoprį] H:320

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *rį

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *nį

Chiwere ñį ‘be, neutral’ GM

Hoocąk -nį, e.g. in: xawanį́ ‘be lost, missing; disappear from sight’ KM:3862 , xawanį

Proto-Dhegiha *rį

Kanza/Kaw yį ‘be; class membership’ [R-stem conjugation]

Osage -ðį in: waxpáðį ‘be poor, suffer’ LF:208b , ni ‘exist’ LF:105

Quapaw nį ‘be in a location, be’ JOD

Proto-Catawba

Catawba ri ~ ni ‘be, location’ KS

General comment

Cf. rį ‘alive’, rį ‘moving’, which are conjugated differently, at least in Kanza/Kaw. The oral reflexes of r in DH suggest that it may be epenthetic. At least it is treated as such in DH. Organic *r should have nasalized in all the languages preceding a nasal vowel. Cf. also ‘breathe’.

The Crow/Hidatsa forms are derived from Crow baaxpáa ‘holy’ and Hidatsa xupa• ‘holy’.

Crow -ia < earlier *-ihe suggests a connection with or contamination by ‘breathe’, which has an h. If the Crow, Hidatsa, and Mandan forms are cognate they are unique relics in each language; there is no general -rį meaning ‘be’ in these languages.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources