spring (season)

noun time_phase

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *(wa-)wé•he ~ *(wa-)wé•h-ʔų

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *cawé•

Crow tawée ‘hot’ GG:57

Hidatsa cawé• ‘warm, summer, fever’ J

Pre-Mandan *wé•hrų•re (?)

Mandan wéhirų ~ wéhirųre ‘Spring’ H:283

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *Wé•

Proto-Dakota *wé-

Lakota wétu ‘spring’ RTC , wéhą ‘last spring’ RTC

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *Wé•-

Chiwere béhu ‘spring’ GM

Hoocąk weeną́ ‘spring’ KM:3624 , weeną

Proto-Dhegiha *We

Omaha-Ponca me ‘spring’ MAS:162

Osage be , †pe ‘spring’ LF:26b

Quapaw pe ‘spring’ RR

Proto-Southeastern *(a-)wé•h-

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *amį́•h-

Biloxi mihiⁿ´, ami´hi , †amį́hį ‘be warm, warm (as weather)’ D&S:229b , amihi´yĕ , †amį́h- ‘to warm something’ D&S:230a , amihoⁿ´ , †amį́h- ‘fever’ [< amį́•h + ǫ́(ni)] D&S:230a , amihiⁿ´, ami´hiⁿ, ami´x, amiⁿ´ , †amį́hį ‘summer, year’ D&S:230a

Ofo amī´huⁿ, amiⁿ´huⁿ , †amį́•h- ‘fever’ [< amį́•h + ų] D&S:320b , amī´shu , †amį́•h- ‘to fan, a fan’ D&S:320b , amĭfhi´pi , †amį́h- ‘parasol, umbrella’ D&S:320b

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo wehahempēi, wehaéhīmpē , †we•ha- ‘spring’ H , wēhē pīwa , †wé•he- ‘summer’ H

General comment

The Mandan form is probably wé•hįnų•re. Proto-Biloxi-Ofo has nasalized and raised the vowel of the first syllable, the nasalization then spreading to the theme vowel. The initial *a in Proto-Biloxi-Ofo argues for an old cluster here, as does the *W in Proto-Mississipi-Valley. The first syllable in Proto-Crow-Hidatsa probably arises from an old compounding with *są ‘heat’, q.v. Proto-Crow-Hidatsa and Proto-Southeastern meanings seem to cluster around ‘warm weather, feel warm, fever’, which may have been the earlier gloss, with semantic extension to ‘spring’. ‘Snow’ and ‘sun’ provide a similar phonological sequence. Since initial labial resonants, w- and m-, were lost in both Biloxi and Ofo, it is probable that the initial syllable was absolutive *wa-. This reduces through the usual syncope to *w-wé•- and thence to *Wé•-. We suspect the Ofo amį•hų and Biloxi amihǫ forms are cognate with the MVS forms from *We•hą in Dakota and perhaps Hoocąk. Whether these go back to a compound of *(wa-)Wé•h-ʔų in which *ʔų is ‘do, make’ (‘past’ auxiliary in the SE and in Chiwere), is very difficult to say. The cognates here are obviously morphemically complex, but a definitive analysis of the postposed morphemes is elusive. A nasalized suffix is required in order to account for nasalization of the accented vowel in Biloxi and Ofo. This is also another clear instance in which Ofo hC clusters surface as Ch, illustrating once again how Siouan aspiration really works historically.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources