shadow, soul

noun spiritual

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *rą́•xi

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *-ráaxE

Crow iláaxe ‘spirit’ GG:87 , iláaxaxee ‘shadow’ GG:86 , aahpaláaxa ‘ghost’ RG, GG:1

Hidatsa irá•xi ‘his ghost, spirit, soul’ J , irá•xixE ‘shadow’ J , irá•xixi

Pre-Mandan *rų•x

Mandan írų•xik ‘shadow’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *ną́•ɣi

Proto-Dakota *naɣí

Lakota naɣí ‘soul, spirit, shadow’ RTC

Dakota naġí ‘soul, spirit; shadow’ SRR:320b

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Hoocąk nąąɣírak ‘shadow, ghost; soul’ KM:2150 , nąąǧirak

Proto-Dhegiha *ną́ɣe

Omaha-Ponca kkínaxðe ‘shadow’

Kanza/Kaw kkiną́ɣe ‘faint’ JOD , ną́ɣeska ‘be wise’ JOD

Osage noⁿ´xe , †ną́ɣe ‘spirit, sanity’ LF:117b

Proto-Southeastern *ną́•či

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *ną́•či

Biloxi natcí , †nači ‘cloud’ D&S:233a , tŭnatcí , †nači ‘shadow’

Ofo iⁿtconāⁿ´tci , †-ną́•či ‘ghost, spirit, soul of the dead’ D&S:325a

General comment

The bare root means ‘soul, shadow’; the prefix *wa- with this root produces the meaning ‘ghost’, q.v. The Mandan words are now seen by native speakers as compounds of rų• ‘spirit’ + xik ‘bad’, a folk etymology; i.e., *rų•x + xik > rų• + xik.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources