sun

noun physical_celestial_body

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *(wa-)wi•rą

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *wiri

Crow bilíiwaxpi ‘sunset’ GG:32 , bilítaačii ‘moon’ GG:32, RGG:37 , ammílasii ‘east’ GG:10 , ammíliiwaxpi ‘west’ GG:10

Hidatsa wirí ~ wíri ‘sun, moon, orb’ J , mirí ~ míri

Pre-Mandan

Mandan wį́•rąʔk, wį́•rąk ‘sun, moon’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *Wi•

Proto-Dakota

Lakota wí ‘sun’ RTC

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Chiwere bí, bi• ‘sun’ [bi• in ‘star’] RTC, RR , (m)pí• CFV

Hoocąk wíi ‘sun, moon, month’ KM:3640 , wii

Proto-Dhegiha *mi

Omaha-Ponca mi ‘sun’ RR

Kanza/Kaw mi ‘sun’ RR

Osage mí ‘sun’ RR

Quapaw mi ‘sun’ RR

Proto-Southeastern *mi•rą

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *irą

Biloxi iná , †iną́ D&S:200a

Ofo íla , †íla D&S:324a

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo mīn; mīe, mi, miⁿ , †mį• ‘sun’ N, H, JOD

Saponi My , †mį ‘sun’ F, RR

Proto-Catawba

Catawba mį́ʔ ‘rise’ PV

Woccon Wittapare ‘sun’ JL

General comment

Cf. ‘moon’ (‘moon, sun, orb’), generally the same as ‘sun’; cf. also ‘star (1)’. The apparently sporadic nasalization of the initial syllable comes from the second syllable via the expected nasal spread. The original accentual pattern of this term is difficult to reconstruct, but this very difficulty, plus the clear reflex of *W or an initial cluster in Chiwere provides a hint of the solution to the problem. *W seems always to represent a conflation of a root-initial *w with a prefixed *wV, usually the syncopated reflex of absolutive *wa-. Thus there was an initial syllable. The long vowel in Chiwere, Mandan and Tutelo (expected on the second syllable) supports this analysis also, as does the intriguing cluster recorded by Voegelin. Crow/Hidatsa would be expected to have a long vowel, but they do not. Hidatsa at least shows variable accent. Cf. ‘snow (1)’ and ‘spring (season)’ for similar phonological sequences.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources