soft (1)

verb perceptual_tactile

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *tapą́•-he

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *tapá• < *tapahe; *tapia < *tapíhe

Crow sapíi ‘soft’ GG:108, RGG:98 , apashpía ‘moose’ GG:11, RGG:1

Hidatsa tapá• ‘soft’ [nose soft] J , apatapa• ‘moose’

Pre-Mandan

Mandan títipoʔš ‘it’s soft’ [lit. soft nose] H:252 , páxu títip ‘moose’ H:252

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *tpą́

Proto-Dakota

Lakota paⁿpaⁿ´la ‘soft, as a deerskin; tender, like meat’ EB:431a , kpą́, kpą́la ‘fine, soft’ EB:317a , kpąyá ‘tan a skin’

Dakota tpą́ ‘soft, as dressed leather; or fine, as flour’ SRR:479b

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Chiwere hdą ‘rotten (vegetable)’

Proto-Dhegiha *rühtą́hą

Kanza/Kaw yüttą́ttąhą ‘soften by working with the hands’

Quapaw dittą́hą ‘soften by pulling’ JOD

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo

Biloxi tpaⁿhį́ⁿ , †tpąhį́ ‘any soft part of the body’ D&S:280a

General comment

Whether primary or secondary, tp is unstable and dissimilates in different ways even within Dakotan. There are so few cases that we are not certain of the expected outcome in Chiwere. The Crow -ia fits the Biloxi form and suggests that in Crow/Hidatsa the common loss of post accentual -h- has taken place with subsequent vowel transposition. The DH final syllable represents an innovation, as reflexes of -he are not normally preserved in MVS languages. Mandan vocalism is irregular.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources