sing

verb social_culture

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan

Pre-Mandan *rą•-

Mandan waxkaną́•roʔš ‘he is singing’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley

Proto-Dakota *Rową́

Lakota lową́ ‘sing’ RTC

Dakota dową́ ‘sing’ [- ablaut] SRR:109

Assiniboine nową́ ‘sing’ PAS:374

Stoney nową́ ‘sing’ PAS:374

Sioux Valley dową́ ‘sing’ PAS

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Chiwere yą́•we ‘sing’ RR

Otoe yą•wé ‘sing’ RR

Hoocąk nąąwą́ ‘sing; song’ KM:2256 , nąąwą

Proto-Dhegiha *waʔą́

Omaha-Ponca wamą ‘sing’ RKH , waʔą́

Kanza/Kaw wayǫ́ ‘sing’ RR

Osage waðǫ́ ‘sing’ RR

Quapaw waną́ ‘sing non-dancing songs’ RR

Proto-Southeastern *(ya ~ wa)-ų́hi

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *ǫ́

Biloxi yaoⁿ, yaoⁿni , †yaǫ-ni ‘sing’

Ofo ạtóⁿhi , †ətǫ́hi ‘sing’ D&S:322b

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo yāmùñiyēm (ù = ə or ʌ) , †ya•mąiye•m ‘sing’ H

Proto-Catawba

Catawba mǫʔ- ‘sing’ FGS:9a

General comment

A very difficult set. Chiwere and Hoocąk frequently, but not always, collapse the reflexes of Proto-Siouan *y and *r. Here they differ in their treatment, so Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere is not directly reconstructible. We suggest an ancient derivational relationship between ‘song’ (q.v.) and ‘sing’, the original *wų having been reinterpreted as Proto-Siouan *ʔų ‘make, do’ in many languages in the verbal form. Preposing an onomatopoeic syllable ya ~ wa followed this reinterpretation in several languages as an opacity-reducing measure. Tutelo appears to preserve the ‘song’ root as -mą́į < *-mų́hį, while Ofo seems to have dissimilated the root to *-rų́hi. Cf. Mandan mąhe ‘song’. Such dissimilation of Proto-Siouan *wų is not uncommon. Clearcut reconstruction of either the verbal or nominal with this meaning is made more difficult due to constant interference from sound symbolism. Some languages make a distinction between ‘sing’ (as here) and ‘sing dancing songs’, which is *xóhka.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources