tobacco

noun plant

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan [old reconstruction only]

Pre-Mandan *wrąš

Mandan wąrą́š ‘tobacco’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley

Proto-Dakota *čhąRí

Lakota čhąlí ‘tobacco’ RTC , čhanų́pa ‘pipe < tobacco + smoke’

Dakota ćaŋdí , †čhądí ‘tobacco’ SRR:86 , ćaŋ-dú-hu-pa , †čhądúhupa ‘a Dakota pipe’ SRR:87a

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Chiwere rá•ñį ‘tobacco’ [in ‘pipe’, q.v.] RR , láhn- GM

Hoocąk taanį́ ‘tobacco’ KM:3062 , taanį

Proto-Dhegiha *Ranį́-hü

Omaha-Ponca nini, ninihi ‘any kind of tobacco’ MAS:174

Kanza/Kaw nąnǘ, nąní, nǫnǘ ‘tobacco’ RR

Osage nąnǘhü ‘tobacco’ RR

Quapaw taní, tanį́ ‘tobacco’ JOD, RR

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *iyá•nį

Biloxi yáni, yaní , †yanį ‘tobacco’ D&S:288b

Ofo itcā´ni , †ičá•nį ‘tobacco’ D&S:324b

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo yéhni, yihnū , †yéhnį ‘tobacco’ H , nǫní’ , †nąnį́ ‘tobacco’ ES , nonē´ , †nąnį́ ‘tobacco’ LJF

General comment

Cf. ‘smoke tobacco, pipe’, also ‘ice’, which has the same pattern of initial consonants in DH. Proto-Dakota *čhąRí is from an earlier **čhaRį́, by shift of the nasal feature across the intervening glide. The compound form in ‘pipe’, l.c., was developed prior to this shift, hence the absence of nasalization on its first syllable (i.e., čha nų́pa). A Chiwere variant láhn- found in ‘smoke tobacco, pipe’, q.v., may be borrowed. The Tutelo form yéhni, yihnū is pretty clearly borrowed from or at least modeled on Tuscarora or modern Cayuga, among whom the Tutelo lived. The second of the Hale forms seems to be a compound of ‘tobacco’ and hu• ‘tree, bone, leg, stalk, stem, trunk’. Sapir and Frachtenberg probably recorded the more native Siouan term. Look-alikes for ‘tobacco’ occur far afield in North America from Iroquoian to Uto-Aztecan. Cf. PUA *yena ‘smoke tobacco’ (verb) Miller #394. Cf. also Iroquoian (Mithun-274) Oneida and Mohawk oy`v:kwaʔ; Susq.

ojeengqua; Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca oyę́:kwaʔ; Tuscarora ù:yv´ʔkweh ‘smoke’, all others ‘tobacco’. It seems possible that this term is not really reconstructible in any of the families. The Proto-Dakota, Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere, and Proto-Dhegiha correspondences are too irregular to permit a Proto-Mississipi-Valley or Proto-Siouan reconstruction.

This may be due to taboo or other affective avoidance forcing irregular distortions, but diffusion is the most likely source of the irregularities.

Other languages

  • PUA: *yena ‘smoke tobacco’ (verb) Miller #394. Proto Musk: *xakčoma. Yuchi: ʔi ‘tobacco’, ʔjutšhwa ‘tobacco blossom’ LB. Caddoan: Caddo yáhah we; Arik. haahnaaWIškáanuʔ DP Tunica: rá ‘tobacco’; rášuru ‘smoking tobacco’ MRH Shawnee laʔθeema ~ lʔθeema CV Miami: säna cv; Men. neʔnema:w; Fox nese:ma:wa Aubin.
Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources