none, be/have, lack

verb abstract_amount

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *-į́kE

Pre-Mandan

Mandan wįkóʔš ‘none, have none’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *rįkE

Proto-Dakota *nįkA

Lakota waníčA ‘there are none’ RTC, EJ , níčA ‘to be destitute of, have none of’

Dakota níća ‘be destitute of, have none of’ SRR:340b

Stoney nį́ǰa pas

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *nį́ke

Chiwere ñį́ŋe ~ ñį́ge ‘none, be without’ RR

Missouria ning ga, niing g’, nega, neeg’ , †nį́ge ‘blind’ L&C

Hoocąk -nįk ‘blind’ KM:1090 , hišjara nįk

Proto-Dhegiha *rįke

Omaha-Ponca -ðįgé ‘be none’ JEK

Kanza/Kaw -yįge ‘be nothing’ RR

Osage thíⁿge , †ðį́ke ‘have none, nothing’ LF:148a

Quapaw niké ‘have none’ JOD

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *níki

Biloxi níḳi, níki , †níki ‘be without, have none’ D&S:236b

Ofo aⁿtoníki , †-nį́ki ‘blind’ D&S:323a , abáthe tĭnĭñki , †-nį́ki ‘I have no dress’ D&S:324b

General comment

The DH forms show varying consonant nasalization and accent that are not regular. Biloxi and Ofo in turn lack any indication of vowel nasalization that should have been reinforced by a preceding n (we might have expected Biloxi *niñḳi). So there are some interesting irregularities here that may have something indirectly to do with the Mandan initial. We suspect that the *r here is one of those inserted to break up clusters of vowels, in this case, a late pronominal prefix vowel and a root-initial *i What we are suggesting is that *wį•, *rį• 1sg, 2s patient were separate clitics, not prefixes, in Proto-Siouan (and there is much independent evidence to support this analysis). We suppose the Mandan w could come from wa absolutive with collapse of V1V1.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources