make marks > mark, scratch

verb physical_contact_deformation

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *ká•xE

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *-ka•xE

Crow kaaxi, dúu- ‘scratch, make marks’ RG , páakaaxi ‘scratch’ RGG:97

Hidatsa ka•xE, ara- ‘scratch with toe’ J , ka•xE, nú- ‘make single scratch, mark off, measure’ J , ka•xE, pá- ‘make mark by dragging’ J

Pre-Mandan

Mandan kax, ra- ‘to eat corn from cob’ H:104 , írukaxka ‘willow rake’ H:106

Proto-Mississipi-Valley *ká•ɣE

Proto-Dakota *káɣA

Lakota káɣa ‘make’ RTC

Stoney gáʕa PAS

Sioux Valley káɣa ‘make’

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere *ká•xE

Chiwere gáxe ‘make marks’ GM

Hoocąk gáax ‘plan’ [Vroot only] KM:311 , gaax ‘write; draw; owe’ KM:3251 , gáx, wa- , wagax

Proto-Dhegiha *ká•ɣe

Omaha-Ponca gá•xe ‘make’ [ɣ ?] RTC, RR

Kanza/Kaw gá•ɣe ‘make sth., do sth., pretend, cause’ RR

Osage ká•ɣe ‘make’ RR

Quapaw káɣe ‘make, cause’ RR , wakákaɣe ‘picture, movie’ JOD, RR

Proto-Catawba

Catawba kače ‘make’ [< ka + caus.] KS, FGS

General comment

Since Proto-Siouan ‘do, make’ appears to have been *ʔų•, which became an opaque element in numerous compounds, we suspect that this term originally meant ‘make marks’ (cf. MRS and Chiwere) and has been broadened in several languages to mean ‘make’. The Crow, Hidatsa, and Mandan forms may actually belong with ‘scrape > scratching noise, scraping noise, sweep’ q.v. All these terms may be related by sound symbolism in any event.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources