spread > flat (3)

physical_contact_manipulation

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *pará•xE

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *-wraɣe

Proto-Dakota *-wraɣa

Lakota bláɣa ‘wide at one end, tapering’ RTC , blaga, áka- ‘spread out over, as one’s wings; to open e.g. the armpits or underparts of the wings for’ EB:67 , blága, yu- ‘spread out e.g. an umbrella, or the toes, as of a duck’ EB:634

Dakota mdaḣá , †mdaxá ‘broad at one end; tapering’ SRR:312a

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Chiwere ébraxe , †ébraɣe ‘spread; open out on’ JGT:238

Proto-Dhegiha *bráxe

Omaha-Ponca b¢axe , †bðáxe ‘wide at one end’ JOD

Kanza/Kaw bláxe ‘edge of something’ RR

Osage bthaxe, bðáxe , †bráxe ‘spread out’ LF:28a

Quapaw bdáxa ‘wide, as a road’ JOD

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *parax-

Biloxi ptçaxé, ptçaxi, ptçax , †pdaxí ‘wide, broad, flat’ D&S:249a

Ofo akoⁿ´t pal’ska , †palaska ‘orange, lemon’ D&S:320

General comment

The various ‘spread > flat’ (e.g. ‘spread > flat (1)’) terms (several related derivationally by fricative symbolism) apparently differ systematically from the many instances of br, bl, etc. clusters in which the b is a reflex of Proto-Siouan *wa-. The present cases go back to a Proto-Siouan initial syllable *pa.

The evidence is found in the OVS languages and in Mandan, but all the terms must be examined in order for this to become clear. Since, in Proto-Siouan the modern instrumental prefixes were not subject to initial syllable syncope and so are probably best thought of as having been proclitics, the *pa of these terms cannot be identified with the instrumental prefix of the same shape. Vowel length is also reconstructed examining the entire set of related terms. The Ofo term supplied here shows the additional derivational suffix common to many of these related roots. Forms here appear to be in complementary distribution, semantically, with forms found under ‘rip (3)’.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources