moon, sun, orb

noun physical_celestial_body

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *wí•rą

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *wiri

Crow bilítaačii ‘moon’ GG:32, RGG:6 , bíliiwaxpi ‘sunset’ GG:32 , bilasíi ‘sunrise’ GG:31 , bilíchilee ‘new moon’ RGG:6

Hidatsa wíri ~ wirí, míri ~ mirí ‘orb, sun, moon, month’ AWJ

Pre-Mandan *wi•

Mandan wį́•nąk ‘sun, moon’ RTC

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *wí•

Proto-Dakota *wí

Lakota wí ‘sun, moon’ RTC

Dakota wí ‘sun, moon’ SRR:564a

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *Wi•

Chiwere bi ‘sun’ RR , bi•- ‘in star’ RR , (m)pí• ‘sun’ CFV

Hoocąk wíi ‘sun; moon; month’ KM:3640 , wii

Proto-Dhegiha *mi(-ǫpa)

Omaha-Ponca mi ~ mį ‘moon, sun’ RR

Kanza/Kaw míǫba, mį́:yǫba ‘moon, sun, month’ RR

Osage mí ‘moons (from a ritual)’ LF:90a , míoⁿba , †míąpa ‘the moon’

Quapaw miǫ́pa, mią́ba , †mią́pa ‘moon’ JOD , †mi ‘sun, moon, orb’ JOD

Proto-Southeastern *mi•-rą

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo *irą

Biloxi iná , †iná ‘sun’ D&S:200a

Ofo íla , †íla ‘sun or moon’ D&S:324a

Proto-Tutelo-Saponi

Tutelo mī , †mi• ‘sun’ H , mīnōsā , †mi•no•sa•ʔ ‘moon’ N, H , mīmahēi , †mi•mahe•i ‘moon’ H , mimeⁿhíĭ , †mimąhį• ‘moon’ HW

Saponi mi ‘sun’ F , My

Proto-Catawba

Woccon Wittapare , †wi- ‘sun’ JL

General comment

Cf. ‘sun’, ‘star (1)’. Nasalization of the initial syllable vowel and preceding consonant in this set is due to nasalization in the second syllable that spread across the glide to the first. The second syllable may be a suffixed reflex of *rą(ke) ‘be sitting, dwell’. Chiwere may argue for initial *W which represents a conflation of a root-initial *w with a prefixed *wV, usually the syncopated reflex of absolutive *wa- or *wi-. So there may have been an initial syllable, at least in some subgroups, arguing for Proto-Siouan *wa-wí•rą The long vowel in Chiwere supports this also, as does the intriguing cluster recorded by Voegelin. MRS would then be expected to have a long vowel, but it does not. The Fontaine Saponi form may represent either †mi or †mai, the latter corresponding to the last two syllables of the attested Tutelo forms. In languages which have both mi and miǫ́pa the former may mean either ‘sun’ or ‘moon’, but the latter always means ‘moon’.

Other languages

  • PUA, UA *meya, *mea Miller 286a
  • PUA, UA *meca Miller 286b
Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources