noun perceptual_olfactory
Proto-Siouan-Catawba
Proto-Siouan *yą́ɣe
Proto-Mississipi-Valley *yą́ɣe
Proto-Dakota
Lakota wačhą́ɣa ‘sweetgrass’ EJ
Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *ną́xe
Chiwere ną́xe ‘be stinky, acrid’ GM
Hoocąk ną́ąx ‘smell of urine, bad smell’ KM:2262 , nąąx
Proto-Dhegiha
Kanza/Kaw mažą́ɣe ‘onion’ RR
Proto-Southeastern
Proto-Biloxi-Ofo
Biloxi yaⁿxí , †yąxí ‘strong odor from a goat’ D&S:290b , nto yaⁿxí , †yąxí ‘the odor from a negro’ D&S:290b
Cf. ‘stink (1)’, also ‘ice’ for correspondences. Kanza/Kaw ‘onion’ is sometimes analyzed as mąžą́ ‘earth’ and an unidentified derivational suffix -ɣe, but comparison with Dakota here shows that to be a folk etymology. It now seems clear that Lakota ‘sweetgrass’ is cognate, and the earlier meaning was not ‘earth-something’ but ‘that which smells (strongly)’. Nasalization of the initial syllable in Kanza/Kaw either took place via the usual nasal spread before *y > ž, or represents a native attempt to justify the folk analysis.
| Language | Cognate | Phonetic Siouan | Meaning | Comment | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|