throw dart

verb physical_action

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *hkú•te

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa

Crow kussshíichi ‘throw at; throw in’ [< kuss + shíichi] GG:51

Pre-Mandan *:kų•te

Mandan í•kų•teʔš ‘he threw it’ RTC , íwa•kų•teʔš ‘I threw it’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *hkú•te

Proto-Dakota *khuté

Lakota khuté ‘shoot’ RTC

Stoney khudé ‘shoot’ PAS

Sioux Valley khuté ‘shoot’ PAS

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Chiwere khúǰe ‘shoot’ GM

Hoocąk gúuč ‘shoot’ KM:465 , guuc

Proto-Dhegiha *hkǘ•te

Omaha-Ponca kkí•de ‘shoot’ RR

Kanza/Kaw kkǘǰe ~ kkǘ•ǰe ‘shoot’ RR

Osage ḳu´dse , †hkǘce ‘shoot’ LF:90b

Quapaw kkítte ‘shoot’ RR

Proto-Southeastern *kité•

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo

Biloxi kte, kĭtĕ´, kitĕ´, ktedí, kĭtédi , †kité(di) ‘hit, shoot at’ D&S:214b

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo kitē, ktē, kitēse , †kité• ‘kill, shoot’ H

General comment

This root has interesting irregularities, Mandan nasalization, Hoocąk voicing and the possible partial conflation with ‘kill’ in OVS, q.v. Either it was used with the meaning ‘throw’ with atlatl darts, as in Mandan, or it represents a lexical innovation, as the bow and arrow diffused to the Mississippi Valley and adjacent areas long after the breakup of Proto-Siouan. Diffusion would have affected different subgroups at different times. V. ‘bow’ for some evidence of diffusion. The verb may have been borrowed, then diffused and mixed with ‘kill’. In fact, there may have been two roots that were confused by the early linguists. In Biloxi, the root occurs with and without final -di, as we have come to expect. However, if the -di is there, the gloss is always ‘hit’; if the gloss is ‘shoot’ it is never there.

(This may, of course, be purely accidental.) In Tutelo, we see variable recording of vowel length.

Other languages

  • Cf. Shoshoni look-alike kwtti ‘shoot’ (general Numic?) (from John McLaughlin).
Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources